Window screens are necessary for keeping insects like pesky mosquitoes out of your home. Bugs can enter even the tiniest of gaps in a screen. Repairing the holes and tears in your window screens does not take long or cost much. The directions for how to patch a window screen vary according to hole size and screen material. Your screens will be made from vinyl, fiberglass, or metal. Softer, fabric-like screens are vinyl or fiberglass. A metal screen is stiffer, and the edges of broken threads will feel sharp.
How to Patch a Window Screen Steps
For small holes or tears in vinyl or fiberglass window screens:
- Obtain some clear nail polish.
- Dab the polish over small holes or tears in fiberglass or vinyl window screens.
- Reapply as necessary until you effectively glue the hole shut.
For small holes or tears in metal window screens:
- For small holes on metal window screens, you should use clear silicone adhesive.
- Squirt the silicone over the hole until you have completely closed the tear.
- If a hole or tear is too large to seal shut with glue, you will need:
- Sewing needle
- Piece of scrap screen or screen patch from a store-bought repair kit.
- Unravel some metal strands from the screen scrap.
- Thread the needle with a metal strand.
- Sew the tear shut with one or two strands.
For large metal window screen holes:
- Trim the damaged screen area with tin snips so that no edges are unraveling.
- Cut a screen patch with dimensions 1 inch larger than the screen hole.
- Carefully unravel strands around all edges of the patch.
- Weave the unraveled strands of the patch into the edges of the hole.
- Bend the ends of the strands over so that they remain securely attached to the window screen.
For large fiberglass window screen holes:
- Obtain a fiberglass window screen patch or cut one from scrap material.
- Make the patch 1 inch larger in all directions than the screen hole.
- Glue the patch to the existing screen with transparent silicone.