Short Shelf Life Products - Long Term Storage

Glue and adhesives are expensive and some do not last very long even when unopened. Long term storage of epoxy, cyanoacrylate (C/A or super glue), polyurethane glue and photographic film, color or black & white. This easy method prevents deterioration of the unused products, saves money and you will always have it available when you need it. Plus some tips & tricks using epoxy adhesive.

[ghjk]

Paints, stains, some glues and similar products can be kept longer in the following way.
Open the can, bottle or jar... go to the welder and gently stream some Argon in the recipient. Close fast but gently.
I have kept stuff for over a decade and a half using this trick.
If you don't have a welder... they sell those disposable small Argon cylinders (about $ 20 a pop) they are samll and pretty useless for welding work.... but they last you a good year, even if you are a heavy user if tinned paints, glues etc...

Paddy

[RonaldWalters]

I probably should add to the video anyone using cyanoacrylate should keep a bottle of cyanoacrylate solvent well within reach of the workbench. I glued myself to a PVC pipe and the workbench one day and was calling my wife to come hand me the solvent. She played that for all it was worth - sudden hearing loss, etc. I’ve used Golden West Super Solvent for years - good stuff. Not cheap. Not always easy to find, but a bottle lasts a long time. And I repeat, kept well within reach of the workbench.

[MrGap]

15+ years of Rc airplanes and your just now telling me this. Thanks for saving me some money. Great tips.

[BJohn]

Once again loads of useful tips - Thx Ron !!

[RonaldWalters]

I lived in the mountains in Irian Jaya (Indonesian half of New Guinea) a bit over mile high and we found a lot of things were packed at sea level - Nescafe Instant Coffee, Fosters Beer and little bottles of cyanoacrylate come to mind. Opening them caused the contents to spray out. The Nescafe seal needed to be first pierced, the beer quickly consumed and the cyanoacrylate pointed away from yourself or towards someone you didn’t like. :-) Other than that, I have no idea why yours sprayed out.

[mattymatt]

Don’t need to freeze cyanoacrylate glues, just refrigerate. Will keep fine for many years (I have brand name useable bottles in the fridge for over a decade now). Not a fan of putting anything in freezer unless directed. Freezing can change the chemical structure of products rendering them useless or even dangerous, why take the chance?

[necromancer]

Thanks Ron, everything in the freezer now, saved me alot of money. Thanks Again.

[neonistic]

I know this is four years later but I just noticed on a bottle of honey, it says to warm the bottle in warm water to reconstitute it if it has crystallized.

[leslie]

Thanks for adding let it come to room temperature. I keep cyanoacrylate in my freezer and one time I took it out of the freezer, removed the lid and was holding it in my hand when it shot out of the bottle across my face and shirt. Thankfully I was wearing safety glasses and they were covered with glue. I think the heat from my hand on the frozen bottle caused it to build up heat causing it to shoot out of the bottle. Give us you thoughts on this.
Thanks

[maryc]

Really great tips. Now my epoxies will join my 3m 5200 and paint rollers in the freezer. Also, I always wondered what I could use to thin epoxy for use as wood reinforcement in small quantities. Many thanks!

[Everfalling]

This is very helpful. Subscribed in hopes to see other such useful tips. thanks!

[paulreider]

Always informative & useful, thanks for the info Ron...

[robertemmons]

I can tell by the assortment of adhesives that you build balsa and ply RC airplanes. So, with that being known I can believe you when you say that these tricks do work! I hate it when a good bottle of CA dries up before my next use.

[stringmanipulator]

Thank you, those are very nice tip :)

[chang.stanley]

I have a large bottle of that I've been using for a couple years and still works, but I've noticed it seems thicker than it was new. Acetone can dissolve cyanoacrylate. Could I add a few drops of acetone into the bottle to prolong its life? I know this works for toluene solvent adhesives, but this might be different. Thoughts?

[bridgendesar]

Just bought some gorilla (polyurethane) glue, and decided to look it up on youtube, glad I did now!

[Beowulfbeowulf]

Thanks for the video, its very useful! But why manufactures recomand storing epoxy at room temperature? Take care :)

[harbanslalsharma]

How to re-use solidified (due to prolonged storage) super glue?

[monacoguitar]

Damn, I've switched to a digital camera in the meantime.

[edh]

ca glue and some glues use water vaopor to cure aka whats in the air.. all you need is some water absorbing beads from ebay.. get a jar with a lid and place the stuff in there.. the beads absorb the water in the air and dry the air.. if you put in a freezer it freezes the  water vapor in the product and its inconsistant.. ive done my method with rubberized ca glue im going on 1 year and its still liquid