BAL            Using Evostick rubber solution                                         Tue 15 Sept 2009

In all DIY activities the operator is on his own.  No responsibility is ever given by a magazine or other publication medium.  This website follows that principle.  However, there are a lot of things that people discover that it would be a sin to keep to oneself.  I hope to enlighten a few souls with tips I have found out by trying things.  Where I know there is a bit of a hazard I will mention it, but my disclaimers still stands.

I expect just about every DIY-wallah knows of Evostick rubber solution.  The main use is for coating things like Formica and the base on which it is intended to glue it.  You use as comb-like spreader to apply the goo.  One surface has the strings of goo horizontal and the other surface has the strings in a vertical plane.  When the two surfaces have been allowed to semi-dry, they are pressed together.  Separating them is then a job and a half.

I have tried to buy a thinner in a hardware shop for Evostick and been told that nothing is available.  You could use petrol, but it is rather slow to evaporate and has an unpleasant smell.  So I thought I'd try acetone.  It seems to work wonderfully.  It's probably more volatile than petrol meaning that a fire-risk would be greater.  I found that a local Co-op pharmacist got me 500ml for about £4.  I poured about 50ml into the Evostick tin and screwed the lid back on.  I gave the tin a thorough shaking and found that the goo was much less thick, but it still had its film-strength as shown by the long filament that forms when you dip a screwdriver in to the tin to get some out to use.

I have a PVC squeezzee bottle that I use to squirt water in some places.  That bottle seems to be extremely difficult to replace when it starts to crack and leak.  Most small plastic bottles are made of a harder plastic that cracks almost immediately.  So I decided to try and repair and strengthen the bottle.  It seems to be a success.

Use a long thin screwdriver to dip into the goo, and twirl the string that forms as you remove the screwdriver.  The filament of goo seems to get ever thinner without breaking; but persevere!  Smear the goo that is on the screwdriver on to the the PVC bottle to cover the area that you want to repair.  Tale a small piece of cotton material and lay it on the coated bottle.  Then smear a layer of goo over the fabric.

The repair is not very pretty, but it seems to be a successful repair.  And I don't see why a similar repair couldn't be made in all sorts of circumstances.  The rubber film is quite strong and very flexible.  I would imagine that almost any container could be repaired in this way provided that it wasn't going to contain a spirit or an oil.  Whether it would impart an unpleasant taste to a beverage fluid, I don't know; but I doubt that it would be poisonous.

As with almost all DIY tips the user has to use his own gumption in deciding whether it is appropriate in any particular case.

Let me know how you get on with YOUR repair.  CDCNottm@AOL.com