Sticking Around - A Home Decorator's Guide to Adhesion
By Pamela Cole Harris
Hot Glue? Carpenter's Glue? Superglue? These may not sound like the ingredients for a great home design, but they are …if you will pardon the bad pun…the "glue" that holds it all together! But do you know which glue you need for which home improvement job? Answer these questions to find out which adhesive you need:
<1. What surface are you planning to glue? If you are planning on gluing a porous surface such as drywall, wallpaper, or fabric, hot glue or carpenter's glue (also known as wood glue) will do just fine. If you want to glue glass, metal, ceramic or plastic, you will need superglue or white glue. For either surface, contact cement should work.
2. How soon do you need the surface to dry? If you need instant adhesion, use superglue (but be careful not to glue your fingers or various other body parts together!). Hot glue also provides a quick (but not necessarily instant) bond. If you can wait 30 minutes, water-based contact cement will work. White or carpenter's glue will set in a few hours, while silicone will take over 24 hours.
3. Do you need the glue to be heat or water resistant? If you need the job to be both heat and water resistant, use epoxy, superglue, water-based contact cement or silicone. Hot glue, as you might guess, is not heat resistant, but it is waterproof. Carpenter's glue is both heat and water resistant, while white glue is neither.
4. How do you want to clean up? If you use silicone, superglue, or epoxy, you must clean up with acetone which is flammable and toxic. If you want to clean up with water and soap use water-based contact cement, water-based silicone, carpenter's glue and white glue.
Whatever glue you use, be sure to read the label to make certain that it is compatible with the job you want to do. Now, does anyone know how to remove glue? Like the glue that has my darling husband permanently glued to the sofa in front of the big-screen TV?