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tooooooooooob-less....home made sealant

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
ok, I finally converted and stopped using tubes, mostly. Long story short I suck at mounting DH tires and getting the tubes out of the way sure made it a lot easier to get them onto the rims.

So I set all my shit up tubeless if it wasn't already and I've got my technique down pretty good now, I aint be ticklin' or nothin.

I'm sick and tired of buying stans though, that shit is expensive. I realize I shouldn't need to add it often or anything, but with 2 kids, a wife and myself all having multiple bikes/wheelsets/tirecombo's etc. It's more expensive than toooobs were. (almost)

So, long winded question is long winded. What home made sealant combo's have you found to work reliably? or should I just keep buying stans?

I saw a bunch of shit on MTBR but to be honest my head started to spin and I also don't know who is clueless and who rides over there so I figured I'd come here where I know that 99% of us are jackasses and 1% of us don't even ride, so all answers should be equally as useless, but it still sounded fun!
 
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FlipSide

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,376
804
This version of the recipe found on Empty Beer works very well for me:
  • 1 part Mold Builder Latex
  • 1 part Slime Auto Tire sealant
  • 2 parts RV Antifreeze (the non-toxic type)
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
Stan's also has fine "Chopped Fiberglass" in it. I would go into his shop when he still operated out of a garage to buy stuff. He had big boxes of the raw ingredients all over the place.

An ammonia solution of some unknown strength may be a better solvent. Latex remains liquid when it has a high PH. When the ammonia evaporates the PH drops and it solidifies. Hopefully this happens quickly during a puncture but also causes the inevitable giant stan's boogers inside tires.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Stan's also has fine "Chopped Fiberglass" in it. I would go into his shop when he still operated out of a garage to buy stuff. He had big boxes of the raw ingredients all over the place.

An ammonia solution of some unknown strength may be a better solvent. Latex remains liquid when it has a high PH. When the ammonia evaporates the PH drops and it solidifies. Hopefully this happens quickly during a puncture but also causes the inevitable giant stan's boogers inside tires.
Go get some of that tap latex, open it up and inhale deeply. Tell me if you think there's enough ammonia in there. :D

I actually mix the tap stuff with stans to dilute it. It works with water too though.

I didn't know about the fiberglass as coagulant. Probably not hard to duplicate though. I do know stans by itself does fuck all for real holes.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
Go get some of that tap latex, open it up and inhale deeply. Tell me if you think there's enough ammonia in there. :D

I didn't know about the fiberglass as coagulant. Probably not hard to duplicate though. I do know stans by itself does fuck all for real holes.
The fiberglass is just a filler used to clog punctures not a coagulant. Anything could be used. Other brands use paper pulp. I'd recommend glitter. It would make things more fun when you get a puncture and it just sprays all over the fucking place. Might as well mix in some stripper scent while you are at it.

There probably is an ideal ammonia ratio for fast sealing vs drying out in your tires while you masturbate on the shitter.

Stan's isn't the best stuff out there, but it is the easiest to DIY. It is pretty much is a DIY product that some people pay a lot of money for. 3 ingredients. You could easily filter some of the real stuff to determine the solid/liquid ratio, then measure fluid density to figure out how much you have to dilute.
 
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FlipSide

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,376
804
I've always been worried of the fillers people add to clog large punctures. It seems to me like a great way to clog the valve more than anything else. I've never tried it though...
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I've always been worried of the fillers people add to clog large punctures. It seems to me like a great way to clog the valve more than anything else. I've never tried it though...
Even stans by itself does a pretty good job of that. The thicker stuff I use is pretty heinous. I just use valve stems with removable cores and clean them every once in a while.

Westy: I tried using glitter before. It doesn't seem to work like you think it would. It seems like it settles out too badly.
And yeah that's what I meant by coagulant.......filler, not a phase change.

And I'd be curious about the ideal ammonia conc. Living in about 10% relative humidity is nice for some things though.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
This version of the recipe found on Empty Beer works very well for me:
  • 1 part Mold Builder Latex
  • 1 part Slime Auto Tire sealant
  • 2 parts RV Antifreeze (the non-toxic type)
This seems to be the most popular recipe I keep finding.

I have no performance complaints of the stans, just sick of paying $$ for something I know I can create cheaper.
 

FlipSide

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,376
804
This seems to be the most popular recipe I keep finding.
That's why I settled on this one. I confirm that it is a good recipe and I didn't change anything when I had to make another batch.

Actually, I think it is even a bit better than Stan's recipe. The last bottle I bought was very liquid and not as good as I recalled the product to be.
 
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kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Just water? No ammonia of any sort to keep it from drying up too quickly?

How much do you dilute it out?
There's already a shit ton of ammonia in it. But you don't need to add a ton of water to it. At least I didn't, but my goal was something thicker than stans.

Jars of that stuff get thicker the older they are too. Brand new, it really doesn't require much water at all.





What's the thinking on anitfreeze? That stuff tends to be kind of hydrophillic. As in it seems like it would make the solvent harder to evaporate.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I'd say that or less. My goal wasn't to save money though, it was to get a sealant that sealed.

You can find those jars for cheaper than what they're advertised for there. I know I've bought them for cheaper.

32oz of that stuff goes a loooong way.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
I'd say that or less. My goal wasn't to save money though, it was to get a sealant that sealed.

You can find those jars for cheaper than what they're advertised for there. I know I've bought them for cheaper.

32oz of that stuff goes a loooong way.
Mine is two fold, I am having good luck with the stans, but I also would like to save some money. Far too many bikes/wheelsets that are in the rotation between the 4 of us that if I can save some $$ that would be great.
 

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
I've had MUCH better results using Orange Seal than ever had using Stan's.
http://orangesealed.com/
Maybe you have, but the one time I saw that shit in person as it was pissing out of a friends tire it didn't seal a damn thing, but the 2oz bottle of stans we had laying around sealed it right up.
same experience. their chain lube is just as worthless. i swear i could pee on my chain and it would be lubed better.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
If you add ammonia to the liquid latex, it'll eat up the gluing that bonds the tire together and form bubbles on the outer surface. It happens to Maxxis/Specialized or any other CST made tires.



As for the "Chopped Fiberglass" stuff, you better start thinking about Mother Earth, as the Syndicate guys do!



But seriously, I used a combination of water-based wood glue, liquid latex, water and dremel-ground pencil eraser's burrs. This combo lasted about 4 months in the summer, which was pretty hot down here, and sealed punctures up to ~3mm (never had any bigger ones, so YMMV). I don't have the right proportions, since I ended up mixing it all until I got a consistency similar to Stan's. A friend gave me the recipe, and he also adds grindings from an EVA foam sheet to clog up the bigger holes.
 
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Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
If you add ammonia to the liquid latex, it'll eat up the gluing that bonds the tire together and form bubbles on the outer surface. It happens to Maxxis/Specialized or any other CST made tires.



As for the "Chopped Fiberglass" stuff, you better start thinking about Mother Earth, as the Syndicate guys do!


But seriously, I used a combination of water-based wood glue, liquid latex, water and dremel-ground pencil eraser's burrs. This combo lasted about 4 months in the summer, which was pretty hot down here, and sealed punctures up to ~3mm (never had any bigger ones, so YMMV). I don't have the right proportions, since I ended up mixing it all until I got a consistency similar to Stan's. A friend gave me the recipe, and he also adds grindings from an EVA foam sheet to clog up the bigger holes.
I've never had that happen, although I seem to remember that was an issue when running sealant in some non-tubeless tires?
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
That's crazy. I've used that molding stuff for over a decade (which wreaks of NH4) on probably 60+ maxxis tires and have never had that happen. Probably a dozen specialized tires in that time too. What's that pic from? Just stans?

Are you sure you're the real slimshady?



I remember kendas and their bubble friendly casings.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
I saw a bunch of shit on MTBR but to be honest my head started to spin and I also don't know who is clueless and who rides over there so I figured I'd come here where I know that 99% of us are jackasses and 1% of us don't even ride, so all answers should be equally as useless, but it still sounded fun!
thanks.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
Roofing tar mixed with pressurized liquid butane would probably work nicely. Not only would the liquid butane would boil off helping to maintain tire pressure in the case of a puncture, it would foam the tar enabling the tar to reach any sidewall punctures.

If tar wasn't your cup of tea the same could probably be done with styrene dissolved in liquid heptane.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
That's crazy. I've used that molding stuff for over a decade (which wreaks of NH4) on probably 60+ maxxis tires and have never had that happen. Probably a dozen specialized tires in that time too. What's that pic from? Just stans?

Are you sure you're the real slimshady?



I remember kendas and their bubble friendly casings.
This happened right here to a Derpalized Renegade:



And a friend's Monorail gets smaller ones every now and then.

BTW, I'm not the real SlimShady, although I play him on the Interwebz.
 
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kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
my bad, didnt see that you already looked. still, could possibly help.
It did, a little, but I don't know who is who over there and who to trust and who to dismiss. At the end of the day I'm satisfied with the performance of stans, just not the cost. If I can make it cheaper and not bubble my tires I'll be a happy man.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
They just do that when you wear them down too much, it's a safety measure.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
bump. Stans is getting expensive, so I dug up this thread to find a recipe. But that mold builder stuff is pretty expensive too, so I'm wondering if there's really a cost savings.

Then I went a looked at CRC's site. They have 1L of that Joe's No Flats stuff for $25. Seems like a good deal to me. Gets good reviews on their site, but they are old reviews. Anyone here have experience with it?