Kitchen sink drains!

[grumpy0374]

The problem with silicon is that its a "bit.h" to get off, and you do have to get it all off, even the residue. Virtually nothing will stick or adhere to it, even a new bead of silicon won't stick.
Grumpy

[KyDan]

For shower and tub surrounds-
DAP Quick Seal Plus Red Tube
Premium Kitchen and Bath adhesive sealant
High Gloss bright white.

It goes on like latex- water clean up
Once dry it feels like silicone but it's paintable.

I've been using it for years.
On a little rental house we found someone had "sealed" a crack
in a soffit over the sink with silicone seal. Paint would NOT stick but
merely beaded up and ran off.
I smeared a thin coat of Dap quick seal and in 30 min was able to
successfully paint the area.

[nomad297]

Putty should be used, but on solid surface sinks you should not use normal plumber's putty -- you should use oil-less, non-staining plumber's putty. The oil in the regular plumber's putty can migrate into the solid surface sink causing it to stain.

As a plumber, there have been times that I have used latex or siliconized latex caulk instead of putty to seal the flange of a cheap plastic strainer to a cheap plastic sink. Usually these are the cheap laundry sinks my customers find at Lowe's and Home Depot which also have plastic nuts to hold the strainer down. These drains just cannot be tightened enough if I use putty. I have learned by experience over the last 34 years.

Bruce