Slime 1051-A Rubber Cement, Tire Repair, use Plugs or Patches, 1 oz. Tube

This is not the same "rubber cement" as Elmer's school glue. This rubber cement is designed specifically for patching rubber tires. I use it for patching bicycle inner tubes (using vulcanizing tube patches) and it works great; just as well as those little tubes of glue that come in tire patch kits. This large can with built-in brush is so much easier to use than those little glue tubes. The brush built into the lid of the can lays down an even layer of cement very quickly and easily. Let it dry for 5 minutes then apply the patch. Works perfectly every time. If you are patching a bunch of tubes (even over several months), the price for this can is economical.Steps for patching a bicycle inner tube (follow this very carefully and the patch will last for the remaining life of the tube):1. locate the hole in the tube2. mark the hole with a pen3. sandpaper the area around the hole to remove the slick rubber skin on the inner tube4. if you completely sanded off your mark from step 2, mark it again5. apply an even layer of rubber cement over and around the hole, somewhat larger than the size of your patch6. wait 5 minutes for the cement to mostly dry7. remove the protective skin from under your patch8. stick the patch to your cement spot (you did cement a larger area than necessary so the patch edges are completely in the glue area, right?)9. press the patch down hard, all around the patch including the edges (finger pressure is OK, but a rolling tool is better)10. I usually let the patch dry for a couple of hours, but if you need to ride right away, putting it back in the tire and pumping it up will usually work11. if you haven't used the tube yet, pump it up after it dries for a couple of hours and let it hang somewhere, then check it the next day to make the tube is still full of air, meaning your patch is OK12. 95% of the time this procedure will work and the patch will last for the remaining life of the tube13. in the other 5% of the time, you screwed up (maybe not applying enough cement or not centering the patch over the hole) or maybe there was another hole in the tube somewhere. If I can find a 2nd hole, I will patch that, too. Otherwise, I just throw these tubes away instead of trying to figure out what went wrong.

I have been renting several units at a nearby storage facility for over a decade and find it's one of the best places to pick up nails in my tires. I got tired of waiting around for tire shops to plug the nail holes, finding it is much easier and faster to just do it myself. It's generally advised to coat the plugs with rubber cement but each time I open a tube it turns out to be single use only because the tube is completely dried up the next time I need it. A few repairs ago I already had my car up on jack stands with the tire pulled before I realized my tube of rubber cement was dry, so I decided to plug the tire without using rubber cement... the patch ended up with a very slow leak (this had never occurred before). An attempt to re-patch failed so I had to buy a new tire. This proved to me that using rubber cement when plugging a tire is necessary.Although this jar is way more than I needed, I thought I'd give it a try to see if it would not dry out as predictably as a tube. It has now been almost a year since I opened it and I see no signs of it drying out, so the jar packaging seems to seal a lot better than the tubes. Hint: screw the cap on tight and store the jar inverted so air cannot enter. I have found that the best way to store paint, solvents, glue or anything else that can dry out is to invert the container for long term storage to keep the opening sealed from air. Invert inside something which can keep the jar stable -- I have this rubber cement jar stored upside down inside a roll of duct tape. A number of reviewers have said they had great difficulty removing the cap -- if the cap is stuck, a pair of classic slip-joint pliers does the trick easily.Update Oct 10, 2020 — just picked up another nail in a tire... grabbed my still upside-down can of rubber cement, now over a year old, opened it and it was just like new! Worked perfectly. Definitely lasts longer than tubes if stored upside-down so it can't dry out.

Works well with my tire repair kit