What DIY kitchen projects can you do with Selleys products?

This is the index for Selleys' kitchen guides. They range from ten-minute maintenance jobs — resealing a sink, cleaning the oven — to weekend projects like tiling a splashback or building a chopping board. What they have in common is that none of them needs a trade licence, and most need one Selleys product and a bit of patience with cure times.

If you are working through a kitchen refresh, the sensible order is clean, then repair, then build. Silicone will not bond to a greasy surface, adhesives will not bond to a dusty one, and a new splashback over an unsealed joint is a mould problem waiting to start.

The guides in this section

• How to seal a kitchen splashback — the final and most important step of installing a splashback.
• How to fix a splashback to a wall — bonding a glass or acrylic splashback directly to the wall.
• How to tile a kitchen splashback — the three-step adhesive, grout and sealant sequence.
• How to create a chopping board — a laminated timber board from two contrasting species.
• How to make over your kitchen in an afternoon — five jobs that fit into one session.
• 10 easy water saving tips — reducing water use inside and out.
• How to seal a sink — preventing water penetration around a sink.
• How to clean your kitchen oven — choosing between the three Selleys oven products.

The products that come up most often

Selleys Wet Area Silicone — a superior waterproof and mould resistant seal that will not shrink, crack or peel away, formulated for bathrooms, kitchens and laundries. It suits ceramic, glazed and porcelain fixtures, metal, copper and brass fittings, powder coated aluminium, aluminium, plastic laminates, rubber, glass, stainless steel and concrete. It cures in 72 hours.

Selleys Sealant Remover — for taking out old and unwanted sealant that has gone mouldy or cracked, in a single application. It works on silicone, acrylic, SMP/hybrid and polyurethane sealants, and is suitable for showers, baths, spas, sinks, vanities and splashbacks.

Liquid Nails Mirror & Metal — for bonding a glass or mirror splashback to a wall. The general construction adhesives specifically exclude mirrors, so this is not an interchangeable choice.

Selleys Aquadhere Exterior — the wood glue used in the chopping board project, weatherproof and producing bonds stronger than most woods.

Selleys Original Sugar Soap — a professional grade cleaner for floors, walls, cooktops, range-hoods and benchtops, and the standard preparation step before bonding or sealing anything.

Two cure times worth planning around

Kitchen jobs are rarely limited by the work itself. They are limited by waiting.

Silicone sealant: 72 hours to cure. Both Selleys Wet Area Silicone and White For Life Silicone cure in 72 hours. Tool the bead within 5 to 10 minutes of application, remove any masking tape before the sealant skins, and leave it alone after that.

Splashback adhesive: 72 hours supported, and a week before sealing the edges. A mirror or glass splashback bonded with Liquid Nails Mirror & Metal must be supported with clips or tape for normally 72 hours, and the edges should not be sealed for at least a week because the adhesive needs air circulation to cure.

Neither is negotiable, and both are the reason to start a splashback on a Friday rather than a Sunday.

Safety: the clean-repair-build order is also the hazard order

The sequence this page recommends — clean, then repair, then build — happens to run from the most hazardous product to the least. That is worth knowing, because it means the riskiest step is the one you do first, often before you have thought about gloves.

Clean: Original Sugar Soap, Danger, H318 — causes serious eye damage (Category 1). That is its only hazard class and it comes straight from the pH of around 11 that makes it shift kitchen grease. Category 1 is permanent injury, not a sting. In a kitchen the job is usually range-hood filters, splashback and cupboard fronts — work at or above head height, with solution running back down a sponge onto your forearm. Sealed eye protection and gloves, and a 15-minute flush plus a Poisons Information call if it reaches an eye.

Repair: Selleys Sealant Remover, Danger, H304 — may be fatal if swallowed and enters airways (aspiration hazard, Category 1), with H226 (flammable liquid and vapour), H336 (may cause drowsiness or dizziness) and H315 (causes skin irritation). Poison Schedule S5, Dangerous Goods Class 3, UN 1133, Packing Group II.

Three things follow for a kitchen specifically. It is a solvent product on a bench where food and drink are, so keep it in its own labelled container — never decanted. If it is swallowed, do not induce vomiting; that is what the H304 classification is about, and it is the opposite of the instinct. And H226 means the gas cooktop matters: the joint you are stripping is often directly behind or beside a burner or a pilot. Turn it off, open a window, and let the space clear before anything is relit.

H336 is about the geometry of the job rather than the dose. Resealing a sink means a head-in-the-cupboard position with the doors open around you — a small volume, poorly ventilated, face close to the work. Come out for air.

Build: the mild end. Wet Area Silicone is Warning, H319 and H317, and Liquid Nails Mirror & Metal is Warning, H317 and H319 — no flammability classification on either. H317, skin sensitisation, is the one to respect: permanent once acquired and built by repeated contact, which is what tooling a bead with a bare wet finger amounts to over several jobs. Use a tool or a gloved finger. Aquadhere Exterior, the chopping-board glue, is not classified as hazardous at all.

Poisons Information Centre — 131 126 in Australia, 0800 764 766 in New Zealand.

Common questions about kitchen projects

Which silicone should I use in a kitchen?

A wet area silicone designed for kitchens — Selleys Wet Area Silicone adheres to cement and grout and contains a fungicide to stop mould growth.

How long before I can use the sink after resealing?

Selleys Wet Area Silicone cures in 72 hours. Avoid subjecting the bead to water pressure or movement until it is fully cured.

Can I put new silicone over the old bead?

No. Remove the old sealant completely first — see how to remove old sealant.

What removes old kitchen silicone?

Selleys Sealant Remover, applied at least 5mm thick over the residue after cutting away as much as you can.

Which adhesive for a glass splashback?

Liquid Nails Mirror & Metal. The general construction adhesives are not suitable for mirrors, and bare walls need painting before a mirror or splashback is bonded to them.

Can I tile a splashback myself?

Yes — the tiling guide covers it in three steps using the White For Life system, with 24–48 hours between adhesive and grout and 3–7 days before sealing.

Where do I start on a tired kitchen?

Declutter, then clean, then deal with the mouldy silicone, then the oven. The afternoon makeover guide runs through it in order.