Peel Adhesive

Peel Adhesive

Adhesive removal

Understanding how to remove or break down an adhesive bond is important, whether to clean up a spill, to disassemble a unit for repair, or simply to know what will cause the bond to fail to avoid bond failure.

There are three basic methods of de-bonding:

• Dissolving
• Thermal
• Physical Stress

Often these methods are combined to remove the adhesive. For example to remove cyanoacrylate from a nonporous work surface one might soak the area in acetone and then scrape the adhesive off.

To remove silicone caulk, a bit of heat with a hot air gun softens the material so it is easily peeled up.

Even the strongest adhesive bonds can be removed by heating beyond the adhesives thermal capability. A blow torch can be used to heat permanent, high strength, threadlockers enough to chemically change them (to burn the adhesive off).

Refer to the technical product data sheet for information on thermal resistance, solubility and clean up. Familiarize yourself with any precautions regarding clean up. For most products simply wiping the uncured product up with paper towels is recommended, however, with cyanoacrylates (instant adhesives), wiping up large spills with paper towels can cause smoke and strong irritating vapors. Spilled cyanoacrylate should be flooded with water which will cause the liquid to cure. The cured material can then be scraped from the surface or dissolved with acetone.

If solvents and thermal removal are undesirable, consider means of physical bond deformation through adhesive or cohesive failure. Adhesive failure causes the adhesive bond to the substrate to fail. Some adhesives are very strong in tensile but have poor peel resistance. Forcing the bond into peel mode may provide you the desired failure. Very soft adhesives are often desired for their shock absorbing properties but these may be torn down the middle. Thus leaving the adhesive on both surfaces but separating the two components all the same.

About the Author

Permabond is a leading manufacturer of engineering adhesives, supplying high-quality industrial adhesives to customers worldwide. Permabond has offices in The Americas, Europe and Asia and a worldwide network of distributors to assist you with your specific bonding and sealing requirements. To learn more, please visit Adhesives.

Do Self-stick / Peel-and-stick Vinyl tiles need extra adhesive? (Especially in a bathroom?)?

I'm putting vinyl stick down tiles in my bathroom. I've pulled out the old tiles (they weren't vinyl and were cracking and coming up), then I scraped all the loose stuff off and prepped the floor so it is very smooth and level again.

We're about to begin laying the tiles... I want to be sure they'll say down though. I've heard heat them before laying them down and some people have said use extra adhesive while others have not.

If you've completed a similar project or have used vinyl self-adhesive tiles any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Peel and stick flooring works fine if you do a proper prep job. Before laying the tile use a latex sealer on the floor to give a good surface for the glue to stick to. Almost all of the problems I have seen with peel and stick applications were the result of not having the floor sealed first. I have never seen them come up from a sealed surface. Your flooring supply or building supply store will have it in stock. Preferably you should use ceramic for a bathroom, but if budget or design considerations exist that require peel and stick tile the critical step is to seal the floor