What is Sugru, Exactly? A Magical, Moldable Glue for Repairs and Projects

The first time I saw Sugru, I was admittedly skeptical. A coworker was smearing it on a torn phone charger cord, and it seemed like the kind of mushy Play-Doh you didn’t necessarily want to slather all over your nice, clean electronics. But a couple days later, my work pal showed me the repaired charger—the rubber had hardened, but could still be bent, and the charger itself worked like a charm. Now I’m a Sugru convert. Over the past few years, the Sugru team and bloggers have come up with even more smart ideas for mending and making with this moldable, air-dry rubber, including the ten favorites that follow.

Curious how this stuff works for bigger home projects? Us too. So we put Sugru to the test in a renter’s home:

If you’ve ever accidentally bent a phone charger in the wrong direction, you can relate to the mild terror of realizing that the protective plastic coating has split open, exposing the wires underneath. At that point, your charger’s days are numbered—unless you Sugru it back to life. By molding the air-dry rubber around the tear, you can repair several chargers for the price of a new cord. Shop The Container Store for red, white, gray and black Sugru ($11.99 for a pack of 3).

Vibrant blue Sugru mends this broken plate—and miraculously makes it even prettier than it was before. Rosie of Beautiful Repair was inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi—the process of using resin blended with precious metals, such as gold, to fill in gaps and fix broken pottery (see how beautiful it can be). Although Sugru isn’t certified food-safe, this mended plate could be hung on the wall or used as a catchall.

Jenny from Little Green Notebook used Sugru under the paws of plastic toy animals, letting them scale the side of a bookshelf. These adorable hooks are durable enough to hold umbrellas, jump ropes and purses.

Besides simple repair work, Sugru can be molded into brand-new home accessories, including colorful hooks for hanging up your mug collection. Great news, renters: The rubber will adhere to a tile wall, sans drilling. When it’s time to move out, cut off the hook using a craft knife and scrape off any remaining bits of rubber.

Another brilliant way Sugru will save you from drilling into tile walls: Use it to attach two hooks for holding a copper storage rail in the kitchen. If you’re planning several small projects like this around the house, order the Organise Small Spaces kit, which comes with four single-use packs so you can avoid wasting this precious product.

To make her crochet hook comfier—and give it a colorful marbleized look—Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch blended red and yellow Sugru to create a vibrantly swirled grip.

To turn a mirror into a complete primping station, the Sugru team adorned theirs with hooks and a small shelf, all attached using—you guessed it—Sugru.

Part funny, 100-percent practical, this project from Lollipuff repurposes an old lipstick tube into a flash drive case you can easily throw into your purse with the rest of your essentials.

Nicole from Making It Lovely, a blog following the updates to her beautiful Victorian home, used Sugru to reaffix a vintage brass toothbrush holder in her bathroom.

I’ll leave you with one last idea for renters (and those who fear power tools): Sugru saves the day by securing these elegant brass shelves to a tiled bathroom wall. Choose small shelves to ensure they’ll stick, and wait at least 24 hours before topping them with succulents and soap.

Have you ever used Sugru? Did it fix a torn charger, mend a broken mug, corral your cords? Are you still skeptical or are you officially Team Sugru? We’d love to hear!