So I'm sick and tired of the glue in the patch kits drying up, and want to just have some that I keep around the house for patching tires. I want two things:

1. The patch should work properly
2. The glue shouldn't dry up in its container

The store had two kinds of rubber cement: some designed for patching tires in a tube that looks like it'll dry out after the first use, and some in a glass jar with a brush, but that's labeled for arts and crafts. Which is better?

(Note also, by the way, that both things are the same price but the arts & crafts glue is 4x larger quantity, so it is much cheaper.)

The stuff in the tube meant for patching tubes is better but the office supply stuff will work if you do your cleaning and prep work adequately. I've been using "Elmers" rubber cement successfully for years but I'm careful to clean and rough up the tube area to be patched and to let the cement coating dry completely before applying the Rema patch and to keep my fingers off of the tube side of the patch. It's not the ideal glue but I always have it around the house and it does work.

You can find stuff like this: https://www.amazon.com/Slime-1050-Rub...r+patch+cement
at Walmart or any auto parts store. I find the 8 0z cans last 5-8 yrs, they do gradually thicken over that time frame but are usuable for most of that time.
I am still on my second can, bought my first can ~1999.

The two options listed were what was available at Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart had Slime in an 8-oz can, I would have bought it and not posted this thread.

If your sick and tired of dried glue switch to glueless patches...problem solved, I had the same complaint so I made the switch 15 to properly closer to 20 years ago and never looked back to glue on patches. Of course you need to use a good brand, the only two that I use is the Specialized Fatboy and the Park brand all others I avoid, and in all those years I've only had one patch fail and that was Scab (I think that's what it was called) brand.

The method to apply a glueless patch effectively is not a lot different than a glue on. You have to prepare the tube by buffing an area that is slightly larger than the size of the patch, then peel the patch off the backing from the corner and only touching the smallest possible are of the patch, then place the patch so that's centered over the hole, then press the patch and tube between your thumb and fingers as hard as you can for 30 seconds, then look at the patch and if you see any cloudy spots then repress for 30 seconds. Now for the question of the day, what step did I forget to mention here?

According to the MSDS, Slime cement contains no vulcanizing accelerators so it's not really different than craft rubber cement. The manufacturer of Slime cement indicates that it is not specific to tire/tube patching.

Fortunately several inexpensive cements have accelerators and are specifically made for patching.

The auto parts store is probably the easiest option. They will have both a small can and tubes. That's where I get mine. Contrary to popular belief, I would not recommend simple rubber cement. It is exactly what it says it is but the cement for patches is a vulcanizing liquid. Different animal entirely. It's a similar theory as in building model airplanes and airplane glue. Airplane glue contains toluene and other solvents/carriers. It's not really a glue. It works by reacting with the two plastic parts and melt/fuse them together. Same basic reaction with vulcanizing fluid. It's not "glueing" the patch to the tube. It is melting/fusing the patch to the tube.

Rema Has Brush in the cap Tins of the proper stuff .. Auto supply mentioned.. another source,

Go where they repair Truck & tractor tires for other sources if you can do the web thing on your own..

Contact Cement can be bought by the Gallon..

So, what this question is really about?

Are you asking about switching from vulcanizing fluid to a classic rubber cement? By modern standards, classic rubber cements do not work very well for tire patching. At least they definitely will not work as well as vulcanizing fluid. On the flip side, if the seal is not tight enough, vulcanizing fluid will evaporate much faster.

And Glue Huffing has had companies taking out the Volatile Solvents from a lot of their Products.

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...the stuff in the cans with the brush will last a very long time before it dries out, because unlike those little tubes, you can reseal it pretty well. The only thing they sell at Walmart that will work for you is new tubes.

I keep opened patch cement tubes in the refrigerator, they don't dry up so fast that way. Carry a new tube on long rides.

I avoid the problem of glue drying out by not patching tubes one at a time. just wait until I have a 10-12 tubes that need patching and do them all at once.

gives me about 12-18 months worth of tubes and uses most of the contents of one of the little tubes.

I've heard of people doing that, I personally, please note that means my opinion, or my preference for me personally. (yes I have to say all of that because I get people on this forum replying when I don't preface a post like this with all those disclaimers that I'm telling them my way is the best way and all other ways suck, that's not true of course but it's life on forums). I repair most flats on the side of the road instead of just using my spare tube right off. The reason I do that is because in most cases I can repair the tube faster than I can replacing the tube due to a method I have. Plus I can usually find the leak faster right there on the side of the road then to take it home and try to find it. I also don't like to have that many tubes laying about and then have to spend a lot of time fixing all those tubes.

not sure I can visualize a process of repairing a tube that's faster than simply swapping one out.

last thing I want to do in TX summer heat is prolong the time I spend stopped fixing a flat.

That's because I use a method taught to me 40 years ago by an older cyclist that most people today have forgotten about. A lot of flats can be repaired without ever removing wheel from the bike and the tire or tube completely off the rim. All I do is leave the wheel on the bike then remove about half the the bead off of one side of the rim with the hole being at the center, I then remove about a fourth to a third of the tube again with hole in the center, then I do the patching thing, and restuff the tire, and inflate.

One time I had a flat while riding with a friend and was able to repair the flat with the wheel still on the bike, and the friend told me couldn't believe how much faster that was...after he commented about what the hell I was doing!

That's OK if your bike is a rod bike roadster with full chaincase, but on a road bike you spend no more than 5-10 secs taking the wheel off.

That's fine IF you:

a. Can locate exactly where the puncture is in the tube.
b. Can find the thing that caused the hole and remove it from the tire before patching and reinflating the tube.

Most flats I get are caused by such small items like a sliver of glass or a tiny wire that I can't find the puncture even by inflating the tube with my mini-pump and it takes immersing it a bucket of water after I get home. There is no way I could find it while the tube was still mostly in the tire. Also, with the tire completely off the bike I can carefully inspect the inside and locate the cause of the flat. Otherwise what you wind up with is a very fast repair followed by another flat 100 feet later.

I don't carry a pump, not going to waste CO2 cartridges finding a puncture. also don't have great experiences with press-on patches.

I'll stay with removing the wheel and popping in a fresh tube.

I have a road bike, but 5 to 10 seconds plus another 5 to 10 seconds putting it back on, not to mention another few seconds removing the tire and another putting it back on, but those seconds means I will get done before you.

You have a point if all you use is CO2, but I'm not racing, nor do I wish to pay for my air, nor wish to have only a limited air supply, nor wish to deal with the garbage...of course I could just throw the empty carts on the side of the road like most CO2 users do.

Most of time I can find a puncture before I proceed in fixing the flat, in those times I can't then yes I have to remove the wheel, rarely do I have to take the flatted tube home, and even more rarely do I have to submerse the tube to find a leak. I'm not sure why people have trouble locating where a leak is, I never really had that issue, not to say I always find the hole, but large percentage of the time I can.

for the minimal number of flats I get, a few dollars per year for CO2 carts is not a financial burden.

carts are steel and can be recycled. I pick up any I see on the road. it's not a huge number...

+1
It amazes me how many people think removing the wheel is required every time.
The only punctures I have any trouble finding are those tiny wires from steel-belted tires,
but those leak so slowly that I usually don't even notice until I grab the bike for the next ride, and a tire is flat.

A lot of the times the wire stays embedded in the tire so you can see it sticking out, but yeah, the small hole that a wire like that makes is difficult to find on the side of the road if you don't have a piece of wire sticking out as a hint to where it is, or if you drag a small piece of cloth along the inside of the tire and the wire grabs the cloth. That's why I index my tire so that a certain area of the brand label is lined up with the valve, so if I have to remove the (wheel) tire and tube to find a leak and instead my cloth gets stuck by a piece of wire or glass that I couldn't see from the outside I then can reference the tube and find the hole much faster. Even with all of that there are rare occasions I still can't find the hole, or if I'm in a hurry, which is rare too, then I replace the tube.

I'm one of those guys that I don't care if my ride is interrupted due to something going on, I voluntarily interrupt my ride to help other cyclists if they need it, I've helped stranded motorists, and I'll stop to investigate a flat if need be. I know that's sacrilege to the cycling community so I apologize for not being more of a true blue cyclist.
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