# Glue for styrofoam



## MrThumper (Jan 23, 2011)

Can anyone recommend a product to glue styrofoam to timber for a background and to glue styrofoam to styrofoam to build up layers?

Cheers


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## Dannyboi (Jan 23, 2011)

um its annoying but the only three products I would recommend would be waterproof PVA, Silicon or Expanda foam. Depends what your using it for frogs or snakes. What the highest temp around it would be ect ect.


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## eamonn (Jan 23, 2011)

Liquid nails?


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## Dannyboi (Jan 23, 2011)

Hey liquid nails is a range of glues made by selleys so it may have a type that is suited but may not. Liquid Nails is a ery broad statement.


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## GeckoJosh (Jan 23, 2011)

Pva or expanding foam is the go


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## AUSGECKO (Jan 23, 2011)

I have used Sellys silicone suitable for aquariums for many years securing backgrounds in gecko tanks without any problems and geckos are very sensitive to chemicals.
If your worried about having heat around the glue don't, polystyrene will melt before any glue.


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## Pythoninfinite (Jan 23, 2011)

Liquid nails (the original type) is probably the most readily available and cheap alternative for sticking foam to foam. If you want to stick foam to glass then silicone is the best option. For foam to foam, squeeze a bit of Liquid Nails on the parts to be glued, press them together immediately and rub them together to spread the adhesive, then pull them apart for a minute or two. Carefully realign them and press together, and they should be permanently bonded.

Any water-based adhesive (PVA) will take ages to bond because the foam doesn't allow the essential evaporation - all you will get for hours or days is a thin bond line around the edges of what you are glueing.

If you are doing large areas or lots of the bonding, there are special brush-on or spray polystyrene adhesives for working with large areas. 3M also makes adhesives suitable for polystyrene in pressure pack cans.

Jamie


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## Just_Plain_Nuts (Jan 23, 2011)

liquid nails, it sticks it better than anything. I partially melts it but works great


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## -Peter (Jan 24, 2011)

Just_Plain_Nuts said:


> liquid nails, it sticks it better than anything. I partially melts it but works great


If your worried about the solvent based Liquid Nails there is a water based one as well.


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## dylan-rocks (Jan 24, 2011)

watch out on what you use making it because from my experince there is alot of things that can deterate the foam and it can be deadly


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## Tinky (Jan 24, 2011)

I use Liquid Nails.

remember that if you are using a heat gun to shape, the liquid nails will not melt and can cause ridges. This in mind I always try to use poly that is at least 3cm thick.


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## Just_Plain_Nuts (Jan 24, 2011)

-Peter said:


> If your worried about the solvent based Liquid Nails there is a water based one as well.


 Takes too long to grab and set though, and i dont know if it holds as well


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## J-A-X (Jan 24, 2011)

I use the Selleys Liquid Nails Fast ... yellow tube green writing, waterbased, never had a problem with foam to foam, or foam to mdf/laminate .

from the website,
*What materials is this product suitable for?*


MDF
Particleboard
Timber
Styrene Foam
Concrete and Masonry
Tiles and ceramics
Most plastic – pre test plastic to determine compatibility


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## MrThumper (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks all. We are using liquid nails and works great. After it sets we squirt a lil expandafoam in to make sure it holds tight. 

I had to use a chisel to clean a piece of styrofoam of that glued to my saw...geez that stuff has some stick


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## J-A-X (Jan 25, 2011)

Are you referring to the expanda foam or the liquid nails sticking to the saw?You should give the expandafoam 24 hours before sawing it, it has a habit of continuing to grow. When it's dry it won't stick to anything. Acetone works for wet expanda foam and the non waterbased liquid nails.


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## Dannyboi (Jan 25, 2011)

Some expanda foam will be touch dry at the surface after 30 mins this does not mean the rest of it will be dry.


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## matt1084 (Jun 2, 2011)

Old thread but i am currently building a in tank rock wall for my new keelback enclosure and i am using liquid nails fast one, yellow tube green writing and was wondering how long it takes to cure? 
I have made some shelves with layers and part of the backing and will stick the sections together tomorrow. 
I plan to shape it and sand it to make it look rocky then once siliconed in place coat the entire thing in pondtite. Not sure if its called that but its used for sealing concrete fishponds so im assuming its safe for fish and thus snakes that feed on them. 
I've been taking some pics along the way so if it turns out ok ill post them up for ppl to look at. 
Has anyone else used pondtite?


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