[edit] Wood

Clean the wood by rubbing it with abrasive paper, and then dusting off. This will also roughen the surface slightly to provide a key for the glue. Remove any paint and other old finishes by scraping or by using a chemical paint stripper. Any old glue should also be scraped off the wood.

[edit] Paper and card

Clean with a rubber eraser. Superficial grease can be removed with fabric cleaner (carbon tetra-chloride) or pieces of bread rolled into pellets.

[edit] Crockery, ceramics, plastics

Wash with detergent in water. Stubborn marks can be scrubbed with neat washing up liquid or abrasive powder. An old toothbrush or nail brush are useful on small surfaces. Rinse thoroughly and allow to dry. If you are in a hurry, dry with a lint free cloth or a hair dryer.

[edit] Metals

Wash with detergent in water but dry iron or steel immediately to avoid rust. Any rust already there can be removed with a fine wire brush or emery cloth. Or use a chemical rust inhibitor.

[edit] Applying The Glue

Liquid glues are spread on the surface by brush, more solid ones with a notched spreader. A disposable spreader is usually provided with the glue, although more substantial spreaders can be bought as permanent tools.

The spreader combs the glue into ridges, spreading it to the correct depth. Small tubes of glue often have a spreader that you screw onto the tube's nozzle.

A glue gun (below)is used with a stick of glue that looks like a small candle. It is melted by a heating element in the gun and is fed onto the work through a nozzle, The gun is useful where thin ribbons, or small dabs, of glue are needed and is economical if you will be doing a lot of gluing jobs.

[edit] Cleaning Up

Try to avoid spillages, or excess glue oozing out, whenever you use an adhesive. Some glues can cause stains that are difficult to remove; woodworking adhesives, for example, can cause marks that will show through any clear finish. Have a cloth ready to clean up glue before it dries. Some glues can be removed with water, others need special cleaners.

Once a glue has hardened, it usually must be scraped off.

[edit] Special Purpose Adhesives

Apart from the foregoing instructions, which are a general guide, there are specific instructions for use with special purpose adhesives.

The manufacturers of these adhesives print the instructions on the containers, but a residue of material deposited on the printed surface during use sometimes obscures important parts of the instructions. Some of the instructions are fairly straightforward; others relate to possible health hazards and special application and clean up techniques.

If there is any likelihood of warnings or special instructions becoming obscured, make a note of them on a separate piece of paper and keep it somewhere close to your work area or rap a piece of glad rap (plastic) around the label before use. You will need to act quickly should anything go wrong, particularly if a child should need treatment.

Generally, avoid breathing any fumes or vapour given off by adhesives, and avoid contact with the skin and eyes.

[edit] Hot Melt Glue Gun

An electrically heated hot melt gun makes gluing both easier and neater. A cylindrical pellet of solid adhesive is fed into the gun where it is melted into a semi liquid state. A trigger action forces the melted glue into the joint, where it sets.

A range of different solid adhesives is available for use with the hot melt gun. The pellets are usually sold in packs of five or six. Before buying the pellets, check that they are suitable for the work you want to do.