How To Refresh Tite Bond Glue?

[Zachary Hoyt]

I buy in gallons, once or twice a year. I've not had any around long enough to get thick but I wouldn't try to use it once it has.
Zach

[Jim Andrew]

I buy gallons of glue, and while the only that has failed was some Titebond 2 that was allowed to freeze, have had no problems with Titebond original.

[Mike Cutler]

Derek

It cost me a lot more, per usage, but I buy Titebond in small quantities now. I just don't do enough glue ups with Titebond to have a gallon of it on hand. I wish I did though.
I almost always use epoxy, and while yes, it is much more expensive, epoxy doesn't "go bad". Worst I ever have to do is put the resin/hardener containers in a pot of hot water to liquify them again. Generally just the resin.

[Wayne Lomman]

Two things. Firstly, Titebond is a cross linking glue. Once past it's shelf life it has started to form the chemical bonds that don't reverse with adding water. Would you add water to half set concrete and expect it to still work? By all means use it for non critical stuff like temporary fixing but don't expect any proper service out of it.

Secondly, all polymer glues have a shelf life including epoxy. Information like this is found on product data sheets which should always be studied for every product used. Cheers

[Jon Grider]

I sometimes buy green wood at a local auction in small lots, usually less than 100 bf. Something I tried and it worked for me was coating the ends of the boards with old TB111 that was past it's useful life for bonding joints. Seals the ends up pretty well for air drying.

[Pete Staehling]

Ya...I think I won’t buy gallons anymore, for sure.

Maybe, but consider that it is enough cheaper per ounce when bought by the gallon to offset any waste when/if it goes bad.

Also consider buying a gallon and putting it all in smaller containers with little to no air inside. If you do that I bet you could use up the whole gallon before any went bad.

On the other hand it is easier to just buy quarts.

[Derek Arita]

Ya...just got tired of having to run out to HD, just to get a bottle of glue. It wasn't so much a cost issue as it was a time and trouble thing. I had a couple of projects that got me thru 1/2 the gallon bottle pretty quickly. Guess I'll go back to the smaller bottle.

[terry mccammon]

I am with Jon, I cut the cheapest white glue I can find with water and use it as a grain sealer. Also, I have taken "old" glue from folks and done the same. Seems to work very well. The advantage over anchor seal, leaving out cost is that if you spill it on the floor you don't have a super slick spot looking to give you a chance to lay on the floor.

[Andrew Hughes]

That another great use for old glue i haven’t thought if that.
Waste not want not.
I also take heed to what Wayne L says about thinning glue.Im going to do some more testing before I do it again.

[Frank Pratt]

I've only had a gallon go bad once & that was, ironically, Titebond Extend. I got it for my workbench project & about 3 years later the leftover had gone very thick so I tossed it. I always buy by the gallon. It will easily last a couple of years & even if you end up throwing half of it away it's still cheaper than getting it in the small bottles.

[Jim Becker]

Ya...just got tired of having to run out to HD, just to get a bottle of glue. It wasn't so much a cost issue as it was a time and trouble thing. I had a couple of projects that got me thru 1/2 the gallon bottle pretty quickly. Guess I'll go back to the smaller bottle.

What I do is keep two of the smaller bottles...one I'm using and one for when that runs out. Once the first is gone, I just get another when it's convenient. I keep a list of things that need to be picked up "when it's convenient" in the same application we use for grocery shopping and Costco shopping and...

[glenn bradley]

Would storing the bottle upside-down help preserve it? Don't ask me why it would, but I've heard this before.

What constitutes expensive varies with each of us. For the amount of money and effort I sink into a piece of furniture. $10 is not going to make me "cheap-out" on it.

One man hobby shops don't consume glue like a production shop, even a one man production shop . I have moved to buying quarts as that is what I consume in a timely manner. Your timely consumption quantity will be different. The dollar or so that I spend by not buying a gallon is offset by the glue remaining viable to the last drop. I also know how much glue I have and pick up the next bottle when a sale and a lower glue level coincide.

As to storage, I may be a bad example as I live in a place where 80 degrees Fahrenheit is not hot and 45 degrees is "dang, its cold!!!". My humidity is also low by many standards. All that being said, my shop is insulated but, not temperature controlled.

I pour glue from the quart bottle into a large and a small Glu-Bot. I then squeeze the bottle to get most of the air out, close the lid and set it on a shelf. The balance of the glue will get used within a year at the most. This system has been working well for some time. I don't worry that the squeezed bottle will become distorted as I only use it to store the glue, not to dispense it.

[Van Huskey]

Lets put the money in perspective. I used Woodcraft to get some comparative numbers. One gallon of Titebond Original is $20 and pint bottle are $5 so by the pint a gallon is $40. So it is twice as much BUT just $20, and while $20 is $20 if you aren't using a gallon in a year (so that it goes bad) then we are talking about spreading the $20 over a year or two.

I just buy a pint before starting a new piece of furniture, its about $4 on Amazon and we get Amazon deliveries 2-4 times a week. I usually keep a couple of left over bottles for non-critical use and toss the oldest when I get a new one. Compared to the cost of wood glue is dirt cheap.

[David Wiper]

Buy a glue-bot, and keep the glue. It is air tight, and easy to use.

[Van Huskey]

Buy a glue-bot, and keep the glue. It is air tight, and easy to use.

You can cheat overall shelf life, its chemistry. The Gluebot isn't anymore airtight than the original container but they are indeed excellent glue containers and reduce the impact of any skin that develops since they "pour" from the bottom.