Glue question for the Brain Trust

[gsmittle]

A couple of weeks ago I allowed an 8 oz. bottle of Titebond II to freeze. Of course, the glue now looks like old cottage cheese and is unusable. What I'm wondering is if I heat the bottle in a pan of near-boiling water, will the glue soften enough for me to clean and reuse the bottle? Or should I just toss the whole thing?

g.

[cabinetman]

A couple of weeks ago I allowed an 8 oz. bottle of Titebond II to freeze. Of course, the glue now looks like old cottage cheese and is unusable. What I'm wondering is if I heat the bottle in a pan of near-boiling water, will the glue soften enough for me to clean and reuse the bottle? Or should I just toss the whole thing?

g.

Once it thaws, stir it back up. You can still use it. If it has thickened, you can thin with 5% water.

.

[Cochese]

A couple of weeks ago I allowed an 8 oz. bottle of Titebond II to freeze. Of course, the glue now looks like old cottage cheese and is unusable. What I'm wondering is if I heat the bottle in a pan of near-boiling water, will the glue soften enough for me to clean and reuse the bottle? Or should I just toss the whole thing?

g.

For $5, I think you know what to do.

[woodturner]

A couple of weeks ago I allowed an 8 oz. bottle of Titebond II to freeze. Of course, the glue now looks like old cottage cheese and is unusable. What I'm wondering is if I heat the bottle in a pan of near-boiling water, will the glue soften enough for me to clean and reuse the bottle? Or should I just toss the whole thing?

Titebond says that the glue will survive 5 to 6 freeze cycles before the chemical bonds are damaged so much that the glue is unusable.

In my experience, however, glue that has been frozen does not work as well, is weaker, creeps more, and is harder to use because it thickens. I would throw it out.

[cabinetman]

What I'm wondering is if I heat the bottle in a pan of near-boiling water, will the glue soften enough for me to clean and reuse the bottle? Or should I just toss the whole thing?

g.

An 8 oz bottle won't set you back much, but there's no need to pitch it. You can warm the bottle up in heated water, it doesn't have to be near boiling. I don't have a freeze problem here in Florida, but one of the shops I mentor is in New York, and buys the glue by the gallon. They have had this problem on one or more occasions, and took my advice to use it. They report no problems in it performing poorly.

If you can warm up the glue and the area where its being used, its bond and curing rate aren't affected.

.

[Pappy]

If you were talking about a gal or maybe even a full qt, I would warm it up and mix it well. With an 8 oz bottle I would say do the same thing and edge glue some scrap wood just to satisfy your peace of mind that it is still good. If you don't think the results are good, toss it. You will only be out a few minutes and a couple of bucks.

BTW, I have heated glue in the microwave a couple of times with success. Remove the cap and heat 10-15 seconds at a time until it thins out enough to shake up and mix.

[gsmittle]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I did try a bit of the glue on the noncritical part of a ome-time-use jig I made yesterday, so we'll see how it did when I can get out there again.

The bottle's in the house (only one freeze cycle) and this afternoon while LOML is snoozing (carpal tunnel surgery this morning) I'll see if I can heat and stir it.

If this were a brand-new gallon I'd be much more upset than curious. BTW, this 8 oz bottle came from a gallon I bought on sale and divided into lots of smaller bottles, so I still have plenty on hand if this bottle's toast.

g.