# Is there a gloss white caulking that doesn't need paint?



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Painted caulk always stays cleaner. When caulking to vinyl windows I always paint the trim and the caulk. Some of the silicone caulks might stay white and some have a sheen but it's not something I would use next to paint.


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

mark sr said:


> Painted caulk always stays cleaner. When caulking to vinyl windows I always paint the trim and the caulk. Some of the silicone caulks might stay white and some have a sheen but it's not something I would use next to paint.




Occasionally I use silicone next to painted walls. Like next to a shower enclosure. But I use a strip of painters tape on the wall to keep the line straight and also prevent the silicone from smearing onto the paint.


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## SMRcalidiv (Jun 15, 2009)

Just to give an even clearer picture of the problem I'm facing, the trim that is next to the white windows in a dark brown color. I realize I could paint the caulk, or even use brown caulking...but then the brown would extend onto the window face and imo look odd, or call attention to the caulking. The other option is to use the caulking, and then paint over it with white...but that seems odd too...and would be much easier if I could just let the caulk be.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Some day you will want to paint and for that reason I would not use silicone. Use dap and don't paint it. It is not that noticeable.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

I agree that using silicone should be avoided most of the time, but, I sometimes use it when there's a brick/trim transition, etc. and the windows/trim are made of something that likely won't be painted for many years. Silicone will harden up to a glossy finish. The key, and this is crucial, you have to be very careful because once you start slopping up a bead of silicone, it becomes one heckuva mess.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

> the problem I'm facing, the trim that is next to the white windows in a dark brown color


I normally use regular siliconized acrylic latex caulk and then paint it with the trim paint. If you do a neat job of caulking it will look good.


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## Jmayspaint (May 4, 2013)

I use custom color caulk for situations like you describe. Red Devil makes Create-a-color caulking that you can mix paint with, and there is a newer kind called Exact Color caulking. Both of these are clear acrylic caulks that you add paint to. If you mix white gloss paint with some, you will get a white caulk that is quite resistant to color change and dirt collection over time. 

I used the Red Devil kind for years and can say that it held up well without being painted. Only been using the Exact Color stuff for about two years, but it seems to do well also.


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## woodco (Jun 11, 2017)

I've found that any clear caulk works fine tinting it with paint with the caulk mixing tool. What I wish I could get is clear caulk that dries to a flat sheen.


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## SMRcalidiv (Jun 15, 2009)

I normally use Alex Plus in white...and I've found that the Dynaflex 230 brown is almost identical to the brown trim. 

I think the idea of the color matched caulk is neat, but in reality, only because it's dirt resistant. The only thing is that finding a matching color in existing caulk is easy since the brown and white are pretty generic...and neither is going to change. I will most likely move before I'd ever change the brown trim to white...and the windows will obviously always be white. I'm saying this because paint needing to adhere to the caulking isn't really a requirement. But some of these windows are up high and I don't want to see a dirty ring of caulking in 6 months.


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