ASK MBA: HOW DO I REMOVE DRIED TUBELESS TIRE SEALANT FROM MY FRAME?
There's no easy way.
GET IT OFF
Q: Whenever I get a puncture in my tire, the sealant makes an absolute mess of the frame and linkage on my bike. Is there a good way to get sealant off the frame without damaging the paint?
A: That is a problem we have all the time here at MBA. There are many different sealant brands out there, and each one coats the frame a little differently when this happens. Stan’s tends to coat the frame in a thick latex layer that can sometimes be peeled off relatively easily with your fingers (yes, you’ll get some under your nails; it’s gross), whereas the sealant that Reserve Wheels provides hardens and sticks solidly onto the surface, making it a lot harder to remove. With these types of sealant, we tend to soak it with some sort of soapy water or bike wash a couple of times and then, using a shop towel or microfiber cloth, slowly scrub it away. We have also used 90-percent isopropyl alcohol to break it up slightly. It’s a pain in the butt, but it works eventually. One thing you need to watch out for while you’re doing this is granules of sand that have gotten stuck to the sealant while wet. These can easily cause little scratches in your paint that some might not notice, but you will. In the end, it’s a game of patience. Sealant is sticky stuff and stubborn to get off for a reason. The best thing we can do is hope it stays inside our tires where it belongs.
Have a question for the MBA crew? You can send your brain busters to [email protected].
