If you ever walked down the glue and adhesive aisle of your local hardware store you’ll realize there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different kinds of glues, epoxies and adhesives available for almost every specialized application you can think of in home repair or otherwise. The sheer number of chemicals, bonding agents, tubes of sticky goo and containers of various types of paste are likely to overwhelm anyone who needs something less specific and more general. Below you’ll find several guides for glues and adhesives that can help you decide which glue is best for which application:
Adhesive and Glue Guides
Use these handy glue guides to stick (and un-stick) almost anything
This To That – This is a clever little website that simply asks you which two types of materials you’d like to attach together. It then gives you some suggestions on different types of glue or adhesives that can be used to attach “this to that.” The site usually ends up suggesting some fairly specialized glues and epoxies without much of an explanation about where you can actually find them. The site is a lot of fun for the true glue fan with all sorts of links and trivia pieces and lots of little tips for gluing things together.
Super Glue Guide – Okay, admit it. You try to use Super Glue for everything. So do I. It doesn’t always work, but that could be because I wasn’t using the right type of Super Glue. These handy little reference tables (also available in a printable .PDF file) show you exactly which type of Super Glue you should use for each project. It basically does the same thing This To That does, but stays in the Super Glue family of products.
Glue and Adhesive Removal
Of course, not all repairs require attaching one item to another. Sometimes you have to actually separate two things. For many glues warm water, rubbing alcohol or some other sort of light solvent can help the process, though glue is generally created to hold things together for a long time. These next few guides may be useful if you have to break two things apart (like removing that cracked “Precious Moments” statue from your Super Glue covered finger).
Removing Super Glue – This page explains how to remove the Super bonds that tie. You might want to read this over BEFORE you work with Super Glue again. My favorite line from this page informs you about what to expect if you get Super Glue on your eyeball: “Periods of weeping and double vision may be experienced until clearance is achieved.” Ouch! None of the scenarios are pretty and this shows how serious Super Glue really is.
General Tips for Removing Glue – This page has some short general tips on how to remove the glue from just about anything. There are a few neat ideas (like freezing paper items that are glued together) that I would have never thought of.
How to Remove Glue Spots – Once you have two items broken apart you’ll likely still have a lot of glue or adhesive residue and stains. This guide explains some of your options for removing those unsightly spots.
I hope these glue and adhesive tips “stick” with you for your next gluing project and I hope you don’t get so “stuck” on the project that you can’t get free!
I accidentally glued some mp3 buttons when trying to repair it…… any hope?
You might have to open up your MP3 player and use a razor on the buttons to break them apart. Many glues tends to “melt” plastic into one solid piece.
i was trying to fix my head phones on my zune and i accidentally glued them to my zune… then they broke and i cant get them out of that hole thing that you plug head phones in
what now?
Anastasia: get an iPod. Problem solved. :-)