Looking for Something to Use As A Spreadable Adhesive

@mike.caruso posted:

Just looking for something that can be spread over a decent size area and when hardened/cured will hold in place whatever is applied to it.  Important to note that the surface area is vertical, so anything runny/goopy will probably not work.  And the material being applied to it will be very lightweight,

How about a few real life examples of what you're trying to do?

Might help some of us less-imaginative be of help.

Problem reminds me of the ol' quip about counseling teenagers...'like throwing Jello at the wall and seeing if it sticks!'

KD

Helpful to know the surface on which you intend to apply the adhesive as well as what you intend to place on it, as well as required open and repositioning time.

The vertical surface will be wood or particle board.  In this instance, I need to position lightweight hobby wood against it.   But in the future it could scenery  items like, say, a Woodland Scenics retaining wall or a plastic sign or something similar.   You know how you read the side of a tube of adhesive and it will say "may be used on wood, plastic, metal, etc."?  It would be great to find something spreadable like that would be suitable for general use on one's layout.  

Liquid nails comes in a can and can be spread with a trowl...

https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-...15921646&sr=8-12

3M Super-77 spray adhesive (or equivalent) is almost certainly what you are looking for. Much easier than spread-on stuff. If you want something less aggressive, try 3M Photo-mount adhesive.

I am wondering why you are interesting in spreading something? 

If the wall is wood or particle board, and you want to stick some wood up against it, buy a tube of PL-7 Premium Adhesive at Loew's or Home Depot.  Yes it comes in a caulk type tube.   Yes, it costs about $8.00 per tube.  But, put it in a caulk gun, squirt three rows of adhesive on the back of the wood, press the wood firmly against the wall, and hold it there for 30 seconds. The wood won't come off, ever.  It sets that fast.   It is far far superior to Liquid Nails.    It will hold something made of very light metal like a thin metal sign, but not heavy metal.   It does not hold  plastic.  The fumes will knock you out if you breath it in for more than a minute, so open up the windows first.

You can't expect to use one type of adhesive and have superior performance with wood, plastic and metal.  It is simply a matter of chemistry.

Mannyrock

I used double backed carpet type to holdup my backdrop.  It is pretty strong.  I did two rows.  It should simply hold what you mentioned, and no mess.

More types of glue at my house than $ in my wallet.   One spreadable glue that I use and I have not seen anyone mention comes in quarts gallons and five gallon cans "Ceramic Tile Mastic" It will cling to vertical surfaces and is cheap. If you have a broad surface to spread over you might want a notched trowel.  I like to use it for gluing Homasote down.                      j

Mike I've used Titebond multi purpose flooring adhesive to glue carpet to a wall in a sound studio.  This stuff is great .

@Avanti posted:

3M Super-77 spray adhesive (or equivalent) is almost certainly what you are looking for. Much easier than spread-on stuff. If you want something less aggressive, try 3M Photo-mount adhesive.

Ditto... and, 3M Super-90.

DAP (Weldwood), Contact adhesive, (16 fl oz metal can) , Flammable liquid and vapor, Harmful or fatal if swallowed. Vapor Harmful.  There are picture instructions on the can, about adequate outside ventilation, Dangers of: a gas stove, or oven, pilot light, water heater, and furnace.  Smoking, matches, etc. dangerous.

MSDS information (7) pages.  Material Safety Data Sheet(s).

Apply to both surface, let dry to a gloss, not sticky to touch.  Position accurately, once contact, between the two surfaces, is initiated, there is limited movement.    Have fun,  Safety meeting of the day.   Mike CT.

My last use was to secure wood shingles to a doll house.

I was going to suggest a flooring adhesive. Just don't know if they work for all materials. Should work for hobby wood to substrate, for paper or cloth you may want to go the spray adhesive route.

It depends on what you are trying to do.  I use rubber cement for gluing photos to foam board -- works great.  You can use a putty knife to spread it and paper doesn't bubble -- so photos dry smoothly and it has stood the test of time as I have backdrops that I used on my old layout that are intact after 15 years.  Extra rubber cement just rolls off in beads with your fingers -- so there really is no mess.  I also use velcro to attach backdrops to masonite.  Both methods allow you to reuse the photos and remove/reset.  The adhesives listed above are all worth having in stock and are great ideas.

Lots of good suggestions above.  A few more thoughts...

Since the OP wants to glue to a vertical surface (and assuming that the item can't be laid on its side while the glue dries), quick tack/setup is important.

Contact cement works great, but the fumes are powerful and you only get one shot at alignment.

The amount of stress on the application should be considered.  We can often get away with using an adhesive that isn't particularly strong because there won't be a lot of force applied to the finished product (securing trees to a hillside, for example).

In this hobby, we often use plain old white glue in ways that it wasn't really intended for, and it's very benign.  Although it's not designed to work on non-porous surfaces, it can be used to hold plastic or metal scenic items in place, for example.

It can be a challenge to find adhesives in an economical size - a small container often costs almost as much as buying 2 to 4 times as much, but the remainder will go bad before it can be used.

Well, the OP said he didn't want to use a squeeze tube or caulking gun because of hand issues and, although he wanted something "spreadable" - like from a can - my suggestion would be a spray adhesive, as was mentioned above. Gorilla Glue also makes a decent spray adhesive, but make sure to check the open time.

Another possibility, for adhering to plastics, is possibly vinyl floor mastic.  It comes in a can and is made for gluing down sheet vinyl floors onto wood subflooring.  You have to spread it with a trowel.   It is generally a white paste , does not smell too bad, fairly easy to work with, and spreads very easily, like a thick cream.  I have never tried it on plastic, but it works well sheet vinyl.  Do not try to use it with wood.

Mannyrock

A belated thanks to those who responded.  Many people brought up sprays.  The problem I have in this situation is that sometimes you go back to a finished section of the layout and make alterations or modify it somewhat.  And my concern for the surrounding buildings, scenery etc. would make me reluctant to start waving a spray can around (exaggerated I know, but you get the point!  ).  Plus, my limited experience with sprays is that you don't have a lot of "wiggle room," i.e. once you press something in place there's not a lot of opportunity to move it, slide it, re-orient it or what have you.  And in this case it would be helpful to be able to slightly readjust something before "setting it in stone."

There were a couple of things I saw that I'm curious about, and I'll try to query those guys individually by email if possible.   And thanks Richie for noting the caulking gun issue with my hands.  20 or 30 minutes of that in a tightly confined area  would be a painful experience, sad to say.  Appreciate everyone's input.

@wild mary posted:

Mike I've used Titebond multi purpose flooring adhesive to glue carpet to a wall in a sound studio.  This stuff is great .

I have a can of Titebond and it is just about the same stuff as ceramic tile mastic. I think they can be interchanged and preform similarly on similar materials. They are not fast setting so if your materials are heavy you would need to clamp or hold the pieces together by some means.  Though the ceramic tile glue holds one foot square sheets of tile up on vertical walls quite well.  I have even used it as a base for gluing ballast.  Use a brush to paint on a layer then sprinkle the ballast and use a sponge brush with the tip cut flat to tap the ballast into the glue.  I think I like white glue better for ballast but not by much. The white glue is a bit faster process.           j

Have you thought about a cordless caulk gun ?    I have one and it works great. Then you will have a plethora of adhesives to pick from and no trowel to clean up

Gorilla makes a double sided tape for vertical mounting.

their are commercials on TV for Alien Tape which is supposed to be strong without adhesive yet also removable .  ????

When adding carpet to the cardboard panels on the back seat of my Corvair I had tried several glues but found for the almost vertical panel behind the seat two sided carpet tape worked great. They make it in removable and non-removable types.

Rubber adhesives  like Flex Seal liquid or Flex Paste

Alan,

Will Flex Seal Liquid or Paste stick on a long term basis to smooth dry plywood?   I am not sure.

Remember also, that if the particle board he is talking about is OSB, OSB has some wax mixed into it by the manufacturer when they press it. This is required by code so that if it gets rained on once or twice during an installation job, it won't immediately turn into mush.   So, I wonder how rubber products would stick to that long term.

Just some thoughts.

Thanks,

Mannyrock