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"Great Stuff" foam sealant

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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I'm probably the densest klotz in the world. How the heck do you store "Great Stuff" foam sealant after use?

You fill the area you're trying to seal. Now you've got a 90% full can.

You can unscrew and remove the application tube ... but the foam is now hardened inside the tube. You can't run an acetone-soaked pipe cleaner through unless you do it within about 30 seconds of us.

Dow-Great-Stuff-Big-Gap-Filler-Insulating-Foam-_1.jpg

What to do? Gloom, despair, and agony on me!

https://youtu.be/ZAAKPJEq1Ew


Thanks.
Tom M.
 
Immediately after using Great Stuff I unscrew the applicator tube and spray carb cleaner down through it and into a trash can. I also invert the can over a trash can and spray carb cleaner into the threaded stem/nozzle on the can. If the applicator tube sill appears to have goo inside I wrap a bit of paper towel around a coat hanger wire, spray it with carb cleaner, and use it like a pipe cleaner to remove stuff from the tube walls.

I do this immediately after use so the filler hasn't cured. I don't know what you would do if you waited until the foam has set.

As for the Hee Haw reference... thanks? My dad made us watch that show every weekend of my youth. Now I have an earworm that will stick with me for several weeks!
 
Doug - thanks for that info. I've been fumbling with the stuff for many years, and always frustrated that I waste most of the can.

Your dad had excellent taste in TV shows. And here's one of my favorite TV ads, which still runs often here in sophisticated New England:

https://youtu.be/nyn1YZ1k0Y4

"We've got the king, we've got the queen, we do the discount thing!"

Do we have taste, or what ...
 
I just threw away a can - same reason :rolleyes:
 
Even with all those steps, it doesn't seem to keep very long. Use it or lose it.
 
As I understand it, urethane foams like Great Stuff cure by exposure to moisture. If you don't get most/all the stuff off the valve inside the top of the can, it will set there and it can allow moisture to wick through causing the whole can to thicken and cure. It is similar to what happens once you open a container of Gorilla Glue. Use it quickly or it will set in the container.

That said, when I have carefully cleaned the top of the can I have been able to use it again for at least a month or two.
 
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