Flocking adhesion issues.

[Jon.1976]

I made a box recently and decided to flock the inside. I did a bit of researching before (obviously not enough) and went ahead. This was last Wednesday. I checked the box about an hour ago by touching the flocking with a clean rag. This resulted in a black cloth (I'd shaken the excess fibres out on Sunday) definitely a glue issue.


I wasn't happy with the external finish of the box anyway, so thought I'd apply some pressure to the rag and got through to the sealed wood surface very easily. This one is going into the failed projects bin, I'll recycle the timber at some point. I have 3 more boxes waiting to be finished and don't want to make the same mistake again so any advice would be appreciated. This was my first experience. I followed the wood whisperer scrap wood box video (and the glue instruction) by sealing the wood first. WW sealed his with pre cat lacquer, I used cellulose sanding sealer. Maybe this was the problem.
I'm planning on finishing the others with a thinned oil based poly (wiped on) as the shape of the box makes sealer and wax a bit of a faff to apply.

 

[sunnybob]

When I flock a box I use the same wipe on poly for the outside, on the inside. But only one coat.
I cant get the purpose made glue here, so after a conversation with donjer in america I use hammerite or any other metal covering paint, in the same colour as the flocking.

Points that might explain what went wrong.
1/ Too much sealer inside. especially if it was wax. The only reason to use sealer is to stop the coloured adhesive seeping through joins or right through the wood itself. i had that happen once on thin maple.
2/ Too much glue. Just like paint, if the layer is too thick it skins over and the underneath never dries.
3/ Too much flocking. this has the same effect as too much glue, it stops the drying process.
4/ Unlikely yet, but maybe your workshop is very cold and or damp, which would drastically slow down the drying.

Strangely, in all the boxes I have flocked (more than 20), I once actually finished one in England. It was a music box and time was short so i ordered the correct glue and did the flocking in the UK. I didnt like the result! It stank the place out and seemed very thin afterwards.

After all that, heres my method.
I cover the whole box with one coat of wipe on poly, inside and out.
AT LEAST 24 hours later (in the UK winter weather I would recommend 2 days drying) I mask off the outside and apply the metal paint. A good covering but NOT so thick it pools.
I put it in a large plastic box and puff the flocking very generously all over the box (you can then recover all the unused flocking, its a very economical way of making the box look nice).
24 hours later I pick the box up and upturn it to shake off the excess, then put it down and leave it alone for another day.
Next day I use a long but very flexible brush and GENTLY brush off any loose.
I leave it another 24 hours before peeling of the masking tape and carrying on with external finishing.
I never use a rag at any stage.
So far, no complaints.

Once, purely as an experiment, I used pva glue. the flocking stuck but was very thin so i did it again over the top. When I finally stopped I had put 4 coats of glue and flocking on. Then I realised the pva had come away at one corner. I managed to peel the entire flocking off in one go and found I had discovered how to make suede textured pvc.

 

[Jon.1976]

thank you, great advice and very much appreciated. haha, like the suede pva comment. :mrgreen: