Material guide
Gluing Silicone rubber
Heat resistant flexible silicone used for bakeware, seals, gaskets and cable sleeving.
Also called bakeware silicone, silicon rubber, silicone seal.
How Silicone rubber behaves when you bond it
Silicone is one of the hardest materials to bond to anything, including itself, because almost nothing wets its surface. Cured silicone generally needs a silicone-specific primer, and the honest answer is often that a mechanical solution will outlast any adhesive.
Silicone rubber is a flexible, non-porous elastomer with extremely low surface energy. Mould-release residue and its intrinsically poor wettability defeat most general adhesives; reliable bonding usually depends on a silicone-specific adhesive or a named primer-and-adhesive system.
Material properties
- Surface energy
- Low, which is what makes it hard to bond
- Porosity
- Non-porous
- Rigidity
- Flexible
- Maximum service temperature
- 200C
- Normally needs abrading
- No
- Normally needs a primer
- Yes
- Recommended degreaser
- Isopropanol (Permabond POP-plus-cyanoacrylate process for removing release agent from silicone.) Manufacturer verified
Surface preparation
Remove release agent with isopropanol and let the surface dry. For the Permabond cyanoacrylate process, apply POP primer, allow it to dry and bond promptly with the specified grade. Do not assume that this primer helps epoxy, acrylic or UV adhesives; it is product-system specific.
Which adhesives work on Silicone rubber
Good
Silicone sealant
Silicone sealant is rated good for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. A named primer, LSE formulation or controlled surface treatment may be essential. Suitability still depends on the other substrate, joint design and service environment.
Conditional
Cyanoacrylate
Cyanoacrylate is rated conditional for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. A named primer, LSE formulation or controlled surface treatment may be essential. Use only after a product-specific test on the actual grade and joint.
A primer or activator is needed.
Poor
Two-part epoxy
Two-part epoxy is rated poor for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. A named primer, LSE formulation or controlled surface treatment may be essential. Use only after a product-specific test on the actual grade and joint.
Bonding Silicone rubber to something else
Last reviewed 8 October 2026.