It’s generally not the most advisable thing in the world, but super glue is great for awkward/deep/clean cuts. Especially if you’re an American with poor healthcare.
Recently stabbed my hand quite deep in the muscle just below my index finger. Deep but clean, bled like hell and almost impossible to wrap. Just wash it clean, dry it as best you can and dab the outside closed, try not to get any in the cut itself. Works wonders, kept it neatly closed while I was sleeping and even managed to shower the next day without it opening up. After 24 hours it’ll peel off pretty cleanly too (if you didn’t go overboard). Let it air out for as long as you can to help it heal and only reapply when necessary. For me I just did two days, when it happened and the day after, and it was clean enough to heal closed a bit and only require light wrapping afterwards.
Not the first time I’ve done this and sure as shit won’t be the last.
When you superglue two surfaces together, optionally brush them with some sandpaper first, then apply the glue, then exhale on the glue before trying to stick the two surfaces together. The moisture in your breath helps the adhesive set up faster, and the roughened surfaces from the sandpaper will add surface area to create a stronger bond.
(I’ve learned these lessons from gluing a LOT of 3D printed parts together.)
Ooh, good tip with the exhaling!
Superglue on cotton
🔥🐦🔥🔥Moisture cures super glue incredibly quickly. This is (partially) why smooth dry surfaces like glass take a very long time to glue, but fingers are instant. Some glues even recommend very lightly wetting the surfaces being joined to help with fast adhesion.
Acetone will dissolve cyanoacrylate very quickly and can be purchased in bulk from any hardware store for cheap. Acetone is also the primary component in most fingernail polish remover, so that can also be used in a pinch.
That’s why the cyanoacrylates were developed - for surgical closure. Everything else is an afterthought.
Not quite. It was first used as a surgical closure by the inventor after his son cut his finger open on a model. The glue was originally created for making cockpit covers more secure on military planes.
It’s interesting to me, I learned an oral history in grad school that’s somewhat different from the wiki record. This isn’t the first time that it’s happened and it’s a lesson that history goes to the documentation.
I was told that it’s development was tied to looking for suture alternatives and it was abandoned due to inflammation and rough edges on application.
The lesson, for me, is to be cautious about relying on single sources. I am enough of an expert in my areas (and this is not one of them) to be pretty suspicious of Wikipedia.
I never knew about the military plane’s application myself. I just knew it was while he was working for Eastman Kodak and it was an accidental discovery.
I also understand they had to “water it down” because it was too strong.
Edit: it occurred to me I could be confusing WD-40 with superglue re the accidental discovery comment.
I thought that WD-40 was a purposeful development process. It was the 40th formulation that made it to market.
Our skin is a very rough surface, veritasium did a video on it
It’s not so much the rough surface that makes super glue work so well on skin (although of course rough surfaces make most all adhesives stick better). It’s the abundance of water ions in your moist skin that readily kick off the polymerization process. That’s why it seems instant on your fingers but takes minutes to start polymerizing on many other surface types.
loved that episode.
Super glue and baking soda is right up there with duct tape and WD-40! Some say using graphite with super glue is even stronger.
has anyone tested the strength of gorrilla glue. is it really that much better than superglue?
The only thing I know about gorilla blue is that story about that woman who put it on her hair thinking it was good for fixing it in position.
It was sad what happened to her… but hilarious.
So? What happened to her?
It wouldn’t come off and she had to go to the hospital. At some point the hair started to grow below the gorilla glue helmet and she had to get profesional help.
Oh, I hadn’t heard about that. Axing what people would do these days. Idiots.
In my experience, superglue sticks harder but it’s super brittle and harder to set up a good bond. Gorilla glue is more flexible, so can be a tougher bond depending on the application. It’s similar with some epoxies vs JB weld. JB weld has a bit of give to it, so it can end up significantly tougher than glass-like epoxies. There are also plenty of more flexible bonding agents, so which is best can really vary task to task.
Thanks. I learned something new today.
Depends on the surfaces being attached and Superglue sets up a lot faster.
Superglue is great for a smaller area of smooth surfaces that will stay dry. Gorilla glue is better for rough surfaces that might be exposed to moisture. Superglue seems more brittle in my experience as well.
Thanks for your response.
