Repair plastic pants

I have some high waist plastic pants that have a slight rip (~2cm long) just below the top elastic seam. I have fixed it with gaff but that means it doesn't sit tightly around the waist and make a proper seal.

How can I fix them while still being air/liquid tight?

Just buy new ones. I tried all kinds of fixes. None worked.

Same here. just buy new. Never been able to figure out a reliable repair.

I have a plastic welding tool, would that work? It's only a small butane one, same size as a soldering iron.

I've repaired plastic pants when the threading is coming out of the seems by using a hot glue gun. You might try that because the hot glue will melt the plastic and the glue is sort of like plastic. That said, all plastic pants eventually turn hard and crack and all you can do is replace them.

You could always, have a slight over lap and use a hot iron to fuse the two layers together


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Those types of tears are very hard to repair.

The repairs that I have been able to do is along the side seam.

The best suggestion I could give is roll the elastic band down the pants until the tear is rolled in to the folds, but it may not want to stay.

You can buy a pants repair kit from Jenny at kins .

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when plastic pants go, they're done sorry

Tetra said:

You can buy a pants repair kit from Jenny at kins .

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I live in Australia, I'll try my plastic welding tool on low heat to see if I can repair then seam.

Why not silicone RTV? It makes a flexible, strong, water-proof bond which I have used in a lot of applications.

Kenn said:

Why not silicone RTV? It makes a flexible, strong, water-proof bond which I have used in a lot of applications.

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We're talking a cheap, disposable product here though. Don't spend more on materials and your own time (which you should consider valuable) on something that's not worth it.

If you're making $14/hr, consider your free time worth $28/hr. (double) Assuming the RTV tube costs $6 and you can race through the job in only 15 minutes ($7), and only be increasing the life of $10 plastic pants by 50%, you're spending $13 to add $5 of life to them. Bad choice. For $10 you can buy new pants and get about double the return. (and kids ask their teachers why math is important and when are they ever going to use algebra after they leave school !)

bambinod said:

We're talking a cheap, disposable product here though. Don't spend more on materials and your own time (which you should consider valuable) on something that's not worth it.

If you're making $14/hr, consider your free time worth $28/hr. (double) Assuming the RTV tube costs $6 and you can race through the job in only 15 minutes ($7), and only be increasing the life of $10 plastic pants by 50%, you're spending $13 to add $5 of life to them. Bad choice. For $10 you can buy new pants and get about double the return. (and kids ask their teachers why math is important and when are they ever going to use algebra after they leave school !)

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My "$10" plastic pants cost $25 Canadian and I always have a supply of RTV on hand anyway as I make repairs and create a lot of different things. When my 1983 Porsche whale tail metal skeleton rotted creating large bumps in the rubber from rust expansion at age 7 years, I cleaned it, reconstructed it with JB Weld and then sealed it with RTV. When I sold the car 17 years later, the whale tail looked like new. When the carbon steel motor shaft of my stainless steel disposal rotted after five years, I re-died the shaft threads, added a nut and J B Weld, sealed the joints with RTV and after another 23 years the unit still works leak-free. I have rebuilt two different front loading washing machines and used RTV to seal joints where necessary. These are just a few examples of the many uses that I have found for RTV. In my case, we are talking pennies for the incremental RTV.

I am a retired engineer and nobody knows the importance of math better than I do. At my job I created XL costing workbooks that linked to other costing workbooks each with multiple spreadsheets, the total of which had literally hundreds of convergence equations. When presented to my coworkers and upper management, I blew my their minds. I also know the importance of a certain degree of self-reliance in making one's own repairs where possible.

It should be fine for now, I'll order some more when I have the money.

I have tried two or three repair kits and none worked. So out they go and in with the new.

My pants are $50.00 a pair , my time is free as I am on compassionate disability and don't work anymore , though none have gotten unservicable yet in 9 years , I wear both pull on and snap on and own the patent for each, so getting identical pants is as easy and picking up the phone .

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I think the only device that would work is a poly bag sealer. these are not cheap devices, but then, if you use the pants alot, it could pay for itself. maybe find a used on on Ebay.

I usually use superglue. Works well for me. Doesnt last forever though.

MickeyM said:

I usually use superglue. Works well for me. Doesnt last forever though.

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I'm amazed you can get superglue to work on plastic pants! That stuff can outright dissolve a lot of plastics, even the vapor (as it's setting up) eats on some plastics. And it forms a brittle material when it cures, that doesn't handle flexing well. I'd expect much better luck with rubber cement?