“Can this still be glued? You have probably asked yourself this question many times. Whether it was when your favourite porcelain figurine broke, the sole of your old shoes came off, your sunglasses broke or you accidentally made a big dent in the kitchen table.
In fact, a little glue can save many broken or damaged items from the bin. As a consumer, you are not only protecting your wallet, you are protecting the environment.
No to the throwaway society
Climate change, environmental changes, scarcity of resources and the like are increasingly calling for a rethink in our society. As we move towards a more sustainable way of life, an important guiding principle is to move away from wasteful consumption and towards the responsible use of resources.
What helps to combat the throwaway mentality? Repairing things that are supposedly broken, rather than just buying new ones. Sometimes it’s just a cable that needs replacing to make an old lamp work again. Or a few clever stitches with a needle and thread can make torn trousers wearable again.
Repairing everyday items with superglue
Last but not least, many broken things can be repaired with glue. It starts with small, everyday things like those mentioned at the beginning. For quick home repairs, we often turn to cyanoacrylate glue, better known as superglue. Not only does superglue cure quickly, but it is also easy and versatile to use. In part four of our ‘The World of Gluing’ series, we looked at superglue in detail. However, it is important to remember that there are many superglues available today, each with its own ‘special properties’.
Let’s take a closer look at the examples from the introduction: If you want to glue a shoe sole, you need an adhesive that is very flexible and impact resistant. For a delicate repair, such as attaching a nose pad to a pair of sunglasses, you should use an adhesive with low swelling. This is the only way to achieve a visually perfect result.
As you can see, it is important to find out in advance which adhesive is suitable for your DIY repair. This applies not only to the superglues discussed here, but also to all the other types of adhesives you can use to repair your broken items at home.
Adhesive repairs in big industry
But let’s think on a slightly larger scale. The motto “repair instead of throw away” is not only popular in the home, but also in large industries. It has long been recognised that buying new machines, conveyor belts, pipes, pumps, etc. is usually much more expensive than repairing them. Not only in terms of money, but also in terms of time. Because a large system cannot be replaced without interrupting important production processes and ultimately losing money.
We have also included examples of adhesive repairs from the industrial world. The choice is almost endless, so in this article we will focus on just one: repairing broken pipes.
Sealing a damaged water pipe
What to do with invisible leaks?
On a grand scale: repairing pipelines
Finally, let’s look at a mammoth project: How do you repair a 100-kilometre oil pipeline damaged by corrosion and wear? By replacing it? Fortunately, there is another way. With the help of so-called plastic steel, a steel-filled epoxy resin system, the defective areas of the pipeline shown here could be repaired and recoated. WEICON also offers numerous solutions in this area.
As you can see, adhesives can be used to carry out repairs in a variety of ways, thus saving costs and resources. Whether in your own home or in large industrial plants, the invisible everyday helper has saved a lot of things from the dustbin. This little insight is just a taste of what is possible. So when something breaks, keep asking yourself: “Can this be repaired?
Images: WEICON
