Plumbers Putty and Plumbers Grease

I recently had a job where I needed to use plumbers putty and plumbers grease. Let me explain. My kitchen faucet developed a leak and it only leaked when the water was turned on. A quick inspection showed the leak to be coming from a place where the hoses from the control valve and the sprayer connected.

Faucet as seen from below

A close inspection

I turned off the water and got it all cleaned up. A close inspection required that I remove the faucet stem. After removal, I found that the plastic parts were still in good shape. So the O-rings became suspect. This setup on the kitchen faucet uses a quick-connect type fitting. The faucet stem is screwed onto the countertop and both the hoses are held together by a push connector type fitting and the entire assembly locked onto the faucet stem with a clip. Everything is sealed with the use of O-rings. So with all the plastic parts being in good shape, I proceeded to the local hardware store bringing along my old O-rings. I eventually found the O-rings I needed.

Since the stem and the push connector each had an O-ring they were going to need to slide into each other. I thought about it and did not want to force the O-rings into their respective positions. They could be damaged during assembly. A quick dab of plumbers grease for each O-ring made sure that the two pieces would slide together and not cut or scrape their sealing surfaces while putting them together.

Hercules Plumbers Silicone Grease is a superior product that lubricates and prevents corrosion on valve stems, faucets, ballcock linkages, and other places where waterproof grease is needed. When applied to rubber and synthetic O-rings, insures free movement and extended service life of faucets.
Website: www.Oatey.com PLUMBER’S SILICONE GREASE

Safety

Plumbers Silicone Grease will remain intact and not break down or disperse into water stream. Resists wash out even in severe
water flow or water wash situations. Safe for use with potable water.
Website: www.Oatey.com PLUMBER’S SILICONE GREASE Downloadable PDF

The faucet stem was dirty and in need of cleaning of the old plumbers putty. A good stiff brush and some hot water made quick work of cleaning up this part. I then cleaned the surface by scraping off the countertop with a razor blade scraper and following up with a green scrubbing pad.

Working the Putty

Then I reached for my nonstaining plumbers putty and found I needed to “work it” to make it useful. By working I mean that my plumbers putty was very stiff. I would need to knead the putty to soften it up. As the putty gets older or if it is really cold that it can be too stiff to be effective at sealing. By working the putty you transfer your body heat into the putty and it becomes very soft. The more you work it the softer it gets. So I grabbed a small amount and proceeded to work it. I worked it into a rope shape that I could wrap around the faucet stem.

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Got Putty?

I pressed it around the faucet’s stem base and pressed the faucet stem into its respective hole in the countertop. It almost touched the countertop’s surface without resistance. A sign that I didn’t have enough of the material around the stem.

I lifted it and checked for contact marks on the putty, almost none. I removed the putty from the faucet stem, added more putty and continued to work it. Eventually, I had it soft enough to wrap around the stem again.

This time the stem stopped a good distance before it touched the countertop. A sign that there was enough putty to seal the faucet. After tightening the faucet stem I checked that the putty had extruded out all the way around it(see photo above). Definitely a good watertight seal.

Caution, going off-topic

Excuse me while I pull out my rant box. I looked for a how-to video of YouTuber’s installing faucets for this post and for the most part, they are counting on the plastic material provided with the faucet to seal the faucet holes in the sink. I think this is a bad idea. Think about it, you change out your faucet and you think you are done. Then when you’re using your faucet you notice a small amount of water under the sink every time you use it. Or worse you don’t notice it until there is water damage. A small leak that you could have sealed if you had used plumbers putty by wrapping it around the faucet where it goes through the sinkholes. Ok, ok I’m putting away my rant box.

Conclusion

Having a tube of or a vial of plumbers grease is something that you will land up using over and over. Anytime you find a faucet no longer moving freely this product will fix the problem by providing lubrication to the O-rings. Plumbers putty will seal up any possible water leak for faucets, sink drain tubes. These two items should be part of your basic plumbing toolkit. If you have a job where you are installing plumbing O-rings or installing a faucet these two products will go a long way to helping you achieve a successful no leak job.

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Author
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RayC.

Editor at Mybusyretiredlife.com

Trained in the mechanical arts. I have worked on anything dealing with a home from changing a light bulb to moving a load bearing wall. As for the recipes, they came about after I could not find what I was looking for and recipes that over a lifetime I have come to love and want to share with the world.