PSA : Removing tyre sealant residue

The video below popped up on my YouTube feed the other day, so I thought I’d give it a try. Bought one of these (ergonomics seemed better than the block in the video) and by Jove it works! Fifteen minutes on an old DHR from the back of the shed and it’s looking much less manky.

Maybe everyone already knows this, but I’ve not seen it mentioned so…

Thanks for that. Ordered the thingy in the link in the video. Will see if it works when needed.

I cant see the link in the video.???

Oh, its OK.

I watched it on you tube and the links are there.

Why do you bother removing the residue?

A circular version you could attach to a drill would be great !

Yeah, I tried cleaning it off, once, then gave up. Maybe if you want to sell a tyre, but otherwise can’t see the point. Weight weenie perhaps?

It can help when re mounting a tyre if the bead area is clear of sealant.

I’d only be tempted if it was U shaped to clean the bead area. The rest can stop on the tyre, the sealant has already done it’s job and sealed any holes, all you are doing is using yet more sealant to do it again.

Can’t watch that video, he’s annoying.

Don’t really understand why you’d bother tbf.

Annoying video. Product sounds good. Reason I want to clean up tyres is they stuck to themselves making mounting and inflating difficult after they’ve been removed and stored. Can see it taking quite a while to clean a 2.5, but rubber should be useful anyway (they sell it for adhesive removal)

I just clean the bead to aid seating. Unless it’s orange seal, that stuff is awesome to sit and peel, you can get the whole lot off in one go, very therapeutic.

Interesting trick that, wouldn’t have thought of it.

For me the trick was just better sealant, I’ve switched to OKO Hi Fibre (same as Halo) and it’s water based, it doesn’t dry up anything like as badly as stans and unless you let it get completely dried out, it can be reactivated/rediluted with water, and still cleans off easily. Even if it’s 100% dried out, you cna’t dilute it again but it’s still easier to clean out, a powerwasher takes it off pretty easily frinstance. Stans is excellent but the drying out got to be annoying, especially since I keep my bikes in the house.

@northwind are you having success with that? I tried some form of oko some years back and it just didn’t seal anything like as well as stans

Wonder if skateboard Grip Gum is the same stuff? Comes in much wider blocks and would be easier for tyres.

Venom Skateboard Griptape Cleaner

Apart from the reasons above, another reason for me to do it is that the residue seems to really attract mould when left in the shed.

@clubby – that looks similar. I went for the one with a wooden handle linked in my OP because it looked wider and easier to hold. There’s less surface area but it seems to do the job just fine.

@b33k34 – a 29″ 2.4 DHR took about 10-15 minutes with the one linked in my OP

That’s also known as a sanding belt cleaner, the griptape cleaner is the same stuff too, but sandingbelt cleaner comes in bigger and better value blocks 🙂 Also handy for saving yourself a fortune in sandpaper.

TBH I’d watched bought a sanding belt cleaner and its still a right mess in the tyre 🙁