Shower Seal Strips: every profile type explained

The main shower seal strip types

Magnetic strip: two magnetic profiles pull a pivot door shut. Lip (wiper) strip: a soft lip for sliding and bi-fold doors. U-channel: wraps the glass edge and seals to wall, floor or ceiling. Bottom seal: sits at the base of the glass with a wiper lip. Corner and wall profiles: join glass to glass or glass to wall.

How to pick the right seal strip

Three details are enough: the spot (door, base, wall or corner), the door type (pivot, sliding, bi-fold) and the glass thickness (4/6/8/10 mm). Every strip has a tolerance range — e.g. 6 to 8 mm. Too loose and it drips; an exact fit seals tight. Universal seal strips cover many sizes; branded enclosures may need the original profile.

Read the cross-section: identify any strip without a name

The end of a seal strip tells you what it is. A dark strip embedded in the profile is a magnet core — a magnetic closing strip. Soft protruding fins are wiper lips — a lip seal for sliding doors or the base. An enclosed air pocket is a hollow chamber, the “bubble” design that compresses against a threshold. A U-shape that wraps the glass edge is a channel profile.

The reliable way to match an unknown strip: cut a short piece off the old seal (or use the removed one) and photograph its cross-section next to a ruler. Shape plus dimensions identifies the profile faster than any brand search — most strips are generic shapes made by many manufacturers.

Push-fit, channel or self-adhesive: the three fixing types

Push-fit strips slide straight over the glass edge and grip it by tension — no tools, no adhesive, the standard for frameless glass. Channel (clamp) profiles seat inside the aluminium frame of a framed enclosure; the old strip pulls out of the channel and the new one presses in. Self-adhesive threshold strips are the third type: they stick to the tray or floor at the entry and act as a low water barrier.

The fixing type is not a free choice — it is set by where the strip goes. Glass edge means push-fit, frame channel means channel profile, floor means self-adhesive. Mixing them up (an adhesive strip on a glass edge, say) is a short-lived repair.

Glass thickness and tolerance: what “6-8mm” really means

Strips are sold for glass thicknesses of 4, 6, 8 or 10 mm — or for a range such as “6-8mm”, meaning the channel grips any glass within that span. The range is a genuine fit, not a compromise, as long as your glass actually falls inside it. Outside the range the strip either will not push on or sits loose and leaks.

Measure with a caliper at the exposed glass edge, not by eye — the difference between 6 and 8 mm is hard to judge and is the single most common ordering mistake. Two or three readings along the edge rule out a slip.

Read more: Enter your glass thickness in the configurator

Cutting and fitting a seal strip cleanly

Cut with a sharp craft knife against a straight edge, or with mitre shears for soft profiles. Where two strips meet at a corner, cut both at a 45° mitre so the lips meet without a gap — a square butt joint always leaves a channel for water. Order around 10% more length than measured so a miscut costs a few centimetres, not a reorder.

Fit on clean, dry glass: wipe the edge down, push the strip on from one end, and press it home along its length. If a strip fights you, warm it gently with a hairdryer — soft and slightly warm, it slides on far more easily.