Weldwood contact cement oopsie

[CraigLandrum]

OK, this was really, really stupid. The results were bad enough that I figured I'd 'fess up, suffer the embarrassment, and hope that it doesn't happen to anyone else.

You know those handy little jars of Weldwood contact cement with the brush in the cap? They are really useful when recovering seats, panels, dashboard, capping ,etc. Well, on my way over to my son's house to work on the TR3, I stopped by Lowes and picked up a couple more since I was running low. Got to my son's house and what do I do? Leave the two jars on the front passenger seat of my wife's minivan. Monster brain fart. It was in the shade then, but later in the day, the sun hit that seat, heated up those jars, and they swelled and leaked half their contents onto the seat.

Boy howdy - I'm going to have to do some serious sucking up to smooth this one out

On the more practical side, I'm hoping that some acetone and elbow grease can get most of it out of those cloth(!) seats :frown: Managed to pick off most of it, but there is still a hard residue.

Sigh...

 

[martx-5]

I just got two jars of that stuff yesterday, as I'm starting to cover the wheel arches. The bottle says to use xylene for clean up...whatever that stuff is. My son got me a bottle of Goo Gone that works pretty good at getting glue and junk off of things. Don't know how it will fare with hardened contact cement. Just read the label carefully, as there are some things it can't be applied to.

I know it's a moot point, but the last time I bought the Wellwood stuff, it came in a glass bottle. I guess plastic is progress.

BTW, that Wellwood stuff is very good.

 

[AltaKnight]

Oh what a relief.....
I thought as I was reding this that you had spilled the stuff all over the TR3.
but relieved to hear it's just on the wife's minivan seats!

 

[Geo Hahn]

Sometimes you can get the 'hard residue' you mention to come off by plucking at it with the sticky side of duct tape. Duct tape clings like grim death to its own adhesive and this stuff seems to have some similar properties.

 

[DNK]

Wouldn't use Weld Wood if my life depended on it. Sorry,jmho

 

[Brosky]

How about freezing it with a piece of ice on a cloth and then pulling it off?

Put the duct tape on first and then freeze it really well and it just may pull off. If freon were still legal, it would do the job rather quickly.

 

[roofman]

Seems like a manufacturing snafu from the bottle manufacturer. I'd call them and Bit... I mean complain. Think of all the contractors with stuff like that in thier vans/trucks. Seems the bottle should take some heat to me or this could happen all the time.

 

[Tinster]

I just got two jars of that stuff yesterday, as I'm starting to cover the wheel arches. The bottle says to use xylene for clean up...

<span style="color: #000099">Xylene/Xylol is one nasty chemcal. Wear heavy
rubber gloves, work in a well ventilated area and don't breathe
in the fumes. That stuff will make you ill.

BTW: Coke Zero does the same thing in my boat ice cooler.
During the week, the unopened Coke cans tend to explode from
the sun's heating effect.

This will sound nuts but fresh adhesive will dissolve hardened
adhesive. Use a tiny brush to apply, wipe back and forth a bit
and then apply the Xylol with a rag to clean off the adhesive.
Xylene/Xylol can be purchased at most paint stores.</span>

best of luck

d

 

[jimbar]

Hummm I have a can of "dust off" that will freeze anything and it's legal! You might give that a try.

How about freezing it with a piece of ice on a cloth and then pulling it off?

Put the duct tape on first and then freeze it really well and it just may pull off. If freon were still legal, it would do the job rather quickly.

 

[Scott_Hower]

Agree that Xylene is some seriously nasty stuff. "Goof Off" contains Xylene (as opposed to "Goo Gone", which does not). It will soften/melt most plastics, so be careful what it comes in contact with. Keep the windows open; this stuff stinks really bad.

Might be easier to find a new/used seat from a junkyard/breaker.

 

[Popeye]

Wouldn't use Weld Wood if my life depended on it. Sorry,jmho

Why? What's a better substitute? I'm asking, as I am getting ready to re-cover my center console. (And planning on using contact adhesive... don't know the brand.)

 

[CraigLandrum]

Update on the glue fiasco - after reading some online, I used some lacquer thinner and a stiff toothbrush-size cleaning brush. Doused the bristles in thinner and scrubbed with the brush which really softened up the glue. I then doused some paper towels in thinner and scrubbed with that - glue gradually came off on the towel. Repeated the above about 20 times and ended up with relatively clean seats with little trace of glue and no cloth discoloration. I suspect that I simply thinned the glue down enough so that most of it sank through the cloth, but hey - it the surface you see that counts, and the wife is happy. To be perfectly fair, when I 'fessed up to the wife, she shrugged it off as no big thing - told me that van wasn't exactly new and with two teenagers, there are other stains that probably equal the glue stain. Bless her heart. Gotta think up a really neat christmas present for her...

Sewed the wheelarch covers last night and will sew the back seat panel this week. Thanks to feedback from friends on this list, I now also have the info I need to sew the back seat cushion also. And yes, I know that most of you guys don't bother with the seat, but I think it will look good and I can brag that I sewed up the entire interior myself.

 

[CraigLandrum]

One more item - concerning the Weldwood contact cement - I've heard some guys don't particularly care for it because they say it tends to come off in the sun. A guy a know that does MGs recommended another brand which I promptly forgot since I was happy with the Weldwood (and will continue to use it myself). After my seat experience, I can believe it might have some issues in the heat, but since a lot of you guys have used it and haven't mentioned anything, I'll assume its OK. I think that a lot of probloems can be avoided by simply following the directions - you really need to let the stuff dry properly before joining the surfaces. I suspect that joining them when too wet or sticky wight result in a bad or weak joint.

My 2 cents.

 

[DNK]

Wouldn't use Weld Wood if my life depended on it. Sorry,jmho

Why? What's a better substitute? I'm asking, as I am getting ready to re-cover my center console. (And planning on using contact adhesive... don't know the brand.)

I would use 3M and only 3M. Well maybe somebody else if I found a good substitute.

 

[Scott_Hower]

Wouldn't use Weld Wood if my life depended on it. Sorry,jmho

Why? What's a better substitute? I'm asking, as I am getting ready to re-cover my center console. (And planning on using contact adhesive... don't know the brand.)

I would use 3M and only 3M. Well maybe somebody else if I found a good substitute.

There are 2 grades of 3M spray glue ... "77" and "90". You want the 90. It's about twice the cost, but that stuff could stick a cat to the wall. Not that anyone would

 

[GeeBee1]

Sorry, too late with telling you about lacquer thinner.

That is what is used in cabinet shops as a thinner.

 

[AltaKnight]

There are 2 grades of 3M spray glue ... "77" and "90". You want the 90. It's about twice the cost, but that stuff could stick a cat to the wall. Not that anyone would

Now that's some visualization!

 

[DNK]

Wouldn't use Weld Wood if my life depended on it. Sorry,jmho

Why? What's a better substitute? I'm asking, as I am getting ready to re-cover my center console. (And planning on using contact adhesive... don't know the brand.)

I would use 3M and only 3M. Well maybe somebody else if I found a good substitute.

There are 2 grades of 3M spray glue ... "77" and "90". You want the 90. It's about twice the cost, but that stuff could stick a cat to the wall. Not that anyone would [/quote]

I would try to use a spreadable type as in the cans. I prefer water based and neutral color.. I have found it to be a longer lasting material
I my work over a period of time I have seen the spray 90 as we call it let go with fabric backed vinyls. With solid backed materials it will work better such as woods and plastics.

 

[tosoutherncars]

I'll second the recommendation for 3M. I'm surprised at Don's comment about it letting go - I find that as long as you follow their directions for use (as with anything) the cat stays stuck to the wall, so to speak!

I used the 77 spray for my carpets, and found that as long as I respected tack times, it worked *very* well. I later had to run some wires under the carpet, and had a difficult time pushing a coathanger under the carpet to loosen a path. Strong stuff.

 

[Guest]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]There are 2 grades of 3M spray glue ... "77" and "90". You want the 90. It's about twice the cost, but that stuff could stick a cat to the wall. Not that anyone would [/QUOTE]

I just used both for reglueing the dash support on the 6. Neither worked perfectly.
Lest you think I jest, I started with the 77 and it was useless.
The 90 stuck sometimes, but not consistently.

I think it would have been better if I'd cleaned the whole thing with acetone first, but of course hindsight is 20:20.
I ended up finishing it off with JB Weld.
Now ~that~ worked!