I've just cleaned out an old squeezebottle of woodworker's glue
(Elmers Professional Carpenter's Wood Glue) which bore
a pricetag from a hardware store that went out of business
in 1996. The glue is from earlier than that, circa 30 years
old, and made a rubbery mass. Sometime between
15 and 30 years on my shelf, it died.

My question: how can I get the interior clean? Gummy
bits won't improve the glue experience, should I continue
my practice of refilling the small squeeze bottles from big 'uns.

That 8 oz squeeze bottle cost $2.19 new; no big change
there, the convenient small bottle still doubles the price per ounce.

On 11/7/2021 7:36 PM, whit3rd wrote:
> I've just cleaned out an old squeezebottle of woodworker's glue
> (Elmers Professional Carpenter's Wood Glue) which bore
> a pricetag from a hardware store that went out of business
> in 1996. The glue is from earlier than that, circa 30 years
> old, and made a rubbery mass. Sometime between
> 15 and 30 years on my shelf, it died.
>
> My question: how can I get the interior clean?

If it turns out not to be so easy, break down and buy a new "small
bottle"! ; ) Or, seek out empty generic squeeze bottles.

Gummy
> bits won't improve the glue experience, should I continue
> my practice of refilling the small squeeze bottles from big 'uns.
>
> That 8 oz squeeze bottle cost $2.19 new; no big change
> there, the convenient small bottle still doubles the price per ounce.
>

whit3rd <whit3rd@gmail.com> wrote in news:58a9d665-b837-41d9-8e9d-
4c0634478bf5n@googlegroups.com:

> I've just cleaned out an old squeezebottle of woodworker's glue
> (Elmers Professional Carpenter's Wood Glue) which bore
> a pricetag from a hardware store that went out of business
> in 1996. The glue is from earlier than that, circa 30 years
> old, and made a rubbery mass. Sometime between
> 15 and 30 years on my shelf, it died.
>
> My question: how can I get the interior clean? Gummy
> bits won't improve the glue experience, should I continue
> my practice of refilling the small squeeze bottles from big 'uns.
>
> That 8 oz squeeze bottle cost $2.19 new; no big change
> there, the convenient small bottle still doubles the price per ounce.

IIRC, liquid yellow glue is soluable in water. The bits that have dried
to the insides of the bottle might not come out, though.

I would probably "fail fast" here. If things don't look promising after
a few minutes of work, just toss the whole thing in the trash and spend
$2.19.

If you want cheaper, look for Elmer's "school glue" at Walmart. It's
$.25 to $1 (depends on the time of year you buy) and holds plenty of glue
for most woodworking projects.

Puckdropper

> whit3rd
> > My question: how can I get the interior clean?

When recaning pressed in cane, cleaning the groove is done by wetting the old glue (in the groove) with warm vinegar water. Allow it to "soak" for as long as the wetness stays prevalent. Scrape the groove to remove what has loosened, then re-wetting and repeat the scraping/cleaning process. The old glue is dry, so it doesn't matter its condition. The vinegar water seems to soften the hardened, cured glue. I would think warm (or hotter) vinegar water would help clean your bottle more efficiently than just water.

Sonny

On 11/7/2021 6:36 PM, whit3rd wrote:
> I've just cleaned out an old squeezebottle of woodworker's glue
> (Elmers Professional Carpenter's Wood Glue) which bore
> a pricetag from a hardware store that went out of business
> in 1996. The glue is from earlier than that, circa 30 years
> old, and made a rubbery mass. Sometime between
> 15 and 30 years on my shelf, it died.
>
> My question: how can I get the interior clean? Gummy
> bits won't improve the glue experience, should I continue
> my practice of refilling the small squeeze bottles from big 'uns.
>
> That 8 oz squeeze bottle cost $2.19 new; no big change
> there, the convenient small bottle still doubles the price per ounce.
>

So, many of these type glues will change to a solid state after sitting
for some time.
You might try banging/jarring the bottle against a work bench a few
times and see if the glue goes back to a liquid.

On Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 4:36:59 PM UTC-8, whit3rd wrote:
> I've just cleaned out an old squeezebottle of woodworker's glue
> (Elmers Professional Carpenter's Wood Glue) which... is from ...circa 30 years
> old, and made a rubbery mass.

> My question: how can I get the interior clean? Gummy
> bits won't improve the glue experience, should I continue
> my practice of refilling the small squeeze bottles from big 'uns.

Most of the glue came out with water (soapy water, to keep the chunks
from glomming onto the bottle sides), but that left a bit of gummy residue.
This and other PVA adhesives are supposedly water-soluble, but there's other
material in this one, that didn't come off. The gummy stuff resisted
water, vinegar, ultrasound... and oily-solvent emulsions (water and waterless hand cleaner
making a milky suspension) with paint thinner, mineral oil, citrus-glue-gone, acetone.
A few tablespoons of isopropanol, though, and a few hours of soak time, and
it's clean.

On 11/12/2021 10:54 PM, whit3rd wrote:
> On Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 4:36:59 PM UTC-8, whit3rd wrote:
>> I've just cleaned out an old squeezebottle of woodworker's glue
>> (Elmers Professional Carpenter's Wood Glue) which... is from ...circa 30 years
>> old, and made a rubbery mass.
>
>> My question: how can I get the interior clean? Gummy
>> bits won't improve the glue experience, should I continue
>> my practice of refilling the small squeeze bottles from big 'uns.
>
> Most of the glue came out with water (soapy water, to keep the chunks
> from glomming onto the bottle sides), but that left a bit of gummy residue.
> This and other PVA adhesives are supposedly water-soluble, but there's other
> material in this one, that didn't come off. The gummy stuff resisted
> water, vinegar, ultrasound... and oily-solvent emulsions (water and waterless hand cleaner
> making a milky suspension) with paint thinner, mineral oil, citrus-glue-gone, acetone.
> A few tablespoons of isopropanol, though, and a few hours of soak time, and
> it's clean.
>

Sodium hydroxide (lye)

On Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 2:22:45 AM UTC-8, g_wolf wrote:
> On 11/12/2021 10:54 PM, whit3rd wrote:
> > On Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 4:36:59 PM UTC-8, whit3rd wrote:
> >> I've just cleaned out an old squeezebottle of woodworker's glue ...

> Sodium hydroxide (lye)

Yeah, that was next on my list; the hydroxyl of the alcohol might just have inhibited
the bonding of the residues to the bottle, and lye would have been as good
at that task. But, the gum's gone now.

On 11/13/2021 4:38 AM, whit3rd wrote:
> On Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 2:22:45 AM UTC-8, g_wolf wrote:
>> On 11/12/2021 10:54 PM, whit3rd wrote:
>>> On Sunday, November 7, 2021 at 4:36:59 PM UTC-8, whit3rd wrote:
>>>> I've just cleaned out an old squeezebottle of woodworker's glue ...
>
>> Sodium hydroxide (lye)
>
> Yeah, that was next on my list; the hydroxyl of the alcohol might just have inhibited
> the bonding of the residues to the bottle, and lye would have been as good
> at that task. But, the gum's gone now.
>

I've found it also works well on epoxies and such