How can I clean silicone products without damaging them? Are you troubled by the aging of silicone products? This article will take you closer to the truth about aging silicone products and learn how to maintain them to keep them performing and extend their life as long as possible.
What Causes Silicone to Degrade?
UV Radiation
Although silicone material has good weathering resistance, it will gradually deteriorate over time under long-term UV radiation. Long-term UV exposure destroys the molecular structure of silicones, causing them to gradually lose their original properties, which is commonly referred to as “UV degradation”.
This damage can be visualized as a change in the color of the silicone. Brightly colored silicone products become lighter in color, and some light-colored silicone products will turn yellow on the surface. If the surface of the silicone product was originally smooth and glossy, this gloss will also be reduced.
If you examine them closely, you may also find that they have become less pliable and more brittle. Aging silicone products are more likely to crack or even break under tension.
Ozone
Ozone is a major challenge for silicone products used in outdoor environments and near high-voltage motors. Ozone eats away at a silicone product, causing dense and fine cracks to appear on its surface, like cracked dirt in the summer. Similar to UV, it also makes silicone products brittle and hard.
Temperature
Silicones are known for their wide temperature range, but that doesn’t mean that temperature doesn’t affect them at all. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures and extreme temperature changes can cause permanent damage to silicone products.
At high temperatures, the otherwise stable internal structure of silicones can become overactive, which can lead to molecular chain breakage. In the short term, the effects of high temperatures are minimal, but once too much time has passed, silicone products begin to show signs of deterioration. Temperatures outside of the tolerance range can cause silicone products to degrade directly.
Frequent, extreme alternation of high and low temperatures can have another effect on silicone products. As you may know, thermometers utilize the principle that the liquid inside expands when hot and contracts when cold, causing a change in the reading. Silicone materials undergo a similar volume change when the temperature changes.
When the temperature change is too drastic, although silicone products won’t crack or shatter like glass due to their inability to withstand high temperatures, the damage caused by the volume change is actually retained. The accumulation of this damage over a long period of time will cause the silicone product to become brittle and eventually crack.
Recommended reading: Temperature and Silicone: What You Need to Know.
Some Chemicals
Silicones have good chemical compatibility and will not react with most chemicals, but there are always exceptions. Strong acids and bases, as well as some strongly corrosive substances, can attack silicone products.
In addition, silicone doesn’t get along well with chemicals such as gasoline, acetone, some lubricants, trichloroethylene, and others.
If you notice that the silicone parts inside your machine have swollen and become larger, it is highly likely that these substances have penetrated the silicone product and caused it to change shape. The physical and mechanical strength of a silicone product that swells for this reason will be reduced.
External Forces and Friction
Silicone doesn’t wear as well as rubber and is relatively more likely to crack and break under tension. Sharp objects or sharp knives can easily leave scratches on its smooth surface.
Although silicone rubber is elastic and can return to its original shape well after the external force is gone, it can be easily deformed if it is subjected to external force for a long period of time or if it is stored in an incorrect way.
Silicone Quality Issues
In fact, lower-quality silicones are just going to age more easily than higher-quality silicones. The fillers or additives that cause silicone to deteriorate are mixed in during the silicone manufacturing process and have a lasting effect on the silicone product.
Over time, substances within the lower-quality silicone product may seep out, giving it an “oily” appearance. Fillers used to reduce costs also degrade some of the properties of the silicone, making it more susceptible to damage in service.
Why Proper Maintenance of Silicone Products Is Important
With proper maintenance, you can make silicone products more durable by minimizing or avoiding the effects of the factors mentioned above. With proper maintenance, the life of a silicone product can even be extended to 130% of its original life expectancy.
Maintenance also keeps silicone products clean and aesthetically pleasing, which is undoubtedly important for maintaining food and medical safety, increasing your customers’ confidence, and attracting them.
How to Clean Silicone Products
Cleaning Agent Selection
As mentioned previously, silicone products can be attacked by chemicals with strong corrosive properties, so when choosing a cleaning agent to use for cleaning silicone products, you should choose a mild neutral cleaner and avoid bleach, strong acids, or strong alkaline cleaners.
Soap and detergent are generally enough for otherwise anti-adhesive and dense silicone surfaces. Vinegar and baking soda are also good choices. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is also an option if the silicone surface is difficult to remove.
Cleaning Tool Selection
Because silicone products are not resistant to abrasion, soft cleaning tools such as rags and dish sponges are the best choice for cleaning silicone products. You can also use a soft-bristle brush to clean silicone products if they have a complex structure.
Avoid cleaning tools such as hard-bristled brushes and steel wool balls, which can abrade the surface of your silicone product and cause tiny scratches, leaving the inside of your silicone product exposed.
If your silicone product is used in contact with food or to treat patients, this can make it less safe, as other internal components may be exposed through these abrasions.
Daily Care
If you are cleaning everyday consumer products or common parts made of silicone, you can use a rag, warm water, and soap to scrub the surface and then rinse it with water.
If you are cleaning a silicone baking mat, which is used for food processing, it is best to use an unscented cleaner, as the scent of the cleaner may remain on the surface of the silicone product. These residual scents may give the food a strange taste the next time it is processed.
Thorough Cleaning Methods
Thorough cleaning at regular intervals is also important. After long-term use, bacteria can easily grow in the seams and other areas of the combined silicone product. If your silicone product has multiple removable parts, you should take them apart and clean them thoroughly.
If you are looking for a more effective cleaning method, you can boil silicone baby pacifiers in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, of course, provided that these products are made of heat-resistant food-grade or medical-grade silicone.
Sometimes an odor can remain on the surface of products like silicone folding bowls, and this is when you can consider removing it using methods like the ones below:
- Use baking soda or white vinegar to make a solution, then soak the silicone product in it for a while, rinse it with water and dry it.
- Place baking silicone products in the oven at a low temperature of 100 to 150°C for a short period of time to remove odors.
How to Properly Store Silicone Products
Avoid Direct Sunlight
In addition to cleaning, proper storage methods can have a significant impact on extending the life of your silicone products. Avoiding direct sunlight is the first principle to follow when storing silicone products. Except for necessary use, expose silicone products to as little sunlight as possible, especially strong direct sunlight outdoors.
You can store silicone products in a cool room while avoiding locations near windows where sunlight may come in. It’s worth noting that UV lamps can cause similar effects to direct sunlight, so they should also be avoided as much as possible.
Avoid High Temperatures and Extreme Temperature Changes
Try to avoid exposing silicone products to unnecessary temperature extremes and keep them away from flames. Check the instructions for use carefully for the maximum and minimum temperatures that silicone products can tolerate, and use them within the suitable temperature range.
If you need to change the temperature at which silicone products work, make the change more gradual and avoid sudden and drastic temperature changes.
For silicone products used in refrigeration systems, it is important to maintain a constant temperature. Moving it frequently between cold and room temperatures can cause it to become brittle quickly due to freeze-thaw cycles.
Keep Away from Pollutants
Store silicone products in a clean and tidy environment, away from corrosive chemicals, oils, fuels, and organic solvents, to prevent corrosion and swelling that can lead to performance degradation.
Odor-inducing substances, inks, and dyes are difficult to remove once they are left on the silicone product, so they should also be avoided in areas where silicone products are stored.
Keep Dry
Maintaining dryness in storage will effectively prevent the growth of mold and bacteria on the surface of silicone products. In the case of silicone sealants used in showers or silicone seals used for waterproofing, they should also be well-ventilated after use or allowed to dry in a timely manner by wiping away excess moisture.
Correct Placement Method
Most silicone products can be stored flat, which helps them maintain their original shape. Don’t stack heavy objects on top of them and fold silicone products that are not designed to be folded, as this can deform them and create creases that are difficult to smooth out.
If you want to stack silicone products for a long period of time, padding the center with a soft cloth can alleviate the problem of developing marks.
For large sheets like silicone baking mats, you can also choose to roll them up for storage.
For silicone spatulas with hanging holes or silicone shower brushes with ties, you can store them by hanging them from hooks.
Inspect Regularly
Regular inspections help to notice problems in the use and maintenance of silicone products and to solve them in time.
This is actually a preventive process. Adjusting the usage method and anticipating the replacement time through signs of wear and tear, before serious problems occur with the silicone products. This will undoubtedly prolong the service life of the products and minimize the economic losses caused by the products’ inability to function.
What you Shouldn’t Do with Silicone Products
Clean Silicone Products with Acetone
Acetone is an excellent solvent for removing stains, but it can cause serious damage to silicone products. Acetone will penetrate the inside of the silicone product, causing it to expand and enlarge.
It cleans more than just the dirt, and may wash away the internal additives as well, leaving the silicone product severely degraded, or even no longer usable!
Immersion in Cleaning Agents for a Long Time
Silicone baby pacifiers and other products support short wipe cleaning with alcohol, so some people soak them in alcohol for a long time to sterilize them, which is actually wrong. Prolonged immersion in alcohol can make silicone sticky and hard.
Not just alcohol, silicone loses its elasticity, luster, and its performance deteriorates when soaked for a long time in cleaners with acidic and alkaline properties. Cleaners containing bleach will even discolor it.
If you want to clean your silicone products without damaging them, a short soak and rinsing them thoroughly after using a cleaner is a wiser choice.
Use of Sharp Objects on the Surface
Because silicone is soft, small knives and forks can easily leave scratches and pits on the surface of silicone products. If you’re going to use a tool to make contact with them, a spoon with a duller edge or another tool made of wood or silicone would be more appropriate.
Pulling and Abrasion
Since silicones themselves are not strong in mechanical strength, rough use often harms them. Abrasion and frequent stretching can damage the silicone products themselves and thus shorten their service life. In order for them to last longer, treat them as gently as possible!
Prolonged Contact with PVC
Silicone products and PVC products stored together can have harmful effects on each other, so it is best to store them separately.
The plasticizers in PVC are released over time and then absorbed by the silicone products, causing the silicone product to become sticky and expand, and the PVC to become harder as a result of the plasticizer loss.
Advice for Special Purpose Silicone Products
Silicone Products for Outdoor Use
Silicone products that are outdoors are subjected to tougher UV rays. To make them more durable, you can move them indoors when not in use or cover them with a cloth or other object that will keep out the sun and rain.
Silicone Kitchenware
Please don’t bake silicone baking molds empty. This doesn’t just mean don’t send the molds directly into the oven to bake at high temperatures, but also that when you fill one half of the baking mold with dough, you should add water to the other half as well.
You may be thinking, doesn’t this contradict the previously mentioned use of baking to remove odors? When removing odors, you are only baking silicone bakery products for a short period of time at low temperatures, while baking emptily exposes them to high temperatures for a long period of time.
When placing silicone baking mats, care should also be taken to keep a distance from the heating elements of the oven to prevent localized high temperatures.
Medical-grade Silicone Products
Medical-grade silicone products support a wider range of sterilization methods, including autoclaving and radiation sterilization. Please refer to the instruction manual for the type of cleaning agent that can be used to prevent improper cleaning methods from making it unsafe.
Tips to Extend the Lifespan of Silicone Products
Packaging Silicone Products
Silicone materials are actually very prone to attracting dust, which makes them susceptible to getting dirty when stored in a warehouse for long periods of time. The solution to this problem is that you can store them in boxes or other packaging so that they are better protected and easier to maintain. For bulk storage and warehouse handling, plastic pallet boxes can provide a clean, stackable solution for organizing packaged products before shipment.
If your silicone products originally came with their own packaging, it is better to use the original packaging for storage.
Use More Suitable Silicone Products
Choosing the right type of silicone product for a particular application can make maintenance easier and replacements less frequent.
Seals made of high-temperature silicone rubber can withstand the heat of the manufacturing floor better than regular silicone seals. Fluorosilicone rubber has better oil resistance and is better suited to work in environments that require exposure to fuel.
If you would like to learn more about application-specific silicone rubbers, you can click and read A Simple Guide to Silicone Rubber Types and Applications.
Choose High-quality Silicone Rubber Products
High-quality silicone products are less susceptible to deterioration than low-quality silicone products, and maintenance is less of a concern. High-quality silicone products are more stable and less prone to surface “oiling” because of their high purity and fewer low-quality fillers.
FAQ
Are Silicone Products Dishwasher Safe?
Most FDA and LFGB-certified food-grade silicone products are safe to put in the top of the dishwasher for cleaning, and they are not afraid of high temperatures.
Some products that are too small, such as silicone dental brushes, are easily damaged during the cleaning process and are not recommended to be put in the dishwasher for cleaning. Silicone products that are not pure silicone are not necessarily dishwasher safe, and the best way to determine this is to see if the silicone product is labeled “dishwasher safe”.
Why Are Silicone Products Sticky?
Sticky silicone products are most likely caused by absorption of plasticizers from other products, poor quality, or aging. Stickiness is a sign that a silicone product has deteriorated due to high temperatures, destruction of the surface coating, or corrosion.
How Long Do Silicone Products Last?
The use of silicone products depends on the type of product it is. Generally speaking, baby silicone pacifiers need to be replaced once every 2 to 3 months, industrial silicone seals can last 3-10 years, and high-quality medical-grade silicone can even last 20 years or more when maintained correctly.
When Should I Replace Silicone Products?
Silicone products should be replaced when you notice that they are cracked, badly worn, become sticky, fail to seal, have a serious odor, or have lost a great deal of flexibility. Products such as medical silicone catheters and baby silicone pacifiers are recommended to be replaced beyond their useful life.
Can Silicone Be Repaired?
Medical-grade and food-grade silicone products that focus on safety are not recommended to be repaired but replaced.
If you find silicone products are broken, you can try to purchase RTV silicone sealant to repair them, but the performance of repaired silicone products is often not as good as the original. Silicone products that have lost their luster can also be improved by applying petroleum jelly.
Final Thoughts
If you still want to know the details about the maintenance of specific kinds of silicone products, you can click Legensilico to get a free consultation. Legensilico is a silicone products manufacturer in China, offering high-quality silicone products holding REACH, FDA, and ISO 10993 certificates and supporting customization. Take action now for your durable silicone products!
