I had always assumed that glues were pretty much all the same. Gradually, like most of you know, I found out that there are wood glues, glues for leather, ceramics, glass and anything else you can think to glue together. Often, I’ve used the wrong glue on something and of course, it didn’t hold. Or, it held for a while, got wet and separated. I’ve also tried to stick sticky pads on dusty or greasy glass or walls for holiday decorations and either an hour or a day later I find the stuff on the floor.
From these experiences, I leaned some very valuable lessons.
- All glues are not created equal. You must buy the right glue for the right usage.
- Some glues are designed to take a pulling force (the guy with the hardhat hanging from a steel beam) and some glues are designed to take shear force (glued felt pads on chair legs and someone sitting in the chair is pushing back from a table).
- The surface that the glue is being applied to must be clean and have no oil on its surface. I know to use peanut butter to take off glue but didn’t realize it was because the oil in the peanut butter dissolved the glue.
- I’ve bought various floor protectors and found some that had adhesive strips. The strip doesn’t hold to the felt or to the bottom of the chair leg. I’ve bought various felt with glue on the back. Most of them either don’t hold, hold a bit then slide off and glue goes on the floor or stay on but the felt gets paper thin very quickly.
- When I tried the Flexi-Felt floor protectors I discovered that the glue that’s used is designed for shear force which is the right glue for this type of product. This glue also won’t let go if it gets wet.
Now when I buy glue I make sure to use the right one for what I intend to glue together. For floor protection, make sure the glue is impregnated into the felt, cheap double sided tape simply won't last.
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