How to Plug a Tyre Yourself (UK Guide) — and the Repair Kit to Keep in Your Boot

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Picked up a nail or screw in your tyre? Before you pay for a new tyre or call recovery, there’s a good chance you can fix it yourself in about ten minutes with a tyre plug repair kit that costs less than a takeaway. Garages charge £25–£40 for a puncture repair — the kit pays for itself the first time you use it.

First: is the puncture repairable?

Only pluggable punctures should be plugged. Check these before you start:

• Location: the hole must be in the central three-quarters of the tread — never the sidewall or shoulder. Sidewall damage means a new tyre, no exceptions.
• Size: up to about 6mm across — a nail or screw hole is fine, a gash is not.
• Condition: if the tyre was driven on while flat, the sidewall may be damaged inside — have it checked instead.
• Run-flats: most manufacturers say run-flat tyres should not be repaired at all.

What you need

• A tyre plug repair kit (£10–£20) — reamer tool, insertion tool, rubber repair strings and rubber cement. Brands like AUTOWN, Sakura and Slime all work the same way.
• A tyre inflator to re-inflate afterwards (see our tyre inflator guide).
• Pliers to pull out the nail or screw.
• Optional but handy: soapy water in a spray bottle to find the leak and test the seal.

The essential kitAd · Affiliate link

Tyre plug repair kit (AUTOWN, Sakura, Slime)

£10–£20 typical price — check latest below

• ✓Reamer tool, insertion tool, rubber strings and cement included
• ✓Fixes a tread puncture in about 15 minutes on the drive
• ✓Pays for itself the first time you skip a call-out fee

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How to plug a tyre — step by step

1. Find the puncture. Look for the nail or screw. If nothing’s visible, spray soapy water over the tread — bubbles mark the leak.
2. Pull the object out with pliers. The tyre will hiss — that’s fine.
3. Ream the hole. Push the spiral reamer tool in and work it up and down several times to clean and roughen the hole. It takes more force than you expect.
4. Thread a repair string through the eye of the insertion tool, coat it in the rubber cement from the kit.
5. Push the string in until about 1cm is left showing, then pull the tool straight out — the plug stays behind.
6. Trim the excess flush with the tread using a knife or the blade in the kit.
7. Re-inflate the tyre to the pressure on your door-frame sticker.
8. Check the seal — spray soapy water on the plug. No bubbles means you’re sealed. Recheck the pressure the next morning.

What about sealant kits?

The gunge-in-a-can kits (and the sealant bottles supplied with cars instead of spare wheels) will get you home from a small tread puncture, but they’re messier, less reliable on anything bigger than a pinhole, and many garages charge extra to clean the sealant out before a proper repair. A plug kit is cheaper, neater and actually fixes the hole. Keep a can of sealant as a backup for roadside emergencies where you can’t safely work on the tyre.

When to go straight to a garage

• Any sidewall or shoulder damage — new tyre, always.
• Hole bigger than ~6mm, or multiple punctures close together.
• Tread already near the legal 1.6mm minimum — a repair isn’t worth it, and worn tyres fail MOTs.
• The tyre was driven on flat, is a run-flat, or shows bulges or cords.

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