Sugru: Fun Toy for DIY Fixes
Sugru is a DIY miracle and I been wanting to buy it, but never got around to doing so. Sugru’s a plasticine-like material allows you to mould it to your desired shape and sets after time to a strong, flexible silicone rubber. It is great for DIY-ers, hackers, or just to keep around the house for an easy home fix. It comes in various colours, and adheres well to aluminum, steel, glass, wood, and even some fabrics and plastics. I am glad I pulled the buy trigger a month ago from Amazon.
Some product stats…
- Self-setting rubber, formed by hand and cures at room temperature overnight
- Self-adhesive – bonds to aluminum, steel, ceramics, glass, wood and some fabrics. Removable from most non-porous surfaces
- Waterproof, UV resistant, electrically insulating and dishwasher proof when cured
- Bendable to any color (mix blue, yellow to get green) and temperature resistant from -58 to +356 degrees Fahrenheit
Here’s what I used my first two packs of Sugru for.
- A Earphone hook on my monitor
Had some leftover Sugru so mould it as a hook on the side of my monitor. It has been propping up my headphones for a good one month now.
- Cable fixes (multiple).
Perfect for Apple cables, micro USB cables that tend to fray at the joint.
- Antenna Rubber Base Cracked
My car (a Hyundai Avante) has an antenna with a rubber base that has hardened and cracked over time. I was concerned on water seepage and I understand Komoco charges around $40 for replacement. I needed a cheap fix. Used about half to 3/4 pack of Sugru here and it has worked well over the last one month. I peeled away the existing rubber and used Sugru around the antenna. It bonds well with the metal body.
- Side skirt Reinforcement
I had an accident a couple of years ago and that broke the rear mount holding my side skirt in place. The glue used previously had came off and my side skirt was swaying freely. It was only held up by the front mount and was in danger of one day coming off. Sugru worked it’s magic here and initially I had reservations that it wouldn’t be strong enough to hold up the side skirt but I have been proved wrong. Pardon the dirty car. Been travelling to the further corners of our island recently.
- Free spinning frying pan
A little Sugru at the bottom helped secure the handle in place.
I bought my pack of Sugru from Amazon (ships free to Singapore) for a pack of 8 for US$19.99. Amazon Link here (affiliate). In comparison, there’s a Qoo10 seller which sells a single pack for S$19. That’s total rip-off pricing. Alternatively, order them directly from sugru.com, they ship international, and accept local credit cards. A 12 x 5g bag (they come in small foil packs) costs £12.99, and shipping is £1.91.
It’s hot here, and unopened Sugru don’t last the 6 months they are supposed to. You should keep them in their original packaging in the fridge and they will last much longer. Otherwise the warm weather in Singapore will result in the Sugru drying out, and crumbling when you try to knead it.
All in all, remember that the tag line is, “Fix the things you love”. It’s not cheap, so use it sparingly and it goes a long way. For small fixes, a single pack can be used multiple times, but as it dries fast, do plan ahead what you want to use them for. Check out more ideas on Instagram – via hashtag #Sugru with Instatag.