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5 Responses to What Is The Correct Glue Dilution Rate?
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Hi Barbara. First off, awesome to see another woman in the worlds greatest hobby. Anyway, usually its 1:1 from what everybody will tell you. Now you can plat around with different formulas to your liking but mainly just go with the 1:1 ratio.
Hi Barbara.
I have not had a lot of luck trying to spray Elmers. For most applications I simply do a 1:1 mix of water and Elmers and pour it using the original Elmers bottle nozzle.
For ballast, I pour the dilution in between my tracks very lightly, sprinkle on my ballast (lightweight kitty litter), then – and here’s the trick – spray with rubbing alcohol – then apply some more diluted Elmers. The alcohol helps the kitty litter draw / absorb the diluted glue. Any spray that gets on the track I just wipe off – which is how I clean my tracks anyway.
Hope this helps.
ps. be careful with store bought spray adhesives – reason is that if they’re old, which many are because they’re not fast moving items, the catalyst dies and they never set properly and stay tacky forever.
Hi, Barbara! Yes, indeed, it’s great to see another woman in the model railroad world! You see, in spite of my name being spelled, “MariOn” instead of, “MariAn”, I am a woman, too. There aren’t many of us out there, but we do exist, eh? With respect to the glue ratio, my experience with 1:1 works great. As far as spraying it, that’s “iffy”, because I no sooner get started, and it clogs up. If it’s used soon after mixing, it seems to be better, but if not, it does help to strain it. At last, I have found a use for those old panty hose! Of course, the sprayer has to be flushed out with hot water afterward fot the next use. At any rate, the 1:1 ratio does stick for landscaping materials, etc., but as Mike suggested, feel free to play around with the formula.
Misting bottles are different and require different water/glue solutions. White glues are different and affect the solution ratio. Elmer’s glue for school is different from Elmer’s you will find at the hardware stores and that will affect the solution. This is what I do: I selected a very fine misting bottle because a fine mist will not blow the ground cover I am trying to secure. It is a Lens Crafters’ eye glass cleaning solution bottle. I put a small amount of glue in the bottle, then add twice as much water. After mixing, I test it in the sink. If I get a stream instead of a mist, I add a little more water until I get a mist. When I am done gluing my project, I discard the glue solution and fill the bottle with hot water which I spray several times to remove all traces of glue from the atomizer. I store the misting bottle with water in it. I have been using the same bottle for 8 years. Good luck.
These proportions work for me, but experiment for yourself to find what works best for you.
Depending on how old the white glue is, (also called white school glue or PVA glue).
The proportion that I use is:
For really old white glue, from 2 to 3 years old but still pourable, two parts water to one part glue.
If the glue is 1 to 2 years old, I mix one and a half parts water to one part glue.
For glue that is fresh, new to 1 year old, I mix one part water to one part glue.
When using the water and glue mixture:
The older the glue, I’ll spray several layers and allow each layer to dry completely.
With newer glue, I’ll do fewer layers.
If using the water and glue mixture for securing artificial grass for scenery, I generally use one part water to one part fresh white glue.