construction question "spray adhesive"

cityzooguy

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Has anyone ever used "Elmer's spray adhesive" in a habitat before? It is a water resistant glue that can be used on a variety of materials, like foam, plastic, wood, and so on. I am planning to make several habitats with this as a key part, so I want to make sure that it will not be harmful. Anyone who has an opinion is welcome to post, and if I could get someone who has used it that would be great. I want to use it in a tutorial (if it works out), so I need to be extra sure that it is ok.

thanks,
Ernie

Edit-- So it looks like this is not an acceptable material for use with T's. I wont be using it, but I did find that there are people that use "aquarium safe" spray adhesive which I am guessing is waterproof.

Anyways, thanks to those that posted. If anyone has anything else to contribute feel free.
:D

P.s.-- After poking around on the internet for a while it looks like I am going to be using a water based polyurethane instead.
again, thanks a lot for the posts.
 
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zonbonzovi

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I agree with JimM...used to use this stuff for collaging & the fumes seem to stick around long after it's dry, turning any enclosure into a potential chamber of death. You're better off with silicone, which is inert when dry.
 

cityzooguy

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I read through that page, and a few others and the way that I understand it is that applying the product is dangerous, but the things like acetone and propane "go away" after application.

I'm not wondering if I should be cautious when I am spraying it, I'm wondering if the dried product is safe or not.

any suggestions for alternatives? (I want to glue sand to expanding foam, and don't want to use silicone)

I imagine that if the finished product was dangerous to touch there would be some warning labels about that, but I just wanted to know if anyone has had good or bad results with this product.
 

cityzooguy

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I agree with JimM...used to use this stuff for collaging & the fumes seem to stick around long after it's dry, turning any enclosure into a potential chamber of death. You're better off with silicone, which is inert when dry.
how long is a long time? weeks, months?
 

zonbonzovi

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I didn't really pay attention to how long, as it wasn't for the purposes of anything living. However, if you can still smell it after any amount of time, it is likely harmful.
 

JimM

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I'm not wondering if I should be cautious when I am spraying it, I'm wondering if the dried product is safe or not.
Yes...I get it.
Reading through the material, and having used these products, I'm guessing that the dried adhesive is still toxic to some degree.
 

Czalz

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I have used it to adhere substrate to hides, creating the whole "cave" effect, but honestly, it sucks for that application. I had to re-apply many times to get the desired effect, and it just wasn't as easy as I'd hoped it would be.
 

zonbonzovi

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Too late, genius...already caught your edit...why don't you enlighten us all?:rolleyes:
 

Skullptor

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Compared to you....I probably am a genius....So, you caught me saying to pm me instead of hearing your...guessing! {D{D


So, you want me to enlighten you after you're BS answer.....What, you mean you can't interpret the MSDS for him? {D
 

cityzooguy

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I have used it to adhere substrate to hides, creating the whole "cave" effect, but honestly, it sucks for that application. I had to re-apply many times to get the desired effect, and it just wasn't as easy as I'd hoped it would be.
So just to be 100% clear, you used the adhesive spray on something that you put in with a tarantula and it didn't do any harm?
 

Czalz

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So just to be 100% clear, you used the adhesive spray on something that you put in with a tarantula and it didn't do any harm?
Nope......


I didn't like the results, so I never used it. I was just stating that it wasn't as effective as I thought it would be for that application. I just had a sudden spark of "genius" one day and thought it would be awesome, but it wasn't.

The brand I was using was 3M. I was a little concerned about the fumes but had every intention of letting the project air out for quite some time....never got as far as actually putting it in an aquarium.

Even if I had used it successfully, the ventilation in your aquarium may be quite different than mine. The results couldn't be trusted to be the same. I wouldn't want to tell you it's all good and be responsible for the death of one of your t's.

-Charles
 

JimM

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A lot of things are much stronger, more reliable and better looking that hot glue from walmart...
That really depends on what you're doing.
For some things, it's hard to beat hot glue.

I have expensive marine resin that I apply to seal logs, etc that will contact the substrate, but I don't throw it around willy nilly.

Hot glue has it's place, and you use it where it won't be seen, won't be supporting a bunch of weight, etc. Like anything, it has it's place.
 
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