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How to Caulk without Making a Mess!

Some time ago my husband deemed me the caulking queen of our house. When he caulks he always makes a huge mess and it never turns out as well as when I do it. But even when I do the caulking it can still get pretty messy. I usually go through about 10 paper towels trying to wipe up all the excess caulking that gets everywhere! Ages ago I saw a tip on Pinterest that was supposed to make caulking less messy, so I thought I’d give it a try. So today I’m going to show you how I caulked our recently painted bathtub, and I’m going to give you a simple tutorial that will show you how to caulk without making a mess!

When I painted our bathtub/shower a few weeks ago I had to remove all the caulking so now I need to go back and re-caulk it. {Don’t worry, I’ll be doing a full post on the bathtub painting experience very soon}.

How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

 

First use painters tape to tape a line along the entire surface where you want to caulk. Make sure to put a line of tape on both sides where the caulking will be put.

How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

 

Once the surface is taped run a line of caulking all along the surface you need caulked.

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How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

 

Next use your finger and run it lightly over the caulking to press it into the crack.

How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

 

The caulking will spread out and make a mess on the tape but that’s why the tape is there!  Let the caulking dry for a few minutes and then peel the tape away at an angle.

How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

 

Once you peel the tape away you’ll be left with a perfectly straight caulking line and absolutely no mess!

How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

How to Caulk without Makeing a Mess - Ask Anna

 

I think this is my new favorite DIY trick because it saved so much time and was mess-free! Do you have any tricks for how to caulk without making a mess? I’d love to hear them!

How to caulk a perfect line without making a mess - Ask Anna

 

 

DIY// House Projects// Tutorials10 Comments

About Anna

"Hi, I'm Anna! Wife, mother, child of God, and the founder of Ask Anna. I have always enjoyed cleaning, organizing, decorating and helping people, so I've put that all together on the pages of this blog. I truly hope my tips help you in your home and make sure to contact me if you have a question!"

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Comments

  1. Kenda says

    March 14, 2014 at 9:58 pm

    My brother taught me a trick when caulking things. All you do is put your caulk where needed and then spray it with windex !! Yep windex. Then take your finger and spread like normal. For whatever reason the windex helps from making a mess. Has worked for me like a charm every time.

    Reply
    • Jackie says

      February 25, 2016 at 10:59 pm

      A spray bottle with water will do the same thing 🙂

      Reply
  2. Joann says

    March 15, 2014 at 5:39 am

    It looks great! You might also want to check out this tool, it made my caulk turn out really well with no mess! This is not the exact one I have, but similar. http://www.starmarinedepot.com/star-brite-caulk-rite-tool.html?gclid=CLDCpKPHlL0CFQ2hOgodzAoA-g

    Reply
  3. lizzy says

    September 29, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    My husband refuses to scrape out the ugly old caulk and recaulk our tub, but after seeing you do this, I am going to remove the old, stained caulk and recaulk myself. Yes, I can do this.

    Reply
    • Anna says

      September 29, 2014 at 2:04 pm

      You can totally do it! It’s not hard at all, just kind of gross to see how nasty the old caulking can get. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Debora says

    September 16, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    Great! Now I am definitely going to clean out the mess I made last year and redo it this way. Thank you!

    Reply
  5. Anthony Caldarazzo says

    January 30, 2019 at 9:11 am

    When I use tape on trim, the caulk sticks to the tape and pulls what I just caulked. Is it because I let the caulk dried overnight? My guess is you want to pull the tape after you caulk instead of letting it sit overnight. Let me know, It is my first time doing this.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Anna says

      February 3, 2019 at 2:59 pm

      Yeah, you want to pull the tape off right after you finish, so the caulking is tacky but not dry. Good luck!

      Reply

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