Originally Posted by
BaggerRyder
I think it really depends on the type of patches used, and how well you are at the repair. I recently repaired a flat I got on my commute home one night with a genuine innovations patch kit and I was able to get another 200 miles on the repair before the tire went flat again. Air leaked from the patched area. Cleaned the area with isopropyl alcohol and roughed up and applied new patch, only got about 50 miles out of that patch before it slipped from over the hole. I definitely don't think all patches are created equal. And my skills probably aren't the best.
A properly applied patch should never "slip". I suspect that the patches you use are using rubber cement and not vulcanizing fluid. Vulcanizing fluid isn't the same as rubber cement. I always use Rema TipTop patches. They aren't just pieces of rubber and a tube of rubber cement. The patches and the vulcanizing fluid are two parts of a system that are meant to be used together. The patches and fluid use chemistry to make new rubber at a molecular level. Once the bond is made the patch becomes part of the tube and can't be physically separated from the tube.
That said, the single most important step to do with the Remas is to wait. You can't wait too long. I've let them sit for weeks (forgot about the patch job) and it made a good bond.