Superglue Removal

[phil p]

Hi,

Does anyone have any suggestions of removing superglue form plastic PVC.

Roofer (long story) tried in vain to put some PVC back that he had damaged and thought using 3 pints of superglue would sort it, which incidently it didn't, however the only thing it did achieve was drip onto my mahogany woodgrain PVC window cills outside.

Tried what I could google and acetone was mentioned quite a lot, which I did try on a small area, but took the colouring out of the PVC.

Any ideas on how to remove?

Regards
Phil

 

[MikeG.]

I've no idea, Phil, but my hunch is that dried superglue won't be as robust as uPVC in resisting frost, UV light, hail, and so on, and that if you were to leave it for 6 or 9 months you'd probably find that you could just scrape the remnants off with a normal paint scraper. Either that or order a new cill now.

 

[Rorschach]

Superglue is generally fairly UV resistant unless it was super cheap stuff. What it doesn't like though is movement as it's quite brittle and I imagine given some sunshine and expansion of the PVC it might well loosen, the PVC it fell on was probably dirty and greasy so I doubt it's got a strong bond. You could also try soaking it in some WD40 which shouldn't harm the PVC at all.

 

[profchris]

I think (not certain but fairly sure) that CA glue doesn't bond chemically to PVC. Just a mechanical bond to surface imperfections. If so, it should flake off fairly easily - get a chisel corner under a bit and see. As someone's already said, it's brittle.

CA also softens with quite low heat, but I suspect PVC might soften faster :shock:

Acetone is the only solvent I know, WD40 won't soften it.

 

[AES]

I also don't know of any solvent for CA apart from acetone - BUT I wouldn't put acetone anywhere near PVC!

CA is generally noted for having low mechanical strength, especially low peel strength. SO IF you can find an edge to the CA spill(perhaps lift it with a razor blade to start with) you MAY be able to peel it up off your window cills, especially if able to apply hot (not boiling) soapy water at the same time as trying to peel - or even scrub with a stiff brush.

Also, some of the DIY places here (and I'm sure in UK too) sell tubes of CA remover. Those few I've tried at least smell of acetone, but I have seen a tube which says "no acetone". No idea if it's any good or not.

On a similar theme, my good lady has a nail varnish remover which also says no acetone. Maybe worth a try.

Certainly if (If?? When more like!) I get CA on my hands I use nail varnish remover and/or acetone together with hot water and soap with a stiff scrubbing brush under the tap. CA really isn't all that mechanically strong, especially if you flex it (on your hands). Is there any flexibility at all on your window cills, even just a small amount at the corners?

Finally, agree with the other posters, some CAs don't like sunshine (others don't seem to be affected much at all), so if you can wait a bit, I GUESS the bond could weaken naturally, and perhaps then is the time to try any/all of the above.

 

[Rorschach]

Acetone is the only solvent I know, WD40 won't soften it.

I wasn't suggesting WD40 would soften it, just help it loosen. When I get CA glue on my hands I rub some mineral oil in, it doesn't soften it but seems to creep under the edges and help loosen the bond. CA glue isn't terribly oil resistant and WD40 is very good at wicking into tight spaces.

 

[ColeyS1]

Toolstation sell superglue debonder- I know it works on skin so might be mild enough for your windows...

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[phil p]

Thanks for the tips guys, good advice as usual and really appreciated you taking the time to get back to me.

Only problem with this glue, it was Soundal by the way, and this may be good, and may also be bad, is that when it was literally dripping on the cill one of the roofers actually had the bright idea of trying to wipe it off with his sleeve, so he basically spread it all over.

So could that be a good thing that it's more of a stain rather than blobs of glue, hence the option isn't there to try and loosen and peel it.

I will of course try some of that debonder suggested by ColeyS1

Thanks again for all the replies however I'm open to any other suggestions.

Regards
Phil

 

[AES]

Well if that debonder as suggested above doesn't work (and as I said above, do be careful and try it on small/hidden area first because those few I've tried definitely do smell of acetone) then, assuming your cills have a grain pattern moulded into them, I can only say I'm stumped, sorry. The only thing I can suggest is, as above, wait until a sunny period and hope the UV has started to weaken the bond. IF that helps (and some CAs seem to be less affected than others - I don't know your Soundal, sorry) that may take some time.

How obviously "ugly" is it today?

 

[toolsntat]

How about heating area with hairdryer and rapid cooling it with a frozen coolpack block ?
Cheers Andy

 

[Lazurus]

How about getting the roofer to repair and make good?

 

[TheUnicorn]

I spilled a couple of drops of superglue onto a placemat recently and was able to work it off with a blunt knife, akin to a butter knife shape. I'd do a test run on an inconspicuous spot and make sure that the PVC doesn't get gouged and scratched. Have you tried soudals customer service?

 

[phil p]

Hi,

Just reporting back.

Pleased to say Ive sorted it, well 90% of it, so I'm over the moon!

Tried some of that debonder as advised by ColeyS1 and it worked a treat, mind plenty of patience and elbow grease was needed but it's done the job and I'll endeavour to do the rest tomorrow if the weather stays O.K.

Must say once again a big thank you to everyone for all your suggestions, it's really appreciated.

Nothing to say to the roofers who caused all this mess, well I do actually, one word, Karma!!

Anyway thanks again chaps for all your advice.

Regards
Phil

 

[AES]

Good to know phil p, thanks for telling us.

Could you please give name/manufacturer of the superglue debonder that Coley S1 mentioned, also where you got it (not name of shop but just "DIY place" or "specialist tool dealer" or "whatever").

TIA

 

[ColeyS1]

Glad it worked out Phil.
This is the stuff I suggested
https://www.toolstation.com/search?q=Superglue debonder

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[phil p]

Yep,

That’s the stuff, it really got me out of the mire and can recommend it.

It came from Toolstation (hope I’m allowed to say)

Regards
phil

 

[Trainee neophyte]

It may be a tad off topic, but I have just learned how to remove hot melt glue: isopropyl alcohol.

[youtube]dNNqSXgj6DE[/youtube]

Don't know if it works for superglue - probably not.

 

[AES]

Thanks for that "T n". Doubt it would work for superglue (CA) but it does work for glue gun stick glue. What also works for glue gun sticks if it's only a little blob and it won't just pick off is a big soldering iron and a suction type de-soldering tool.

 

[rafezetter]

Glad you got it sorted but that roofers first mistake was using superglue on PVC - should have used plumbers adhesive (pipe weld) - forms a chemical weld same as on pipes, superglue.... not so much.

Could it have actually been pipe weld?

 

[phil p]

Unfortunatley it was superglue (Soudal)

Honestly I still cringe when I think about it.

You want to see the state of the top fascia boards, they're still covered with heavy runs so it looks as though I'm going to have to replace them, another extra cost for me.

Normally I'm very astute when it comes to getting anyone in to do work for me, always get a few quotes in and try to find out what they're work is like etc etc, however on this occasion I just told him to do it, wouldn't care when I looked further into it, aswell as them doing a c**p job I think I was well overcharged (£550), but that was my fault as I was stupid.

I basically had the old covering removed from my 3 sided bay, approx 3 x 1 metres, as it looked like a mixture of lead and roofing felt, mind it never leaked but thought I had better get it done just incase anything ever happened to me it would be left to my daughter to sort and didn't like the thought of her being ripped off, how ironic!!

So the roof was stripped (lead disappeared) in about 10 minutes and the new OSB boarding on, and the EPDM rubber on top of this, however when he cut the board he cut into my top fascia, took the woodgrain finish off it with the saw, therefore it was showing the white PVC underneath.

Gaffer showed up and when I complained he said he would renew it, so off he went, however he brought back the wrong colour so I asked for the old stuff to be put back, but I knew I would have to replace it, but at this stage I just wanted shot of them, nearly forgot, this was after he got it all finished and was ready to leave and the whole lot came crashing t the ground, it only I had a camera.

He had only used mastic to try and bond instead of some form of adhesive.

Hence the offending superglue was used with pins to hold it until it went off.

Don't even want the 20 year guarantee it comes with as I wouldn't have them back anywhere near my property.

Thing I'm most annoyed about is that I could have done it myself in around a day taking my time but just didn't want to run the risk of it leaking and thought I would get the "proffesionals" in!

I'll just put it down to one of those things and it's taught me a valuble lesson.

Rant over.
Regards
Phil