Possible to only use part of a can of expanding foam?

Is it possible to only use part of a can of expanding foam for something, then store the can and use it again later? Is there some special trick to clearing the exit-hole after the first use so it can be used a second time?

Reply to
Home Guy
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The can may give you instructions. It may involve turning the can upside down and flushing the tip out -- I forget.

For the plastic tube, just stick a pipe cleaner in the tube so you can store it. Pull the pipe cleaner out later for use.

Good Luck!

Reply to
Oren

I've found washing the tube out with Acetone before it sets up salvages the tube - and using the can upright if it is normally used spout down, or upside-down if it is normally used spout up to clear it OCCASIONALLY makes the can useable a few weeks later.

Reply to
clare

No, not usually.

They should make a half-can.

Liquid Nails comes in a "small project" tube for the times you don't need an entire caulking cartridge.

Reply to
HeyBub

Actually they did make a half can. I believe the brand was "Great Stuff". I saw them on the shelves a year or two ago. The problem was they cost about 10 cents less than a full can. Probably why I have not seen them since. Why save 10 cents for a half can. If it was half price, I'd buy it. I always have places to use up the rest of the can. Like if I use some in the house, there are a few places in my garage where I marked to use up a part can, like around the window frames. The garage is not heated but this cuts air leaks. If I had a basement, I'd likely put some around where the wood meets the foundation. I have not found a reliable way to save the stuff for later use, so I just keep a list of places where I can use up a can.

As far as the person who said to put a pipe cleaner in the tube, I have not tried it, but I really doubt it would come out. That stuff really sticks. I know if I get it on my hands it takes several days to get it off, unless I use sand paper on it.

What I'd like to see is something like epoxy, where you mix two parts and make as much as you need. Maybe that will happen, or maybe it's not possible. For now, I guess we have a product that's pretty much a one time use, and tends to be very messy to work with too. I tend to choose caulk or silicone caulk before buying the foam if it all possible for the job.

Reply to
jw

I've found that's the best solution. Make sure you have scoped out enough places to use up the rest of the can. I've *never* had a can that was reusable although I did have a can explode once just sitting on the shelf. Made a very respectable mess. All of the rest of the cans are each sitting inside a strong plastic bag to contain the damage if any of the remaining cans burst.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Pipe cleaners -- I haven't seen those in years, and I actually need some for cleaning crevices.

Yes, this is a serious question: what sort of store carries them?

Reply to
Stan Brown

Advertising. Find a products weakness and then push it as it's strength.

You must be talking about "Great Stuff". You may have bought it at the Despot. That is often a clue as to an innate problem. The Despot will sell all manner of crap.

What a mess clean up is and you don't want to get any of it on you.

DAP and others make latex expanding foams, you can clean out the straw and nozzle with water. Not that that is any great joy but it is reasonable. Not so with "Great Stuff".

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Thies

Get them at a store that carries "tobacco" water pipes and some such.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Thies

I've used the pipecleaner-in-the-tube trick with varying results. [but then I get a dead can about 10% of the time] Take the screw tip off & use one pipecleaner in the top of the can. Use another in the first section of the top. And another in the end of the tube.

If you're lucky all 3 will come out, and there will still be pressure in the can.

A better plan is to keep a list of places where you can use a squirt of it on the shelf where you keep you 'great stuff'.

Oh- for a can that won't spray, but still has great stuff in it? Stand back 50 feet ad shoot it with a pellet gun. Pretty dramatic.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

I recently tried to use a can for a second time. I found that it was relatively easy to push the dried crud out of the plastic dispensing tube using a wire. It was the short shaft sticking out the can where the problem is. I used a drill bit turned by hand to dig into that shaft and pull out more crud, some of it semi-solid.

I eventually got it to the point where there was a constant small air leak coming out of the can. I put the dispensing tube back on, turned the can upside down, and a very weak but constant flow of foam began to flow. I thing it would only flow if the can was upside down. I stuck the nozzle where I needed it, rigged the can so it would stay put (and stay upside down) and left it. I'll check today to see how much came out.

Reply to
Home Guy

Sometimes I see them in grocery stores that still sell tobacco products. Craft stores have them as well. Smoke shops.

And then- there is always Amazon. 3 bundles of the Zen bristly ones for $6.25- free shipping over $25. You can't buy much gas for $6.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

Stan Brown wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net:

smoke shops,tobaccos shops?

Reply to
Jim Yanik

I've seen them at the local Walgreens drug store, behind the checkout counter along with the cigarettes and pipe tobacco.

I wonder if craft stores might sell them, or something like them?

Reply to
Bert Hyman

The official method, which was illustrated in the instruction book that Great Stuff used to come with (along with a pair of gloves) is simple. Unscrew the plastic nozzle and pull off the extension tube. Moisten several toothpicks. Insert one into the can, and one into each end of the nozzle and extension tube. When the foam dries, the toothpicks will serve as handles to pull out the hardened plug.

It works well, although the tube is better done with pipe cleaners as others have mentioned. And acetone from a squirt bottle will remove the excess if used before it dries, although if you miss a bit in the can, it will still plug up.

I use flat tothpicks with the larger end inserted into the holes. They get a better grip than the round toothpicks. Wait a few minutes after using the foam to insert the toothpicks, or the still-expanding foam will push them out.

Reply to
DT

You don't need a pipe cleaner. You probably can find a spare twist lock thingy somewhere around the house, preferably one with paper or soft plastic around the wire. Strip off the paper/plastic the way you would strip insulation off an electrical wire (partially closed diagonal cutters) and voila, you have a thin, flexible piece of wire. I use this trick all the time to clear out clogs in the steamer nozzle of my cappuccino maker.

Reply to
Peter

I was working with the stuff and the valve stuck open. In disgust I tossed the whole shebang over the fence into the power company's right-of-way.

Some time later, while looking for a grave site for a dead animal, I spotted the can. The material had indeed completely leaked out creating a perfect sphere the size of a basketball!

I severed the umbilical attaching the ball to the can and carved a scary and grotesque head out of the raw material. Maybe I'll enter it in a local art contest or will it to my son.

I haven't decided.

Reply to
HeyBub

Hereabouts, pipe cleaners are now mostly sold in hobby shops and "dollar stores," shelved with the plastic scissors, coloured stickers and paraphernalia for toddlers' "construction projects."

Reply to
Don Phillipson

craft shops. Get the real chenile ones.

Reply to
clare

But the latex stuff is useless if you want to seal out water - it just disolves. Says right on the can "for dry locations only" or something very close.

Reply to
clare

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