The Best Caulk for Perfectly Sealed Showers and Tubs

Hello, my friend, hello again; today we come together to talk about The Best Caulk for Perfectly Sealed Showers and Tubs and hope the blog can help you.

Learn what caulk is right for your bathroom project, and enlist one of our picks for good-looking, long-lasting results.

While DIYers can obsess about caulking technique, the truth is that laying down the perfect bead will do little good if you don’t use the right caulk for the job. This viscous, waterproof paste is primarily used to seal joints where two surfaces meet (e.g., where the tub meets the wall) or to fill cracks (which commonly crop up in the shower floor) to keep out air, moisture, and dirt.

To defend your shower or tub against these threats, the garden-variety latex caulk commonly used on drywall, window frames, and wooden doors simply won’t cut it. The best caulk for the shower or tub has special properties that keep it pristine and structurally intact in the unique environment of the bathroom.

With so many kinds of bathroom caulk available, it can be tough to figure out which is the best for your situation. We talked to an expert who knows exactly where most homeowners can go wrong with caulking their shower, and took their advice on board when picking our products. Then, we performed hands-on testing with the following caulks in order to suggest only top-notch products.

With that in mind, we selected the Gorilla Waterproof Silicone Caulk & Seal as our best overall caulk for showers for its waterproof, shrink- and crack-proof, and rain-ready formula with a 30-minute drying time.

Read on for aspects to consider when buying caulk for your bathroom project and see why we find the following products to be some of the best caulk for showers.

1. BEST OVERALL: Gorilla Waterproof Silicone Caulk & Seal 
2. BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK: DAP Kwik Seal Plus White Premium Caulk
3. BEST FOR SMALL REPAIRS: GE Advanced Silicone 2 Kitchen & Bath Sealant 
4. BEST MILDEW PREVENTION: Mold Armor Silicone Mold Free Caulk & Sealant
5. BEST QUICK-DRYING: GE Supreme Silicone Kitchen & Bath Sealant
6. BEST PAINTABLE: Red Devil Kitchen & Bath Siliconized Acrylic Caulk
7. BEST FOR SEAMS: DAP Kwik Seal Ultra White Advanced Siliconized Caulk
8. ALSO CONSIDER: Loctite Polyseamseal Acrylic Caulk with Silicone

How We Tested the Best Caulk for Showers

Before rounding up our products for testing, we interviewed Roy Barnes, co-owner of Service Force Plumbing in Rockville Maryland, who has several decades of plumbing experience and wanted to share his two cents on shower caulk. “We regularly get service calls for ‘leaking pipes’ that turn out to simply be poor or worn-out waterproofing. Customers will see spots on their ceiling below their bathroom, and they’ll pay a plumber for a service call, when in fact their shower or tub just needs better caulking to prevent water from escaping.” He adds that “keeping your shower or tub properly caulked is a key step to avoid water damage, mold, and confusion over where dripping water might be coming from.”

With this advice in mind, we took steps to gather the top products available and put them to the test.

Originally, we were going to set up a bunch of fiberglass boxes and caulk all the seams with the different types of caulk, but we scrapped that idea in favor of replacing a shower. So we ordered a shower and set about installing it, using the caulks to waterproof the enclosure.

Each of the caulks (except for the bronze one) was used to caulk a seam inside the shower, and we checked each seam at the designated time to ensure it was dry. Next, for caulks that were paintable, we applied them to the scrap shower we removed and let them dry. After they dried, we painted them and tested their flexibility.

With those tests behind us, we had a good idea of which products were a hit or not. We used those tests and personal experience to develop our list of the best caulk for a shower.

Our Top Picks

There is a lot to know about choosing the best caulk for a shower or a tub, and shopping for just the right product can feel overwhelming. To help, we performed hands-on testing with all of the following products. After using them, we chose certain awards that we felt best fit their strengths. Use our observations and the above considerations when looking for caulk for your shower space.

Best Overall

Gorilla Silicone Sealant Caulk

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Product Specs 

• Type: Silicone
• Paintable: No
• Dry time: 30 minutes

Pros

• Dries completely waterproof, shrink- and crack-proof, and rain-ready
• Clear finish is barely noticeable; suitable for applications around tubs and tiles
• Won’t yellow or crack over time due to the mold- and mildew-resistant formula
• Flowed well and easy to tool during the application process

Cons

• This formula is not paintable; may not be ideal for some users’ needs
• Cannot be applied in aquariums or on brick, cement, masonry, or metals

Gorilla’s adhesives tend to be a step above the competition, and the same is true for this clear sealant caulk. This 100 percent silicone caulk adheres to most bathroom surfaces easily to create a mold- and mildew-resistant barrier. It remains flexible throughout its life, and it won’t shrink or crack like some siliconized caulks might. It dries in just 30 minutes, making it useful for quick repairs or even full bathroom installations.

During testing, we found Gorilla caulk & seal to be a top-quality product. It applied easily and created a strong bond for the shower surround. Once dry, we found it was barely noticeable, and the fact that it remains flexible and won’t yellow leads us to believe it’ll stay unnoticeable. While it’s not paintable, this product will work on any seam that needs to be waterproof but doesn’t need a coat of paint. We also liked that it flowed well, was easy to tool, and was not too sticky to tool with a wet finger.

Be advised that this product is not suitable for use in aquariums or on brick, masonry, metals, or cement.

Get the Gorilla caulk at Amazon or Walmart.

Best Bang for the Buck

DAP Kwik Seal Plus White Premium Caulk

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Product Specs 

• Type: Siliconized latex
• Paintable: Yes
• Dry time: 2 hours (paintable), 24 hours (shower-ready)

Pros

• Made with a paintable, Microban-infused formula for fighting mildew, mold, and fungal growth
• Creates a 100 percent waterproof formula once fully dried; suitable for ceramic and plastic tile, porcelain, metal, and more
• Applies easily and forms a strong and last bond

Cons

• Takes over 24 hours to be shower-ready; this is longer than the average caulk for a shower

Anyone shopping for an affordable caulk that will get the job done for less than half the cost of some of its competitors may want to check out DAP Kwik Seal Plus. This siliconized latex caulk creates a 100 percent waterproof barrier and features Microban for antimicrobial protection that fights stain-causing mold, fungus, and mildew. Its paintable formula requires 2 hours of drying time before applying paint, and then 24 hours before showering. According to the manufacturer, this option has outstanding adhesion to ceramic and plastic tile, porcelain, metal, cultured marble, drywall, metal, painted surfaces, glass, fiberglass, and wood.

Kwik Seal Plus is affordable, but it’s not low on quality. We liked how easy this product was to apply, but it was even easier to clean up—a wet rag is all it took to clean some excess from the tub surface. While the 2-hour dry time seems to betray the product’s “Kwik” moniker, our applied caulk appeared to dry slightly faster (about an hour in our conditions). This allowed us to test it with paint on a spare surface. It passed this test well, taking paint without issue.

Get the DAP Kwik Seal Plus caulk at The Home Depot.

Best for Small Repairs

GE Advanced Silicone 2 Kitchen & Bath Sealant

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Product Specs 

• Type: Silicone
• Paintable: No
• Dry time: 30 minutes to 24 hours

Pros

• Durable silicone formula dries waterproof and lasts for over 10 years
• Suitable for a variety of materials; adheres to metals, plastic, wood, glass, tile, and fiberglass
• Flexible formula is made to be shrink- and crack-proof for long-term dependability

Cons

• Formula is not paintable; may not suit some bathrooms’ current color schemes

Cracks, leaks, and other shower woes can happen in some challenging spaces, and getting a caulking gun into position can be tricky. However, with a 2.8-ounce or 10.1-ounce tube of Advanced Silicone from GE, DIYers can make repairs in both tight and large spots. This shrink- and crack-proof caulk features a 100 percent silicone formula that remains flexible and waterproof for up to 10 years. It is low-odor and adheres to metals, plastic, wood, glass, tile, and fiberglass, and it dries in 30 minutes.

Here’s what we noticed about the GE Advanced Silicone: It might be a lot of work to caulk a whole shower with these tubes, for but small repairs, they’re incredibly convenient. They’re easy to use yet still apply consistent beads of silicone. While we prefer our shower caulk in white, this clear silicone was barely visible and created a strong, flexible seal.

Get the GE Advanced Silicone caulk at Amazon, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Ace Hardware, or Walmart.

Best Mildew Prevention

Mold Armor Silicone Mold Free Caulk & Sealant

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Product Specs 

• Type: Silicone
• Paintable: No
• Dry time: 30 minutes to 24 hours

Pros

• Silicone formula is 100 percent resistant to mold and mildew; will not yellow, shrink, or crack
• Can be applied to glass, wood, granite, aluminum, ceramic, fiberglass, marble, metal, and painted surfaces
• The 5.5-ounce tube is a convenient size; suitable for applying in small cracks
• Creates a strong barrier in 30 minutes and fully cures in 24 hours

Cons

• First inch of caulk was clear upon application; manufacturer lists this item as a white caulk

Moldy or mildewy showers aren’t very appealing, and this product from Mold Armor can help prevent them from occurring. The Mold Armor Mold-Free Caulk has a silicone formula with fungicides to create a 100 percent waterproof bond while also protecting those nooks and crannies from mold and mildew for 20 years. It can be applied to glass, wood, granite, ceramic, painted surfaces, fiberglass, marble, metal, and aluminum. It applies easily, thanks to the convenient squeeze tube, and it’s water-ready in 30 minutes and completely dries in 24 hours.

When we first used this product, we thought we got a dud: The first inch of caulk that we squeezed from the tube was clear, despite the tube’s “white” designation. However, as we kept squeezing, the caulk turned white and all was well. This product was easy to apply, and the 5.5-ounce tube is a nice meet-in-the-middle between a small tube and a large caulking gun. We liked that this product created strong, flexible barriers and took only 30 minutes to dry. While it’ll take 20 years to prove that this product is as mold-resistant as it claims, it works very well as a shower caulk.

Get the Mold Armor caulk at The Home Depot.

Best Quick-Drying

GE Supreme Silicone Kitchen & Bath Sealant

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Product Specs 

• Type: Silicone
• Paintable: No
• Dry time: 30 minutes to 24 hours

Pros

• 100 percent silicone formula dries completely waterproof and mold-resistant for long-term use
• The flexible formula should not shrink, crack, or yellow with use
• Affordable price point compared to other caulks on the market

Cons

• Not a paintable formula; may not fit into some bathroom spaces’ current color schemes

A quick-drying caulk doesn’t do much good if a DIYer has to redo it when it shrinks and cracks. That’s not the case with GE’s Supreme Silicone. This special, low-odor formula creates a waterproof and mold-resistant barrier that doesn’t shrink, crack, or yellow over time. And, better yet, it does it while drying in just 30 minutes, but users should wait up to 24 hours for the best results.

We used the Supreme Silicone along the longest seam in our test tub and shower, and we were very happy with the result. Not only did it flow well, but it was also reasonably easy to clean up after (for a silicone caulk). Our bead dried in 30 minutes, and the bright white caulk gave the seam a nice finished look. We did have a relatively large gap in the bottom of the surround that we needed to apply a bit extra to, and the 30-minute dry time was a big boost. The only downside that we found is this product isn’t paintable.

Get the GE Sealants & Adhesives caulk at Amazon, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, or Ace Hardware.

Best Paintable

Red Devil Kitchen & Bath Siliconized Acrylic Caulk

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Product Specs 

• Type: Siliconized
• P