Glues and Their Proper Storage

[Too_Many_Tools]

How do you store your various glues?

With three different glues, I seldom have success.

- Super glue With super glue, I use it once and when I come back later to use it again the tube has hardened. I keep the super glue container with its secured cap in a jar with dessicant in the refrigerator.

- Contact glue With contact glue, again I use it once and when I come back later to use it again the can has solidified. I keep the contact glue with its secured cap in a sealed ziplock bag in the refrigerator.

- Elmer's woodworking glue With Elmer's woodworking glue, I notice that if an container is opened the glue slowly thickens and finally turns into a sold mass within the the container even if stored at room temperature with the cap securely tightened.

Any hints as to how to keep glue stored so it doesn't go bad?

Thanks

TMT

[bridgerfafc]

buy smaller quantities and use it faster.

[Leo Lichtman]

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote: (clip) How do you store your various glues? (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I have a small bottle of super glue that has been in my refrigerator for years, and it is still usable. I have other bottles of super glue that have been on the shelf in my shop/garage for months to years. The oldest ones (years) are now solid. The newest (months) are A-OK. How long do yours take to go bad?

[R. O'Brian]

Elmer's has a shelf life and you can't stop the slow but steady degradation. Near the end when it is too thick, a little water will thin it back out, but it has lost strength at that point. The only remedy is to buy small containers to avoid a big, half-empty, bottle on the shelf.

Buy contact cement in the aerosol can and it will last a very long time. Several years at least. 3M makes some very good ones.

Now you know why super glue comes in such small containers.

Randy

[Pete C.]

I don't use this often, but a bottle of the gel version seems to be just fine after a year or so at varying temperature in the unheated shop.

I use this a bit more than super glue, generally using the good flammable version for laminate. I don't recall ever having it go bad on me. The nonflammable and newer latex version may have different shelf lives.

I don't use the Elmer's wood glue, all I have used in recent years is the Titebond II which I have excellent results with. I typically have one of the big jugs of the stuff and use it to refill a couple of the smaller squeeze bottles with the push pull tops. These have sat in the shop over hot summers and cold winters and I've use it under all temperatures without any problems.

I don't know as you seem to have particularly bad luck. Perhaps read the container for recommended storage conditions.

Pete C.

[Rod Speed]

Too_Many_Tools wrote

I dont do anything special with the hot melt gun sticks, they store fine.

I dont try to store anything else, just get some more for a particular task that the hot melt glue gun isnt suitable for.

[The OTHER Kevin in San Diego]

I've got botles of CA that sat in my shed for probably 10 years that are still usable. Building a trainer with my son with 'em.

Never had a can around long enough (used to do a LOT of laminate work) to let it sit...

The yellow stuff? Same as the CA.. Just seems to last and last as long as the cover is on the bottle.

My "longevity" issue is with tubes of caulk or silicone sealant.. They never seem to last more than a week after I open 'em, regardless of the measures I take to seal 'em up.

[Robert Swinney]

And with epoxies, be sure not to mix before needed. Sorry, I couldn't resist!

[David]

would you like a foolproof tip for keeping caulking good after opening? wrap painter's tape around the tip and extend the wrap about an inch or so above the nozzle (wrapping like a barber pole stripe). then squeeze the caulk so you see it swell up inside the tape and then release the pressure. the next time (a day or 6 months later) just remove the tape and pull off the hardened stuff which will come off with the tape. then you can squirt fresh caulk from the tube like it has just been opened for the first time. You can repeat this process over and over. I stumbled upon it after using the worthless "trick" of shoving a nail into the tip, which doesn't work with a crap.

it works with panel adhesive, silicone and other caulks.

Dave

[Too_Many_Tools]

"My "longevity" issue is with tubes of caulk or silicone sealant.. They never seem to last more than a week after I open 'em, regardless of the measures I take to seal 'em up. "

In this case I don't have a problem with caulks...I just wrap a piece of tape around the open tip and put in on a shelf which is subject to normal indoor temperatures and humidity.

TMT

[Charles Spitzer]

how is this different than the tubes that come with caps? i have the same problem with them? i've cut open the tubes when i can't get anything to come out, and the curing seems to work it's way down the tube from both ends once they're used.

also note that they have an expiration date. if past that, they sometimes don't harden at all. also, heat seems to degrade them when in storage, or at least when i keep them in my garage, which is probably 130 or more in the summer, it does.

regards, charlie

[David]

forget the caps. use the tape.

dave

[Enoch Root]

I think this whenever I see the "refrigeration" storage method, as it applies to glue, coffee beans, whatever.

Most think this is all there is to it, but you have to consider that, whenever you take that item out of the refrigerator, it is a magnet for water in the air and will absorb it until its temperature reaches equilibrium with the surrounding environment. Water in your superglue, water in your beans, its all bad and it all accelerates the degradation process possibly even more than letting it sit on the shelf. Plus if you use as many beans as I do per cuppa joe, there just aint no sense in it unless you're buying the 50lb. econopak direct from colombia.

So if you are going to use this method remember that and don't take it out of its (airtight) bag until it has set for awhile at the working temperature.

er

[Leo Lichtman]

"Robert Swinney" wrote: And with epoxies, be sure not to mix before needed. Sorry, I couldn't resist! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ And I can't resist either. I ALWAYS mix my epoxy BEFORE I apply it.

[Tom Gardner]

Store all perishables at the...store!

[Mike Berger]

[Mike Norton]

Are you storing your CA anywhere your bottle of accelerator?. Do you ever add CA to a joint after spraying accelerator near it? The accelerator vapors that get into open CA will severely shorten its life.

-- Mike Norton

[Polymer Man]

I have found that old CA glue, though not solid, is not as good as fresh CA. Several times I've used CA from an old container and wished I'd have just opened a fresh one. At least for borderline applications.

[Robert Swinney]

Yeah, but I meant a LONG time Before. You get the picture! Read my mind, not my test!

[desmobob]

I have the same frustration with silicones and the likes. I love the GOOP-type products, as well as high-temp silicone sealer. The stuff is expensive and it seems I only get to use it once or twice before the whole tube sets up. :-(

Good flying, desmobob