A mountable cylindrical printing blanket apparatus for use with an off-set printing
press is provided. The printing blanket has an inner carrier sleeve layer; a printing
blanket affixed to the sleeve with at least one compressible layer having a first
porosity, at least one printing face layer, a gap extending axially along the mountable
printing blanket and having between about 0.2 millimeters and about 2 millimeters
in width and a depth substantially extending through at least one layer; and a
compressible sealant therein in an amount sufficient to substantially fill the
gap. The compressible sealant has a second porosity and a compressibility in both
the radial and the tangential direction such that the compressible sealant has
a compressibility greater than the compressibility of the compressible layer.