Keeping gorilla glue

[Ray Moser]

Has anyone found a way to make the stuff last longer in the bottle? I've tried squeezing the air out and storing the container upside down. It still hardens in the bottle. I like the way the stuff works for some applications. I was able to glue a large platter back together and it is still holding. My wife uses the platter under a large house plant pot. The stuff is just too expensive to last only a year on the shelf after being opened.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Unfortunately, my method was to buy smaller bottles of it. I've found it to be less wasteful on the glue but not as efficient on the wallet.

I've often thought about the squeezing out the air method, but would that create a vacuum and try to draw air into the bottle. Would bloxygen work better, if it was going to work?

A little off topic, who carries or where do you get bloxygen? I've yet to find it locally.

[glenn bradley]

If you aren't using it fast enough to keep it from going bad; smaller bottles is the only cure I know of. I've pretty much given up on the stuff.

[Russ Massery]

Ditto on Glenn's reply.

[brett gallmeyer]

Here's a trick i've used before. I have a small gas shielded mig welder setup. u simply fill the bottle with the co2 mix out of the end of the gun. or u can use the co2 out of a can of air. the stuff u use to clean off keyboards and such. the co2 will replace the oxygen.

Brett G.

[Lee Schierer]

Your culprit is moisture. Moisture causes the curing of hte glue. Humid air will make it cure faster than dry air. If you live or work in a humid environment then it is likely you will not be able to keep the glue around once it is opened.

I found that I got more shelf life for urethane glue in my shop by keeping the bottled sealed when not actively in use and I stored the bottle upside down in a home made rack. This cut down wait time for the glue to run down the bottle and extended the life because the moisture was on top of the glue and didn't clog the nozzle if it started to set up.

[Jerome Hanby]

Wonder if you could transfer it to a syringe type container and force all the air (humid or otherwise) out of it before capping.

[Eric Gustafson]

In Tucson, I do not have a problem with shelflife and poly glues. It is just too dry here, but a suggestion that should work, is to store the bottle of glue in a pickle jar, or other sealed container, with a healthy supply of dessicant. I used to do this with superglue. I kept the stuff in the fridge, but figured the condensation when I removed it was shortening its life. So I kept it in a mayo jar with dessicant. Then I would let it come to room temp before opening the jar. This worked well.

[J. Z. Guest]

I had this problem. My wife suggested heating it up in a pot of water on the range. It worked, and the stuff is pretty old! Not as good as new, but more fluid than it was before.

In the meantime, I have found that I only like using poly glue for joinery that I want to have just a bit of flexibility. (for long-term durability) So I too, buy the smaller bottles. Buying the larger bottles is false economy. Sure, you pay less per oz., but you waste a lot more by having it cure in the bottle.

I have the same problem with honey, but that is much easier to fix by putting it in a pan of hot water. ;)

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

Has anyone found a way to make the stuff last longer in the bottle?
LOL!
Yes! I simply don't open the bottle. :D

I've given up on the stuff and use Titebond.

[Michael Wetzel]

I switched to Elmers polyurethane glue. It doesn't seem as tempermental as gorilla glue.

[Don L Johnson]

I buy the smallest bottle...squeeze the air out, put it upside down in a zip lock bag. So far I've been able to go back to the same bottle several times and its just as good as when I purchased it. I've had the same bottle now for about 8 months.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

are you sure you want to?

[Peter Quinn]

The stuff is just too expensive to last only a year on the shelf after being opened.

I disagree with this basic assessment. I have seen the stuff harden in the bottle in a matter of weeks in humid summer months when I left the cap off too long while using it. That is annoying, but live and learn. I think given its positive properties in certain circumstances its cost is fair and its shelf life should be seen as part of the equation.

I tend to buy the smallest quantity I can reasonably use in 2-4 months, and luckily they sell it in Very small containers. I also now pour the quantity I need from the original container into another vessel (pack of small dixie cups seems to work for me) and close up that bottle quickly rather than pour from the container.

I think most good adhesives have a similar shelf life for optimum performance, just that few are as unforgiving when the time is up. Epoxy, yellow glue and plastic resin glue all have a prescribed shelf life of a similar duration, just that they appear workable beyond that period. Many fine finishes suffer this problem as well. These chemicals just don't stay stable forever.

[Fred Ungewitter]

I'm hopeful that I've found an answer to the Gorilla Glue waste inherent in the design of the bottles in which it's sold.

My wife is an artist and due to the exposure of dozens of art-related product catalogs, I've discovered empty paint tubes (http://www.pearlpaint.com/shop-Empty-Paint-Tubes_2500_2479.html). Sized from a bit more than an ounce, up to five ounces, they are simply empty "toothpaste" tubes made from thin aluminum. I ordered ten of the five ounce size and filled eight of them from a 36 ounce bottle.

The open end must have empty space before rolling it over, or you'll get some exuded glue as you attempt the crimp it. I used needle-nose pliers to perform two rolls. Flipping the tube so the cap is up, letting the air settle to the top, then flattening it in the normal toothpaste manner allows all the air to be ejected before replacing the top.

I have no reports of use just yet. The thread-on cap has a large opening so high flows are easily accomplished, I suspect. I've almost doubled the price of the glue by the purchase of the tubes, but by the same token, I've probably cut the loss in half.

Even the 2 ounce bottles of Gorilla Glue result in glue loss, because you can only squeeze the air out of it to a certain point. I had previously given up, as noted in an earlier post, but this may yet work out.

[Larry Edgerton]

I keep mine in the trash......

Larry

[Rich Engelhardt]

The trash is a good spot for it - but - I also found that if you buy a bottle and don't open it for a few years it turns into a neat paperweight sort of thing.

I have one on my desk that's about as big around as a $.50 piece and about 2 inches tall.
It's not hard all the way through. There's an air bubble inside it & it actua;;y looks kind of neat - in a min-lavalamp sort of way.

[Jim O'Dell]

Like Rich, mine solidify in the bottle before I've ever opened them. I asked for, and got, a couple of the smallest bottles for Christmas a few years back. It was about a year before I found a project I wanted to try it on, and both bottles were rock solid and were still in the cardboard display box they hang on the peg at the store. I decided then that it was a waste of time and money, and I could make my glue ups with something more time tested. Jim.

[Chris Fournier]

I switched to Elmers polyurethane glue. It doesn't seem as tempermental as gorilla glue.


I have found this to be the case as well!

I use electrical tape over the cap when storing the glue.

[Chip Lindley]

I switched to Elmers polyurethane glue. It doesn't seem as tempermental as gorilla glue.



I have found this to be the case as well!

I use electrical tape over the cap when storing the glue.

And I thought I was just LUCKY! Elmer's Polyurethane glue ROCKS! I've been using the same 8 oz. bottle for over four years now!

[Dan Cameron]

I float a bit of paint thinner on top of the opened bottle and it lasts a long time, Just pour the thinner off to use the glue. Any residual thinner in the glue doesn't seem to degrade the glue.

[Fred Ungewitter]

I wondered if there was something liquid that would serve that purpose. It's certainly more practical than paint tubes, a heckuva lot easier and less expensive. When I run out of the stuff I have now that will be my next solution.

[ray hampton]

I float a bit of paint thinner on top of the opened bottle and it lasts a long time, Just pour the thinner off to use the glue. Any residual thinner in the glue doesn't seem to degrade the glue.

Since water is the cause of the glue setting-up , why not use W D 40

[Fred Ungewitter]

Paint thinner is probably pretty inexpensive and perhaps easier to apply. WD-40 can be found in liquid (not aerosol) form?