Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with adhesive

Using spirit gum to attach a prosthetic near my real hair

Riki tiki — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:04:36 -0800

Tell me about using spirit gum near my actual hair. My Halloween costume has a prosthetic that I intend to attach to the top of my head. The prosthetic came with a tube of spirit gum as an adhesive. I've never used spirit gum before... is it okay to use it near hair? Will it stick? Will I be able to remove it afterwards? Is there a better alternative?

(this is the prosthetic... it's a latex bolt-looking thing with a thin flower of flesh-colored latex as the base)

Well at least my Halloween costume looks good...

lucy.jakobs — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:29:28 -0800

How do I remove sticky residue from Elmer's Multipurpose Spray Adhesive from my wooden desk? I used Elmer's Multipurpose Spray Adhesive while working on a Halloween costume and accidentally sprayed...well...quite a lot of it onto my wooden desk. It's been over a day and the desk is is now very sticky. For better or worse I've tried basically everything I can get a hold of (water, water and soap, fingernail polish remover, Vaseline, hand sanitizer, and Apple Cider Vinegar) but the residue is still there. I'm hoping someone will be able to help me figure out how to get my desk back to normal! Some things to note: The residue isn't gummy...just sticky. It doesn't look any different from the rest of the desk, but it feels very sticky. And the desk is a generic dorm room desk, meaning I have no idea what kind of wood it is or what the finish on it is or anything.

How to install tile on oily surface?

leafwoman — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:07:00 -0800

Need help with talavera tile installation on oil impregnated plywood. We have a backsplash behind our cooktop made of 3/4 inch mahogany plywood. It has been in place for twenty years (don't ask.) We want to tile it with Mexican Talavera tile (terra cotta handmade irregular "flat pillow" shaped tile.)

The problem is that the twenty years of use has left a surface that is soaked in olive oil, chicken fat, etc. and is obviously "oily."

Do we treat the surface with acetone to degrease it? Do we use some marvelous adhesive that sticks to olive oil? Are we flat out of luck?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Getting tape residue off windows, and holding broken ones up?

nmaster64 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:40:39 -0800

Best way to get duct tape residue off windows, and how to hold broken car windows up? My gf's car is in some real crap shape. I'd love to surprise her one day and clean it up, specifically her windows. Her front driver and back passenger windows don't work and have to be held up. She's been using duct tape for over a year to do it, we still just can't quite afford the fix.

After a year of reapplying duct tape on a regular basis, the windows are covered in baked-on adhesive, it's actual a bit of a safety concern too. What's the best way to get that stuff off and clean them up nice and clear?

And is there a stronger non-permanent solution for holding the windows up? Even w/ tons of duct tape they fall over time or at a big bump. I don't mind the tape solution, I just wish it would hold better and for longer so we didn't have to reapply it every other week.

It's a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix if that helps. Also, I am completely allergic to working on cars for the record.

rubber to steel - high temp adhesive

well_balanced — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:06:16 -0800

I need a recommendation for a particular adhesive. The application is to secure a synthetic rubber(not sure of exact composition) seal or gasket to smooth stainless steel that will remain at temperatures of at least 100C (212F) for 5+ hours at a time. I am trying to re-affix the double wiper seal in the lid of my water distiller's boiling kettle. I have a small Kenmore branded water distiller and after several years use, whatever adhesive was used to secure the gasket in the lid has failed and the gasket just falls out. The gasket itself seems to be in fine shape so I'd like to try just re-affix the gasket. This image shows the seal as it will be mounted to the steel lid.

At minimum the steel is reaching 100C to boil water but the temps may in fact be higher so I would like something that could take high temps for the 5 hour distilling cycle. In addition, I would imagine the adhesive would need to be somewhat elastic to withstand small horizontal and vertical forces as the kettle lid is twisted then lifted to remove and replace for filling. Given that this is for use in water purification it seems wise to avoid anything too toxic.

Gear Porn

Juliet Banana — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:42:48 -0800

Tomorrow, my boyfriend and I will be photographed nude and somewhat covered in electronics (music making equipment and cords). Is there anyway to attach expensive, somewhat heavy mixers and controllers to our bodies? For non-music nerds, imagine we're covering ourselves with video game equipment. The items range in weight and size from a video game controller to an old school Playstation. Here's some of the stuff we have to work with; the major pieces are a Korg KP3, a Monome, a Korg Kaossilator, some guitar pedals, and a laptop.

Worst case scenario, he's going to hold his Monome sixty four (yeah, he got it) over his bits and I'll cover up with a Kaossilator and we'll wrap a few cords around ourselves. I wouldn't mind getting a bit more coverage, through, half to illustrate the concept and half for modesty's sake.

The concept? We're modeling for a sex-themed issue of an extremely small press art magazine. It's a riff on the cover of Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (NSFW). The more gear we can fit into the shot, the better.

So, how the hell do we cover ourselves with music geek paraphernalia without breaking the gear and ripping off skin? I own some skin-safe double stick tape, but I doubt it could hold up the Kaossilator, much less the KP3. Rig the items to the cords wrapped around us? Rope? Duct tape? Just pile it around our feet?

Melty glue, make my plastic good as new.

GleepGlop — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:23:12 -0800

When hard plastic breaks is there any adhesive that will 'weld' it back together so it won't just snap again at the glue point under pressure? You know how when hard plastic breaks it usually does so in a random topographical pattern such that you can fit the pieces back together perfectly, if only there was a glue that would hold them indefinitely?
I know there are all types of glue out there for all types of solutions. I am wondering if for broken hard plastic there is any glue that will make it at least as good as new if not better.

1. Peeps 2. Glue Gun 3. ???? 4. PROFIT!

Unicorn on the cob — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:07:42 -0800

I want to affix Peeps (the Easter atrocities) to fabric in order to make a costume. BY TOMORROW. Crafty MeFites, hope me with your glue-gun wisdom! I am attending an Easter party tomorrow that requires some kind of costume. Everybody knows I hate Peeps more than anything in the world, and lo and behold, the neon critters are on sale. So I decided to make myself into one giant neon Bunny Peep. Tons of googling and clicking leads me to believe that I can hot-glue them directly onto most things, and ribbon is mentioned here in this book.

A friend who is quite crafty has assured me that Peeps + glue gun + fabric = disaster; there must be something between, like a piece of cardboard or other intermediary surface that will adhere to the hot glue while also keeping the fabric from sticking to any backing, myself, etc.

I have already cut open the packages to allow them to harden as much as possible so they don't melt as soon as they touch the glue gun; I'm not sure that spray-varnishing them now would have them ready-to-wear by tomorrow afternoon, since the varnish would have to dry overnight. (I read that one woman allowed them to dry for five days before making them into garlands and wreaths, and 5 days from now is not an option). Also, I don't want to buy more stuff unless I have to; something around the house (painting tape? more fabric? buttons? I'm listening...) would be ideal.

Please don't suggest another costume idea; I already spent time and money getting this ball rolling and won't have time to whip up anything else from scratch, time-wise or financially. I have a lot of neon pink components now in front of me--what I lack is the ingenuity to make it stick. Literally.

Alternatively, would another type of adhesive work better? I am not married to the glue gun; it's mentioned a lot in Peeps craft links, though. Bonus if you have experience making arts and crafts with Peeps--firsthand knowledge is what I'm really looking for here.

Stick 'em up

paxton — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:31:53 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good adhesive tape for an automobile dashboard? I have a '08 Nissan Versa and I'm trying to affix a small satellite radio antenna to the dash where it meets the windshield. This is one of the magnet mount antennas but I can't find a good place to channel the antenna to the roof of the car, so I'm leaving it inside and it's working great. However I can't find any sort of tape to hold it in place and keep it from sliding around.
The dash seems very slick, like it's coated with a wax of some sort but even cleaning with alcohol is not helping. I've tried everything from double sided foam tapes to duct tape and nothing will stick. I'm sure I could sand the dash down a bit, but would rather not damage the car for a half assed radio installation; this is also the reason I'm avoiding glues. Are they making dashboards out of some sort of anti-stick material now, or have I just not found the right tape to use?

Heat Resistent Adhesive?

gzimmer — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:55:45 -0800

Looking for a heat resistant adhesive to use to attach feet onto my laptop. I bought this and like the a few reviews say, they fall off often because of the heat.

I currently attach them to my battery since that is probably the least hot section of the bottom of my laptop.

Either I can find another more cooler place for them, or I could find some adhesive to replace the given one that would not so easily fail under the heat.

Any suggestions?

Will 3M Command strips damage the paint?

katillathehun — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:00:41 -0800

I'm considering using 3M Command strips to hang some lightweight pictures on the walls of my new apartment. These walls are painted taupe, and I don't want to mess up that paint when I eventually move out. Will the adhesive on these strips take any paint with them when they're removed? Do they come off easily? I see these things recommended all over the place, but I haven't found specific mentions of their use on paint. If it makes a difference, this is an 80-something-year-old building with a brand new paint job.

Tipped in Color Plates

Tube — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:23:56 -0800

Is this a "tipped in" book plate? I don't own many art books, but this was the first book, art or otherwise, that had its color plates attached in this way. In researching the issue, I see definitions of "Tipped in" that refer to "pasted along the inner margin of the appropriate text page", but the color plates in the book I've got entitled The Moderns by Gaston Diehl have the plates adhered to the page at each of the four corners.

As you can see, the adhesive is beginning to fail at a number of points.

Is this indeed a "tipped in" plate, and if so, how common is the method of four-corner attachment?

Vintage water slide decal adhesive

Ambrosia Voyeur — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:48:44 -0800

What is the adhesive that backs water slide decals made of? I've been collecting vintage water slide decals for a while now, and some work beautifully.

Some very old ones crumble and flake apart when they go into the water, and then there's this third problem: decals that seem to just not adhere. They stiffen as they dry, and don't just fall immediately off the surface I stick them to, but they also don't lay flat enough that the clear part stays clear. It definitely lifts a little bit, not even in bubbles, just in a crackly-looking air matrix. I think the problem is the adhesive, because I successfully took them off with hot water and then repositioned them, paying more attention to smoothing them out, thinking that leaving too much moisture beneath them caused he crackling. No luck, they still dried "up" a little.

Maybe these particular ones never had adhesive. Wikipedia informs me that it is optional. I think the way they are, they would do alright on a matte wall, but I'm putting them on a metallic purple bottle, but I'm applying them to a metallic surface, a lot like I did here, this time to a Sigg bottle, so the littlest bit of opacity throws off the look altogether.

Can I try a little adhesive? What kind do these use originally? What would be water soluble, super thin, and perfectly clear?

HALP!

Pump him full of testosterone and he'll grow his own mustache! No, wait.

Lucinda — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:57:55 -0800

Need to attach a felt mustache to my kid's face for a school Halloween party. No time to buy anything fancy (a la spirit gum or the like); what should I use? We have masking tape, scotch tape, electrical tape. What will stick to his face the longest?

Tape Creep

Tube — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:48:48 -0800

Is the vinyl tape on my flashlight exhibiting anomalous rheology? Recently I bought a new flashlight that I decided to keep in the side pocket of my Carhartt trousers. The flashlight was slightly too skinny and too long for the pocket, and kept falling out. Furthermore, the on-off button was not recessed particularly deeply, and would become actuated accidentally.

I decided to wrap a band of vinyl tape around the flashlight, just below the on-off button to help keep the flashlight in my pocket, and to possibly decrease the accidental discharges.

The vinyl tape was some I got from Boeing Surplus years ago, and seemed in every way ordinary, with normally sticky adhesive on one side. The tape was one inch wide, and I wrapped a one inch wide band to a thickness of about 4mm. As much as I could, I kept the wrapping tension constant.

I put the flashlight back in the pocket and went to bed. This morning this is what I found. The top layers of tape had remained annular, but the bottom layers had crept remarkably.

What I find interesting is that I was not wearing the trousers at the time, so as far as I know, the flashlight was more or less flat during the night. Temperature was normal indoor room temperature. Only the head of the flashlight is tapered, the rest of the flashlight is cylindrical.

Is this a commonplace behavior of vinyl tape, or is something more interesting going on? Could this be due to a unique brand of tape that Boeing used? Am I simply a rheology n00b?

My kitchen sink has fallen, and it can't get up!

elmwood — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:00:06 -0800

What kind of adhesive is used to secure an undermount kitchen sink to the underside of a countertop? I have an undermount stainless steel kitchen sink suspended underneath a Corian countertop. While a normal kitchen sink rests on the surface of a kitchen countertop, an undermounted sink is suspended from below, attached to the countertop using a special high-strength adhesive.

Today, when I came home from work, I found that one of the sink basins dropped; something happened with the adhesive, and the basin came loose and fell from underneath the countertop. This isn't supposed to happen, but considering the seemingly weekly loads of fail my moneypit of a house have been giving me the past year, I'm not surprised.

There's a special type of adhesive that is used to mount stainless sinks underneath Corian countertops. However, a half hour of searching through Google found nothing more than the fact that ... well, a special kind of adhesive is used. What kind of adhesive, though ... no such luck. Anyone handier than me any ideas?

Adhering tissue paper in the very best way possible?

actionpact — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:01:00 -0800

I want to glue and layer tissue paper to bristol board. Help me pick out the right kind of adhesive! I got really inspired by Eric Carle this morning and now I really want to play around with gluing and overlaying painted tissue paper. But I haven't done this before and am a)impatient and b) on a bit of a budget and c) wanting to be as kind to the environment as I can in the process.

Reading about Eric Carle's process, he says he brushes on wallpaper paste. But I read that such paste is harmful for the environment. I'd like to get a glue that will glue flimsy papers down flat without being really harsh chemically if I can. I've used Yes! glue in school but no place around here carries it, and I don't think Elmer's or Mod Podge are going to do that well with it, though I could be wrong.

What are your ideas? Bonus points if they're things I can find easily at a chain store or art supply store (Home Depot/Lowe's are also good options) or are mixtures I could make myself using household ingredients. (wheatpaste? I'm clueless, so advice is appreciated.) I'd rather not blow a lot of money experimenting with glues I'll probably not use otherwise. Hoping I won't have to go ordering through the internet on this one!

make her bigger basket better

amtho — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:01:36 -0800

woodworkers and/or adhesive experts: Is there some way to "seal" a thin piece of cedar wood so that it won't split? I'm making my own bicycle baskets (after giving up on finding my ideal for sale). I've already finished one, and it's awesome. Basically, it's made of a top and bottom cedar frame connected by three dowels and a bunch of cane (cane as is found in chair seats).

The top and bottom frames are made by cutting roughly-rectangular shapes from a 3/4" cedar board, then cutting out the center of the shapes, so that what's left is about 3/4" wide edge. I drill holes in this to take the dowels and the cane.

It works pretty well, though, as I expected I did get some splitting. With the holes I'm making, the wood is pretty thin, and cedar seems pretty grainy in general. I was able to glue the splits I got successfully with wood glue, but it made me wonder if I could just apply a substance to the entire frame (soaking it?) to make the whole thing less likely to split.

I did stain the frames, and seal them, but this seems more designed to prevent moisture penetrating than to augment the existing bonds between the wood fibers -- I think this latter is what I really want.

I should add that I also thought of wrapping the whole thing with cane or something similar, but as this is for a bike, I want to keep things light, if possible. And the cane I have doesn't seem that well-suited to that use.

Soaking the whole thing in wood glue occurred to me, but I'm not sure it would work, I worry about warpage, and I'm pretty sure I'd like something waterproof. Bonus if it won't interfere with staining.

I chose cedar on the advice of a wood sculptor friend; it is nice and light -- I wouldn't want anything heavier -- and the first basket is reasonably successful. I'd just like to avoid future splitting, and it would be great if I could make the frame even lighter. I'm not using the traditional thin-slice-of-wood-looped-around approach because I wanted some small degree of structural support in case of the bike falling over (with, for instance, a laptop inside). It won't protect from a major collision, but I think it's the right degree of rigidity.

I tried a Google search for [seal wood split] without success.

[Also, if there's some great way to glue the cane ends to their terminal holes, I'd love to know about that too.]

How do I repair a damaged ceramic tile?

DZ-015 — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 02:02:52 -0800

I chipped a bathroom wall tile while drilling a hole in it. The chipped bit came off the surface of the tile quite cleanly and I want to re-attach it. What adhesive should I use?

Online metal label source needed

wylde21 — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:18:17 -0800

Online source for SINGLE metal or foil customer specified text labels? I am looking for an online source for making single etched metal (preferred), or waterproof metal foil labels that have specified text.

I see many places I can order labels with 100 and above minimum qualtities, but I need a source that will allow for single label orders. I have several labels I need made, but they all have differing text requirements.

These wil be going on stainless steel plates and need to be waterproof and durable.

I don't like sticky everywhere.

4ster — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:05:39 -0800

I used some clear adhesive wrist protectors on my white MacBook, and after removing them, all of the adhesive is stuck on my Mac's wrist rest. What is the safest way to clean the gunk off? Goo Gone? iKlear? Something else?

Suggestions for wrapping a bicycle frame with tape?

wfrgms — Fri, 25 May 2007 22:27:51 -0800

I need to wrap a bicycle frame with a specifically colored tape. Back story: I work on bikes as a hobby and a friend has requested that I do a frame up restoration on his road bike. As part of the work he would love for some type of reasonably matching tape to cover the logos on the frame. (He commutes on the bike, and the tape will make it both anonymous and semi-resistant to scuffs at the bike rack.)

The bike is orange. Maybe a light orange. Think actual real (as in the fruit you find at the super market) orange peel.

What I'm looking for is a non permanent adhesive tape, perhaps something with the consistency of black electrical tape, but if its tougher (like duct tape) that would be good as well.

I've searched ACE and Home Depot to no avail. I haven't checked the art supply stores, but I'm not sure this is something they would have (based on past visits.)

I'm not opposed to order online, but something in the Chicago area would be great.

Other options for wrapping and protecting this bicycle frame are welcome as long as the color is consistent. I'm not locked into the tape idea. Thanks for any advice or thoughts.

What are good adhesive to bond rubber/latex and cloth to aluminum?

h2 — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:46:44 -0800

What are good adhesives to bond rubber/latex and cloth to aluminum? I'm looking for good clean strong adhesives to bond latex or rubber and cloth to bare aluminum. The rubber/latex and cloth will not need to be bonded to eachother, only to the aluminum. The adhesive will have to endure traffic pulling on the latex/rubber with several pounds of force (~10lbs) over several years. Also, how do I go about finding (and contracting?) a factory or place of assembly to assemble the said materials?

Stuck on you.

mrmcsurly — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:21:09 -0800

A neighbourhood vandal has stuck a "glue trap" to the middle of my windshield. How do I get it off? (more inside) My fiancée was visiting friends for dinner in Toronto during our recent cold-snap. She parked on the street and returned to find a glue trap stuck to the middle of the windshield. For the unfamiliar, it's a sheet of heavy paper about 6" x 4" with "Exterminator's Glue Trap: Contains No Poison" on the back (and an adorable image of a brick of cheese) used mostly for catching rodents. The face-down side (face up for catching things, face down for vandalizing cars) of the trap features super-sticky epoxy-like glue.

Sadly, it features no instructions on how to remove it. We have no garage, so spending a long time outside will result in frostbite or worse. I've already ruined a perfectly good snow scraper and a pair of mittens. Help me before I stick myself to the window and have to call an ambulance.

Peel-off stretchy glue

donnagirl — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 09:08:37 -0800

I need to attach a promotional magnet to a paper flyer. I'd like to use that peel-off adhesive often used to attach samples in magazine ads. What is it? It's stretchy, clear, and doesn't leave sticky residue. I can't find anything like it from the standard office supply vendors, but I know it exists.