How To: Patch a flat tire on your car properly

Watch this "Grease On Your Hands" video tutorial from the Washington Post to see how to patch a flat tire on your car properly.

When servicing any automobile, you should always wear appropriate eye-protection as well as ensure your working environment is properly ventilated. When working underneath a vehicle, always secure it with a floor jack and jack stands or drive-on lift ramps. You're going to get greasy as well so keep a healthy supply of rags on hand to sop up the mess!

Grease on Your Hands is an interactive online series that provides easy step-by-step instructions for simple car repair and maintenance at home. In this installment, Fang Huang prepares you for those summer road trips by explaining how to properly plug and patch a tire.

Before we start, always remember:

Always wear eye protection when working on a car. And be sure that your working environment has plenty of ventilation.

If you're working under a car, secure it with a floor jack and jack stand or drive-on lift ramps.

Always keep a healthy supply of rags on hand in case you get greasy.

For this job, you'll need just a few things:

A car jack, a lug wrench, a spray bottle filled with soapy water, an air supply -- you can either buy a small pump that plugs into your car's 12V power source or just take the tire to a public air supply (i.e. gas station, bike shop, etc.), needle-nose pliers, a tire air pressure gauge, a tire patch kit complete with plugs, rubber cement, and reamer and applicator.