Experience with Hot Glue

[Grendel]

Does anyone have actual in-the-field experience using hot glue on the playa for light bonding of camp items / costume elements? Curious how it behaved in the heat if you've used it in the past...

[AntiM]

Works fine on costumes/fabric. I have had small plastic items fall off wood or metal when left to sit directly in the sun.

[Eric]

IMHO you would be much better off using either a fabric glue like Sobo for cloth or Goop if you're trying to attach heavier elements.

I avoid hot glue like the plague out there- it might work, but there's also a really good chance it will re-melt in the heat. Why chance it?

[swampdog]

another vote for GOOP.

[Sham]

I recently discovered tubes of silicone ahesive and now wonder how I ever got this old without it. It works like hot glue, but takes a day to cure. It is very permanent, but stays rubbery and is not affected by heat. This is the stuff that many art car people use to glue stuff on their cars. It will keep a PEZ dispenser secure on the hood of a car doing 85 mph!

[swampdog]

Shabhala said:

It will keep a PEZ dispenser secure on the hood of a car doing 85 mph!

Personal experience?

[Sham]

Well.....

[theCryptofishist]

I find glue guns are particularly effective at burning my fingers. Plus, you have to have some sort of power to use them. Goop or silicone here too.

[kickstart]

I've used hot glue to attach EL-wire to my goggles the past couple years and always find that the heat out on the playa softens the glue beyond my liking. I just keep forgetting to get something better till its too late (aka the night before i leave.

its hit or miss with that stuff, but if you have the time, go with one of the alternatives already suggested to be sure of the holding power.

[dragonpilot]

And don't forget...you will be mixing playa dust along with whatever you're gluing.

I bring along a self-contained 10' x 10' hermetically sealed chamber with positive air pressure for all my glue gunning operations. You're welcome to use it...my gift to you!

[Zhust]

I have recently fallen in love with epoxies. (I fell in love with The Epoxies 3 or 4 years ago.)

JB Weld was first. I started with the "standard" which has a many-hours cure time. Then I got JB Kwik which is the same stuff with a different mix, so it sets up in 4 minutes. I have also used the 1-minute stuff, but I'm unhappy with the double-syringe technology and the lack of accuracy in dispensing the same amount of substrate and hardener.

They are astonishingly durable (about as good as hard plastics), they stick like crazy to whatever you throw at them, and you can pick the kind that dries in whatever time you need.

The beauty of hot glue is that whole 30-second work time. The trouble is the whole melting when it's hot. I think if you get the "high temperature" glue sticks, you'll be better off, but things might still melt. Regardless, hot glue works just like iron-ons for sticking fabrics together (I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same).

At a minimum, curing time sets what kind of adhesive you're looking for. The kinds of material being bonded are also important. Then you can get into temperature ranges, shear strength, and all that.

Good luck ...

[Grendel]

Thanks everyone!
Thinking of it primarily for a scale-mail type costume element that's worked well in the past, so all the glue joins would be shaded by nature of the design. It would all be done before heading out there in my already hermetically-sealed apartment, or my less hermetically-sealed studio, though there are some cool little butane-fueled glue guns out there now that don't require a plug. Time may necessitate giving hot glue a shot but I agree it feels like a risk. But then, the glue joins would be into fabric almost directly against my skin, and if the surface of my covered skin gets up to 130 F, well, I've got bigger problems than failed glue joins.
Goop is a great idea, and would probably be my first choice if I weren't pressed for time. I use most of the materials mentioned here in the studio here and there- I work as a figure sculptor, and it's really cool to hear others experiences with them in... unusual applications. Thanks!

Also, Pez car = awesome

[AntiM]

Don't overlook 3-D fabric paint for your costuming needs. Takes a day to set and is squishy when wet, but I use it all the time.

[swampdog]

Shambala - WAY cool

[baconqurlyq]

I just tried Gorilla Glue for the first time. I had ordered a bike bell to match my Burner cruiser, and the compass bit came unglued from the bell during transit. I used Gorilla Glue on it, and man that stuff holds like crazy. It takes 24 hours for it to completely cure, but I had glued the compass in the evening, and by morning the glue was hard as a rock and tenaciously holding the compass to the bell. Great stuff. I'll be bringing it with me to the Playa.

[swampdog]

Gorilla glue does not dry clear. It also can take a while to set, so you need to think of a way to hold the parts in place until it does. If clear is required/desired, go with goop or whatever. If sheer holding power is most important, Gorilla Glue is hard to beat.

[Mojojita]

Hot glue comes in 2 different temperature formulas - low temp melt and hi temp. Even the high temp will get soft long before it melts completely and things will start to sag. Unlike most other glues that harden when exposed to air, hot glue does not so it will get soft again any time it gets warm. Much as I love it, it does not work well on the playa.

[Sham]

Shambala - WAY cool

Well, that's not my art car, just an example of PEZ on the car. This is mine:

[robotland]

If you bring Gorilla Glue to the playa, bring solvent or wear gloves...it's REALLY hard to clean up and will stay on skin for days and days. (Uh, so I hear...)
There is such an animal as a CORDLESS glue gun, that runs on butane just like the cordless soldering irons. They work okay, but temp control's hard. After working with Grendel on a big sculpture armature that ate POUNDS of hot glue I think I'm mostly over it. Back to the welcoming arms of my beloved GOOP!

[Sail Man]

Back to the welcoming arms of my beloved GOOP!

Say's he who poops goop

[Grendel]

I went with the Goop, although as robotland points out I do have a lot more experience with the hot glue. Goop seems to have good initial hold and once you get used to the time it takes to tack up before application, goes on pretty quickly and cleans up well. Point taken about the hot-melt glue-- although even cool melt doesn't really get liquid until around 130 F, it does get soft a lot cooler than that, better to stay safe.

[robotland]

Back to the welcoming arms of my beloved GOOP!

Say's he who poops goop

Nyarp!

[Grendel]

Wait, dude, you can *poop* Goop?
I spent like 12 bucks.
You could have at least told me when you were at the studio this week.

Just saying.

[Captain Goddammit]

My experience with hot glue is all horrible. But then, I mistakenly thought it was K-Y.

[Captain Goddammit]

My experience with hot glue is all horrible. But then, I mistakenly thought it was K-Y.

[jessieshakti]

I'm working on an interactive art project that will encourage people to take moop on the playa and glue it to a structure (probably wood), so that it grows into a large moop art piece over the week...and hopefully clean up the playa in the process. I'm thinking to have hot glue guns available (using the high-temp glue) for people to use so they can glue the moop on the art piece. Do you think the high-temp glue guns will work well enough and hold the moop in place in the sun? Also, someone mentioned to me that glue guns can leave strings of glue that become moop, which would be a problem. Anyone have experience with this? Or recommendations for possible other adhesives to use in this situation?

[lucky420]

I've used high heat glue guns on costumes, etc and taken them to the playa. No problem with the bond but haven't actually applied the glue while on playa. I live in Reno and the climate is pretty similar except for the dust. I used my gun on an art project that I brought to playa last year, no problem. I was gluing faux fur, pipe insulation and Barbie heads to each other. I used my gun outside in the summer to do this. It all held fine

[BBadger]

It's a neat idea, but hot glue in an uncontrolled environment is going to cause problems.

One problem with hot glue is that it takes time to get hot. So you have to either leave the glue gun on all the time or wait for it to heat up, which takes a few minutes. While on, the guns leak out hot glue, and you might even burn out the element. It might work out if you're monitoring the board, but as a standalone piece it may not last. Also, as stated before, hot glue is MOOPy in and of itself. There will be strings of hot glue, and drops all over the place. It's just an inevitable result of hot glue. There's also user behavior. People can also burn themselves, use too much glue, glue other stuff you don't want covered in glue, etc. The user also has to hold the piece in position while the glue cools down, or it may fall off onto the ground. A big gooey mess is your destiny.

Finally, any project that deals with MOOP inevitably ends up being a big garbage can. It might be cool with feathers and sparkly MOOP is neat, but what about cigarette butts, or gum, or plastic bags, or beer cans?

An alternative is to have a board meant for posting/gluing stuff to, which will also pick up some MOOP, but not encourage MOOP. In lieu of a powered glue gun, you could also use something like a staple gun instead. Just beware that the staples could become MOOP too.

[AntiM]

I glued beads, pearls, and faux jewels to a wooden chest. The pieces did fall off in the sun and heat on the playa. I think I have the high heat stuff, but perhaps gluing things to a smooth, hard surface was part of the failure. Fabric would be different, more porous. But I agree with BBadger, the glue itself tends toward moopyness.

And once the project takes off, if the glue guns run out, people will just leave their MOOP next to your project. The guns themselves may take a walk if not secured on leashes. People suck when they aren't thinking things through. The essential idea is good, execution may take some brainstorming.

[trilobyte]

I do not think a hot glue gun would work well, and in all likelihood would create more MOOP than you're likely to be saving.

+1 to a staple gun. At least with that, you can also bring a magnetic rake and be sure to pick up any random staples that get lost. The droplets, strands, and bits of detritus from a glue gun would largely disappear in the dust.