DIY: How to fix and apply tiling silicone for bathroom

It was already a BIG MESS with the sealant all over on the tiles when I, a tiler came to “rescue” my friend, a painter who tried to reapply new sealant to the gap between tiles for a client in Northshore. 

“What happened?”, asked I.

He explained that everything went well when he used the caulking gun. However, things started going wrong after he wiped off the excess silicone with a cloth. “The more I wiped off, the bigger the mess was. Why????”

“Why did you wipe off the silicone?”, I asked.

“That is the way we as painters use to clean the silicone,” replied he with a sigh.

My friend did a mistake when he thought sealants for tiles are the same as sealants for paints. They are DIFFERENT. And with tiling sealant, we as qualified tilers never use a cloth to wipe off the excessive sealant.