This Has Got To Be A Biginner Question. Cement tops keep sticking closed

[AzShooter]

What do you do to keep your cement from gluing the top on the container?  I now have 2 pints and a quart of adhesive that I can not open even with a pliers or digging a screwdriver under the cap..  Does Vasoline on the threads help?  

[YinTx]

Yes.  As soon as you open it up, smear it on the threads and you are off to the races.

Sometimes a little bit of heat around the cap will help loosen it.  Easy does it tho.

YinTx

[toxo]

I love Toluene. Cleans brushes, spatulas etc in a heartbeat and thins down my contact adhesive when it gets too thick. There are probably fumes or somesuch to think about but I don't care. Put some on a cloth and run it around your glue top before closing up.

[tsunkasapa]

Channelocks 

[Danne]

I use canning jars. For water based glues I use the regular gasket. For solvent based glues I bought industrial rubber mat in the correct thickness and cut out a new gasket. Unfortunately I don't have a source for this rubber. But I would guess you can find it on a lot of industrial suppliers. I have tried it and it's resistant against Xylene, acetone and such. (I put a small piece in the solvent and left it there for a day and it doesn't do anything to the rubber.

The good thing with this gasket is that with a jar with a decent amount of glue in it (not much space for oxygen when you open and close it) it stays thin for a long time compared to all other solutions  I tried. 

The black one is the industrial rubber.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Danne

[MikeRock]

A piece of garbage bag plastic put over the spout, then the cap.....  works.  I didn't think of the Vaseline!!

[Northmount]

Plastic wrap over the threads, or over the top of the can before hammering the lid down.  You can also displace a lot of air from the container by pushing the plastic inside - like a bag.  For large paint cans, I use a plastic bread bag, pocked down inside and laid over the rim of the can.

Test the plastic with the solvents to be sure it will work first, that it doesn't get all soft and fall apart.

[Hardrada]

Rubber band over the cap unscrews it.

[TRIALandTERROR]

I think I saw/heard somewhere of storing the jar upside down...it was recommended to do so in a zip-lok bag for obvious reasons.  

[Nailbanger]

On 4/12/2021 at 3:31 AM, Danne said:

I use canning

I like the canning jar idea, can see in them too,,,

the brushes are what screws me up more than anything. Rockler wood working has all sorts of silicone glue tools, thinking of getting some

[Danne]

On 4/17/2021 at 5:18 PM, Nailbanger said:

I like the canning jar idea, can see in them too,,,

the brushes are what screws me up more than anything. Rockler wood working has all sorts of silicone glue tools, thinking of getting some

I use the Japanese glue spreaders for larger items. https://leathercrafttools.com/item/4664/

And for smaller things I use silicone brushes.

 

[Nailbanger]

52 minutes ago, Danne said:

silicone brushes.

Those are nice, perfect for the edges of wallets or the seams on shoes

going to look into them, thanks

[AzShooter]

Thanks to everyone.  I ordered a couple of glue pots and will transfer my glue into them as needed being very careful to wipe clean the cans before putting the top back on.  I now have a large channel lock that's big enough for the caps and I used to open the offending cans.