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I typically buy tubes with removable valve cores (Qtubes brand typically) and I have some stans leftover from a tubeless tire setup for my mountain bike.

Would adding Stans to the tubes on my commuter bike help prevent flats? Or would this cause more problems than it's worth?

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    I know sealants meant for tubes (like Slime Sealant) are probably better preforming on tubes, but I have stans leftovers handy.
    – Benzo
    Commented Nov 1, 2015 at 15:33

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Are you having problems with flats too frequently for comfort? If not, leave them alone.

If you are, whats causing the flats? Punctures? Too low tire pressure? If its the latter, sealant won't help.

But, people do put Stans sealant into tubes to do the same purpose like Slime to deal with punctures. It comes with the usual caveats just like Slime (possible gumming up of the valve which can cause air leaks at the valve, the movement of the sealant, etc.), but for people who get punctures which are sealable by Slime frequently enough, it can be useful. Stans has a different viscosity and drying time to Slime, so its probably not as good (and its probably more costly to use Stans for this purpose than Slime).

So, yes it would work, maybe not as well as Slime-like sealents, but it would probably be more economical just to buy Slime and use the Stans for your tubeless applications. I think if you're not getting punctures frequently enough to be annoyed, its probably more trouble than its worth to use a Slime-like sealant in the first place.

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  • Regarding gumming up the valve, would it help to add a bit of air to the tire (if available) after the sealant to clean the sealant off the mechanical valve components?
    – dotancohen
    Commented Nov 1, 2015 at 20:30
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    I doubt it would make a significant difference. I'd personally avoid using sealant unless sure that it would reduce my flats to an acceptable rate (e.g. if you lived somewhere with lots of goatheads or similar, you may want slime+ thornproof tubes (tubes made with thicker rubber)).
    – Batman
    Commented Nov 1, 2015 at 20:39
  • A minor thing to note is that you don't want to let the tire go flat, e.g. over the winter. If the sealant dries, you stick the tube together. Also, over time, I think Orange Seal has come to be the preferred sealant, at least among the people I hang out with.
    – Weiwen Ng
    Commented Sep 7, 2023 at 11:23
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I've been using Stan's sealant in my tubes for four years: both my road and mt bike and four bikes of kids/spouse. Averaging about one flat a year for each bike and only on occasion a flat in the field.

When you get a puncture and see a leak make sure to spin the wheel and bounce the wheel with the puncture on the bottom of the wheel so the sealant gets into the hole.

After years of changing out a million tubes, I'd never go back.

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I have used Stan's in my tubes for six years on my bicycling touring. After over 12,000 miles I've never had a flat! My touring bike has tubes with Stan's and my MTB is tubeless with Stan's.

The reason I use tubes in my touring bicycle is because if I did have some puncture or blowout, tubes are easy to deal with in the middle of nowhere and resetting a tubeless might be an issue without a compressor.

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