What bonds Silicone to Latex?!

[Magnus]

Alright, so I've been gathering up odds and ends to make my own Bottle Nipple STP with a GV "Sailor" Packer. Everything went perfectly – everything fits together, it will definitely work... except for the fact that nothing I try will bond Silicone (the bottle nipple) to Latex (the tubing)!

Does anybody know what does that? I will be eternally grateful to anyone who could help me out here!

I have tried E-6000 and Super Glue, neither worked (E-6000 is Silicone based, so other Silicone-based adhesives won't work either – same goes for Super Glue derivatives). I even also tried swapping out the Silicone bottle nipple for one of the Latex types, and even that can't be bonded to the Latex tubing.


See, I wanted to post up a tutorial on this here to help other guys out who like me just can't afford the extra $20-$35 for the "middle men" in the STP Packer business... but until I find out what mythical adhesive bonds these two materials together, I can't do that – or use my STP!

[LordKAT]

From experience I know that superglue WILL bond a silicone baby nipple and latex tubing. Are you sure you had both pieces dry and clean and help them together for about a minute without using too much glue?

[Magnus]

Absolutely, I even let them cure for a full 48 hours without touching them at all and when I tested them out with a gentle touch, they just slid right out and off of each other. Evidently the Silicone is just too nonporous (perhaps we used different brands of nipple?). I even tried roughing it up first, but it still didn't work. I tried twice with both the E-6000 and the Super Glue.

But what I actually ended up doing was cutting off a small piece of Vinyl tubing of the same diameters as the Latex (TG I picked that up, not even knowing I'd actually need it!), then just wrestled that over the bottle nipple and then stretched the latex over it and without using any adhesive. The slight pressure of the latex against the Vinyl seems to do the job and without any leaking, but the bottle nipple WILL slide out if there's enough of a tug on it. Better than nothing and it works well. Easier to clean, matter of fact and it's crazy simple to put back together. Also, no toxic chemicals to worry about... I think I like this better.

Tutorial coming up soon.

[gilligan]

Have you tried gorilla glue?

[Magnus]

No, I've seen a couple people around saying that's what they used but I'm skeptical myself because it's essentially Super Glue. Perhaps the one I used was old or something, but still... $5 is a lot to someone who makes nothing LOL.

Nah, I think I'm going to be OK with the Vinyl bulking up the bottle nipple, so the Latex has something to grab onto. Works very well so far.