Gorilla glue doesn't seem very good

[Agent_zed]

Hi,

does anyone actually find Gorilla glues any good?

I bought some PU Gorilla glue to repair a shoe and it has been rubbish. Didn't hold for long and was difficult to use due to the foaming action. Applied as intructed.

I borrowed some contact adhesive to resole my sons wellies and again doesn't seem to stuck properly. Evostick impact adhesive was much better when I've used that in the past

I only bought Gorilla glue as I could get it locally and needed it in a rush. I previously used https://www.diy.com/departments/p-u...96a92e871b9911361e994808820e600b&gclsrc=3p.ds (although bought off ebay), and that has been great.

Maybe I'm using it for the wrong jobs or something? Perhaps it would be ok if I was joining paper/card together, but hardly seems to be for the toughest jobs on the planet so far.

anyone have better luck than me?

 

[Sideways]

PU isn't the right glue for the job. It isn't flexible.
It works just fine to glue wood together. Make a tight fitting joint and clamp it up tight.
It is described as foaming but it isn't intended to be a gap filling glue.

 

[Spectric]

does anyone actually find Gorilla glues any good?

Just seems like snake oil to me with the silly advertising they seem to use. Probably ok to glue skin and fur though .

 

[AESamuel]

I've found standard gorilla glue to be excellent with wood, ceramic and aluminium.

 

[Bingy man]

I used some recently to repair a staircase. Someone had damaged 3 of the treads and the mdf was separating on the nose of the treads if that’s the right term . I drilled a few holes squeezed the glue into the holes and clamped it back together. Left it 48 hrs and then sanded it back . Worked a treat tbh ..

 

[johnnyb]

It's uses for me are quite specific and my go to is titebond 3. It's good on partial end grain like mitres.decent on end grain as well. Its also slippy and doesn't grab prematurely so big tight joints are perfect for it. It's waterproof and works well outside. It is messy but seems to clean up easily. Strength wise it's never failed but I'm using it on tight joints. Huge disadvantage is its short shelf life. Gorilla do a clear glue now. Is it pu?don't know.

 

[Blackswanwood]

I had a corner of a piece of Indian stone that forms a step in the garden break off about 9 years ago. I did a temporary repair with Gorilla PU expecting it to last a couple of weeks when I’d have time to replace it. It’s still there and holding strong.

 

[kinverkid]

I've used Gorilla PU and PVA. I found the PU no better or worse than the cheapest PU you can find on eBay. It seems to be very 'samey' across the ranges. The important part of using PU glue is that both surfaces need to match, with no gaps. It's not a gap filler unless you are using it in small areas where you don't want to break open a fresh tube of foam gap filler. The PVA seems to have a short shelf life and again I see no benefits in regular 'woodwork' use over the Everbuild or Titebond range. As for leather, I too would have used and regularly use a contact adhesive. BondIt Contact for a strong weatherproof adhesion for leather and a Japanese water-based contact adhesive for wallets, bags and other materials. As for wellies, I'm surprised the contact adhesive wouldn't work and would certainly agree that Evostik makes excellent contact types of cement. So, I would probably consider a rubber repair adhesive. If I remember right, these meld the two surfaces together. Use acetone/nail varnish remover to get the old contact cement off and clean and to prepare the surfaces. Wait for a minute or two for the acetone to evaporate ready to take the fresh glue.

 

[pe2dave]

My problem with it was storage. Few months old and it was unusable.

 

[HamsterJam]

I’m not a fan of the PU Gorilla glue, particularly as any left in the container seems to go off fairly quickly.
I find CA, 2-part epoxy or D4 cover most of my needs.

 

[Stevekane]

Ive bought Gorrilla foaming glue once to mend a broken dining chair and its still fine after 5 or 6 years, the rest went thick in the bottle but still works just fine if the softer stuff underneath is dug out, I quite like it but I dont think I would buy it unless I was looking for somthing special. Its always said that its not gap filling and whilst this is true, because it foams up before going off I would think it would add strength esp if in a confined space?
Steve

 

[whereistheceilidh]

For shoes & boot sole repairs I use best grade Marine PU mastic. Need to clean surfaces with acetone first.
Drawback is a tube will probably cost more than boot is worth.... but if you have some in the workshop.......

 

[Doug71]

About 3 weeks ago I used some mitre fix to stick the soles back on my sons school shoes, it's holding up okay and only needs to last one more week until summer holidays He needs new shoes badly but as any parent knows you don't buy a new pair of school shoes 3 weeks before the summer holidays.

 

[niall Y]

I discovered through experience that the best way to buy PU glue is in a cartridge for use in a sealant gun. I usually have two tubes on the go,- a rapid and a normal one. It will easily keep for al least a year. And, it's easy enough to clip the end of the nozzle or poke it out with a wire if it sets at the end of the nozzle. though some makes do have a screw cap that fits on the end.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

That doesn't squeeze out so well when trying to keep joints tight, though,

 

[paulrbarnard]

About 3 weeks ago I used some mitre fix to stick the soles back on my sons school shoes, it's holding up okay and only needs to last one more week until summer holidays He needs new shoes badly but as any parent knows you don't buy a new pair of school shoes 3 weeks before the summer holidays.

I repaired a pair of my wife’s boots with mitre fix a few months ago. It was a quick fix expected to last a day or two but they are still doing fine.

 

[spanner48]

Agreed. i tried some Gorilla epoxy, and gave up AND threw it away after a number of tries. The 'Applicator' - a knock-off of Ciba-Geigy's Araldite - had transarent barrels, that were flexible. The two parts had already started to thicken inside, and stuck the plunger. I pushed harder. The barrels then expanded under the pressure I was applying until, with a huge 'ploop', five times the amount I needed shot out everywhere.

Oh – and it didn't make a strong bond, either.

TOO MUCH ADSPEND; NOT ENOUGH CHEMISTRY

 

[BillHoughton]

Here in the U.S., there's a product called Shoe Goo, a variant of a product called Goop - basically, a high grade rubber cement. In my experience, Goop is a great product for certain applications. It's flexible, fills gaps, and bonds well to lots of surfaces; and shelf life is very long. I've repaired a pair of my bride's shoes with it, and, before that, some of my own, and it's held up well. It's offered by a North American company called Eclectic Products that claims to be "growing globally," so you might wander about online and see if it's offered on your side of the pond (or contact them to ask: their contact info).

I wouldn't assemble a piece of furniture with it, but for lots of around-the-home repairs, it's great. My biggest problem is that my local hardware store no longer carries the big tubes, just tiny little ones.

 

[Doug71]

I discovered through experience that the best way to buy PU glue is in a cartridge for use in a sealant gun. I usually have two tubes on the go,- a rapid and a normal one. It will easily keep for al least a year. And, it's easy enough to clip the end of the nozzle or poke it out with a wire if it sets at the end of the nozzle. though some makes do have a screw cap that fits on the end.

I've never got around to trying PU glue in a cartridge (stuck in my ways) and your post has prompted me to get on and order some.

I've ordered some of the Everbuild 30 min cartridges to try, anybody got recommendations for other brands I should look at?