Homebrew Tyre Sealant…

Right, against my better judgement, I just ghettoed a Kenda Nevegal tyre on my new 29er front wheel. My God Kenda's non UST tyres are porous! Anyway…

Amazingly it went up pretty quickly and easily (valve core removed to aid inflation mind), just one velox rim tape on the rim (Mavic TN719) then the 24" tube on top slit down the middle, tyre fitted, pumped like a maddun, then put the sealant in…

Anyway, first time on the "homebrew" sealant as I've previously just used Stans, but it's bloody expensive if you've got a few bikes all running tubeless! So bought the ingredients, and followed the tried and tested formula I've heard about from many people to the T…

1 Part Latex
1 Part Antifreeze
1 Part Slime
2 Parts Water

Well, I added a small squirt of washing up liquid too to aid with frothing to be fair… Anyway, I know it's a Kenda, but it foamed and frothed for bloody AGES! It finally seems to have sealed and be holding air fully, but is there anything else I should be adding to the homebrew to help it seal quicker? And before anybody says anything, I had to put a lot (probably well over 100ml) of sealant into the tyre in the end, as half of it seemed to be pissing through the tyre sidewalls!

Any useful hints or advice?

glitter is good, as then you can cut out the slime

I tried a couple of 29er Nevagals and just couldn't get them to seal.

No matter how much Stans I put in they kept springing pin hole leaks in the sidewalls.

like rob says, add some 'micro particles' aka glitter.

My recipe is
1 part latex
1 part screenwash
1 part slime

I have heard that short strands of human hair is better than glitter

I have heard that short strands of human hair is better than glitter

😯

halfbe yesterday

Right, will go buy some glitter then… Or get my haircut soon (it needs it anyway!) and add it into the mix… Stu, experiencing the same pinhole leaks you're talking of, but only very minor now it seems. Tyre has now been inflated for 24 hours, and though not yet been ridden, seems to have held almost all of the 60psi I put in it… The sidewalks foamed for almost an hour straight to start though, and I had to top the sealant up twice! Will take it on a gentle local ride first to test out it's durability I think…

on the stan's site it does not recommend preasures above 40 psi

Whyte1, show me where I've used a single product by stans…?

😉

I always pump tyres up to 60psi to begin with, to make sure they've sealed properly and are going to hold air. I then let them down to riding pressure once I'm happy and go ride…

what latex are you using? model stuff?

The latex was from an art shop, about £10 for a litre.
Slime and cheapo antifreeze from Halfords…
Might try less water next time, running with 2 parts water to 1 part everything else does make it pretty runny, certainly way more so than some stans sealant.

Does anyone know if adding washing up liquid has any adverse effects? I'm assuming mixing some in will help with the frothing of the mix you see…

This may cost less but how much time have you spent formulating this a **** about? surely that is a cost too?

The beauty of screen wash is that it is detergent, antifreeze and water all in one.

try mtbr there are a few homebrew gurus who might shed some light on the washing up liquid question

LOL @ Rob

My time, though usually quite expensive, is cheap right now cos as of 10 days ago I am now sans job! So plenty of spare on my hands…

Time spent formulating it? 10 minutes searching on mtbr forum for someone else's ingredient list…

Time buying ingredients? Only visited one more shop than if I'd just gone to LBS to buy a litre of stans…

Cost of ingredients so far? Approx £20… about the same as a litre of stans, but this lot will give me 4 litres or more when mixed in the right quantities, so quite a saving really… And seeing as I've got too many bikes, all running tubeless, it makes fiscal sense really!

searching for latex on eBay makes for an interesting evening…

try using glitter strips instead of glitter, they seem to lay across the hole instead of in it allowing the latex to seal quicker.

I use a cut up strands of fibreglass, which you can get in halfords.

some antifreeze…and abit of water.

1 part latex to 3 parts parts water/antifreeze is too much.

I think the best solution is to inject your tyres with a Tyre Sealant that way you will be protected from punctures all the time

Tractor tyre sealant is cheaper.

Presumably this was the link you were after:

http://punctureseal-it.co.uk/blog/

Tractor Tyre sealant

this sort of stuff?

http://preventaflat.com/preventaflat/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=28