Cleaning up glue squeeze out

[stuartpaul]

This is titebond brown, - on nearly all occasions I use a damp cloth and wipe until all traces are gone. Never had a problem afterwards.

I'm now reading that this is highly likely to soak into the wood and affect any future finishes although I've never had a problem. Recommendation is to wait until nearly dry and then scrape.

Coming to the glue up of a major project and just want to check that others feel is standard practice.

So, - wet cloth or scrape?

Any different approach if using cascamite?

 

[Anonymous]

I use hot (but not quite hot enough to scold you) water which brings the grain out and stops too much soaking as it dries out much quicker, better for finishing too, or am i being patonising? my apologies if i am.

regards

mark

 

[Steve Maskery]

This is a very interesting issue, and one that, I am sure, will be of interest to many others too.

I, for one, have had many a project spoiled by glue stains that I did not clean up properly.

It seems to me that wet-wiping is good PROVIDED that you do it thoroughly. If it's not done properly, all I am doing is making it easier to soak into the surface. But on the other hand, too much water may affect the chemistry of the glue, so if the water gets into the joint proper, I may be risking failure.

It also seems to me that paring off when half-dry is good PROVIDED you get to it in the right window of opportunity.

There are other options. You could tape off with masking tape so that the glue squeeze out goes onto the tape which can be peeled off. I don't think I've actually done that, so I can't really comment on its effectiveness, but it does seem like a good - if rather fiddly - idea.

I look forward to others' experiences.

S

 

[Anonymous]

or you could use this. Fast Grab 5 Minute Polyurethane Glue very good stuff if used sparingly if any seepage very easy to pare off.

 

[BTR]

I have used the fast grab glue and it is very easy to clean once it has dried peel it or scrape it off and it is very very strong

 

[JoinerySolutions]

On projects that are to be stained or finished with a product that will be marred by glue residue the component parts can be given a spit coat of shellac. This prevents the glue getting into the fibres of the wood and makes cleaning off residue with a damp cloth much easier. I have never tried this with an oil finish(Danish for example) so not sure on how it reacts with that. Care must be taken not to shellac the glue joint area.
PVA glue and the use of silicon spray to aid machining timber (it still occurs :roll: ) causes most problems with finishing quality, from experience.
Rob.

 

[OPJ]

With PVAs, I prefer to leave it until the excess feels rubbery - at which point, you can quite easily pick it off with a chisel. Whenever I try to wipe the wet glue away with a damp rag, I seem to end up making more of a mess! Particularly with Titebond, which I find is more 'runny' than most PVAs.

DO NOT try to wipe away cascamite! :shock: Equally; avoid letting it dry completely before removing the excess as it literally dries as hard as glass (it's sharp enough to cut you! ). Again, I find the chisel method I described above works best.

Temperature also has a part to play. If it's too cold, certain glues won't dry clear and can leave white marks on your work if you don't get it all off.

 

[JoinerySolutions]

With PVAs, I prefer to leave it until the excess feels rubbery - at which point, you can quite easily pick it off with a chisel. Whenever I try to wipe the wet glue away with a damp rag, I seem to end up making more of a mess! Particularly with Titebond, which I find is more 'runny' than most PVAs.

DO NOT try to wipe away cascamite! :shock: Equally; avoid letting it dry completely before removing the excess as it literally dries as hard as glass (it's sharp enough to cut you! ). Again, I find the chisel method I described above works best.

Temperature also has a part to play. If it's too cold, certain glues won't dry clear and can leave white marks on your work if you don't get it all off.

With Cascamite or the other forms of it,(urea formaldehyde) clean up while it is at that rubbery stage , so much easier, otherwise its often cabinet scraper time.
PVA glue have a tendancy to going powdery when hit by frost/ severe cold weather, and the joints fail miserably.
Titebond yellow glue, alliphatic resin, is not so bothered by cold. If it gets frost bitten just stir it up in the warm and it is good to go.
I have never had a cascamite or titebond glue joint fail me yet, pva on several occasions and once with evostik 528, still not sure what caused that one!

 

[Stevie-Raw]

I usually apply finish to all components, masking off joints first. Then I assemble and glue up. any glue squeeze out will just chip off the surface when thoroughly dry with a sharp chisel bevel down. This works fine on oil and varnish but I have known it to remove a shellac polish. Alternatively when dry assembling mask the areas next to the joint lines to catch any squeeze out. A wet rag will just dilute the glue into the grain making removal extremely differcult.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Boz62]

Thanks for the ideas here. I always struggle with wiping off with a wet cloth with PVA's of all sorts - just so much mess made and it effects the later finish. Think I'll move on to using a chisel once it's gone rubbery.

Boz

 

[woodbloke]

I use a piece of acrylic plastic ground like a marking knife to remove most of the glue. I then use a cut down glue brush (rather like a stencil brush) to scrub the joint...the important thing is that the brush should be barely damp, ie just enough to dampen the surface, not to flood it. I also use rain water from my water butt which hasn't been in contact with iron, so no nasty black spots after the clean up.
The other method I often use is to apply a wax resist prior to the glue up and then just pick off the dried glue afterwards with the point of a scalpel - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

I use a piece of acrylic plastic ground like a marking knife to remove most of the glue.

I find that old debit/credit cards are good for this. Easy to cut into whatever shape you wish.

Cheers :wink:

Paul