How to fix a puncture in a stress ball?

December 26, 2019 9:35 AM

I bought my kids this stress ball as a gift. It's already got a hole in it.

The hole is small, but some of the pink liquid inside will come out when the ball is squeezed.

I tried a patch and the glue from a bicycle tire patch kit, but the patch didn't stick to the ball. Any other ideas?

posted by Leontine to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

Have you contacted the seller? What you describe sounds like a defect in the ball, and I'd think most sellers would be happy to replace a product rather than risk a bad review.

If you just wanted to make it usable again, you could try squeezing all the gel away from the hole, bunching up the shell there, and then tourniqueting off the pierced part using a piece of thread or string.
posted by Bardolph at 9:46 AM on December 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

A tiny glob of superglue to patch the hole, maybe? Duct tape?
posted by Sparky Buttons at 10:30 AM on December 26, 2019

I've never found this type of toy to last long. Even if you exchange it, moderate to heavy use tends to cause them to spout holes after a few weeks. Patches (I've had the most success with just tape) prolong the life, but once they spout one hole, more are sure to come.
posted by Aranquis at 12:46 PM on December 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

Two options:

1. Buy a large balloon, wrap it around stress ball, and tie it off. This may or may not be possible depending on the balloon and the stress ball, and it will definitely change the feel of the stress ball.

2. Instead of spending a lot of money on commercial stress balls that don't last, make your own by filling balloons with home-made slime. These work really well. They don't last forever, but hey, you've found out that the commercial ones don't either, and these are much cheaper.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 2:47 PM on December 26, 2019