Silicone repair and what to use

esquisseallure · Post by **esquisseallure** » Sat Oct 10, 2020 5:13 am

Hello guys, I imagine this question is asked quite a bit but resources send to be spread amongst all the silicone doll forums. I was originally using smooth on sil poxy but I figure since my old tube is dying because of the age I would try a new one.

The smooth on sil poxy worked fine but it dried semi hard but still flexible but still harder than any silicone you'd use it on. It seems like the other favorite is the Permatex Flowable Silicone Windshield and Glass Sealer. I also saw that JB Weld's all purpose rtv silicone adhesive could work.

Other than the sil poxy, the rest are dirt cheap but none are reversible. I just wanted some advice before I attempted something. I literally just need to repair a finger poke but you know. I'm looking for something that's softer than the sil poxy. Hell.. I may a well pick up both and do a test run on and just a just squeeze out a bead for testing.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Sat Oct 10, 2020 5:55 am

Post subject: Re: Repairing/Smoothing Silicone Skin?
Mix a few % of silicone oil with the silicone sealant to reduce the viscosity, it does make the rubber softer

gonestill77 · Post by **gonestill77** » Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:46 pm

Permatex is good. Takes longer to dry/set than silpoxy, but is softer than Silpoxy.
Don't forget to get acetone and thoroughly clean the area with it first before you apply the silicone.

esquisseallure · Post by **esquisseallure** » Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:59 pm

Hmm.. strangely I couldn't find it at Lowes, maybe just an inventory issue. I'll be sure to try that then.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:56 am

Down under, Lowes is a clothing store

Wheezer · Post by **Wheezer** » Mon Oct 12, 2020 12:59 am

Maybe that is why he could not find it.

Average Joe · Post by **Average Joe** » Tue Oct 20, 2020 12:36 am

If I was wanting something that dried fast and soft, without color, and that will bond to platinum silicone, I'd try Smooth-On Ecoflex 00-35 Fast. Cleaning the part to be repaired would be critical.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Tue Oct 20, 2020 2:26 am

Ecoflex™ 00-35 FAST is a soft, fast cure platinum-catalyzed silicone that is versatile and easy to use. Parts A and B are mixed 1:1 by weight or volume, pot life is about 2.5 minutes and rubber cures in about 5 minutes at room temperature with negligible shrinkage. Low viscosity ensures easy mixing and pouring. Rubber cures without "tacky" surface, is very soft, very strong and very "stretchy, stretching many times its original size. EcoFlex™ 00-35 is off-white translucent and can be color pigmented using Silc Pig™ silicone color pigments.

Not a lot of time to get pigment into the mix
Other than that it seems a good product for Silicone repairs

https://www.smooth-on.com/products/ecoflex-00-35/
Safety – Use in a properly ventilated area (“room size” ventilation). Wear safety glasses, long sleeves, wear vinyl gloves only to minimize contamination risk.
Store and use material at room temperature (73°F/23°C).
Warmer temperatures will drastically reduce working time and cure time.
Can be thinned up to a maximum of 10% but reduces the strength of the material

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Tue Oct 20, 2020 2:38 am

Silly me, add the pigment to Parts A & B before mixing

Average Joe · Post by **Average Joe** » Tue Oct 20, 2020 11:34 am

seagull wrote:
Not a lot of time to get pigment into the mix
Other than that it seems a good product for Silicone repairs

https://www.smooth-on.com/products/ecoflex-00-35/
Safety – Use in a properly ventilated area (“room size” ventilation). Wear safety glasses, long sleeves, wear vinyl gloves only to minimize contamination risk.
Store and use material at room temperature (73°F/23°C).
Warmer temperatures will drastically reduce working time and cure time.
Can be thinned up to a maximum of 10% but reduces the strength of the material

Temperature is important, cooler = slower, warmer = faster. At 73*F the pot life is usually faster than what they say. I use silicone products every day and the instructions are not perfect

They do make slower silicone and also additives to slow the cure time but I like the fast ones for small repairs. Platinum catalyst is not rugged and many things can disable it which is why it doesn't cure on TPE, tin is better for TPE. Everything must be very clean and no latex gloves or anything with sulfur.

Mix pigment to one part of the silicone this way you can see it is mixed. Pigment is not needed for a small repair with clear silicone.

They use that same safety disclaimer on every product. When mixing 10 grams ever so often, I don't think ventilation is important.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Tue Oct 20, 2020 3:48 pm

Some of us have industrial backgrounds and have acquired chemical sensitivities over our working lives
The safety information is to cover all possible risks
Anyone with compromised lung function will ensure there is always adequate ventilation when using chemicals of any type