It's as common around boats to see 3Ms 5200 as it is to see Epoxy or Duct tape but no-one ever seems to know the little tricks to make it work easier or even more important than that, how to clean it up.  Well, after many sticky afternoons with the traditional wash up with acetone, I found myself in the awful predicament of being smeared with the white stuff and, oops, my metal acetone can had rusted through and I was stuck.  I really didn't know what the outcome would be, but I thought I'd at least try to get a little of that tenacious garbage off my hand with alcohol.  I gave my hands a slight douse  and what happened next was the shock of my life.  The 5200 came off my hands as if it where milk!  It came off so easy that I actually put some more back on my hands and tried it again just so I could actually believe it was true.  Needless to say I've been using alcohol ever since.  I may end up with children that glow in the dark from a weird chemical combination but it can't be any worse than the other solvents I've used. 

A little time saving trick that I've found for inflatable dinghies is to use 5200 as a patch.  I've used it on everything from a pin hole to a six inch tear, to an abrasion on the bottom and its always worked very well.

Try these tips for your dingy for preparation:

1. Try to get a matching color of 5200 so your dingy won't look like mine (red with big white shapes stuck to it and a black stripe with white drips oozing out).

2. Tape off the area that the patch will cover and try to make it a shape you won't mind looking at.

3.  Sand the area so that any oxidation is lifted and there is a roughened surface for the 5200 to hold on to and if you destroy the tapes edges, replace the tape.

4.  Use acetone to clean off all dust and dirt on the area.  Acetone dries fast and clean while some other cleaners may leave a residue.

5.  If you're dealing with a tear, you should stitch the tear together.  Make sure you line the sides up or you will end up with  bunched up sides.

6.  Use a thin piece of cloth tape to cover the tear and the stitching.

7.  use a piece of stiff plastic to spread a thin coat of 5200 over the tape and beyond its sides by around one half of an inch and let it cure for at least a day.

8.  inflate the dingy until the dingy has a recognizable shape but don't make its skin tight.

9.  Spread another coat of 5200 over the entire patch area in about a one eighth inch thickness right out to the edge of the tape.

10.  After a day or more you can peal off the tape and you will have a clean edge patch that in my experience holds up much better and longer than any conventional patch I've used.