Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Natural rubber based textile adhesive

Calatli - 30-4-2018 at 13:40

Does anyone have good knowledge about how to make natural rubber based textile adhesive?

aga - 30-4-2018 at 13:51

Personally no, however i do know that ammonia is involved.

It probably dissolves latex so you can paint it on, then evaporates, leaving the naturally sticky latex behind.

Might be better looking at hot beeswax or even pine resin if the stickiness and 'natural' are important.

DavidJR - 30-4-2018 at 13:53

Quote: Originally posted by aga  
Personally no, however i do know that ammonia is involved.


Anyone who's opened a bottle of Copydex knows that!

SWIM - 30-4-2018 at 15:50

Rubber cement smells like heptane nowadays.

Used to smell more aromatic.

It's supposed to be just gum rubber dissolved in a nonpolar solvent.


wg48 - 1-5-2018 at 01:55

There are at least two types of rubber glues.

One type is an emulsion of rubber in water frequently with ammonia presumable to act as a preservative and assist in the emulsification. Its an off white liquid frequently used as a paper glue. Incidentally ammonia is frequently used in other emulsions such as white glue and emulsion paints as judged from their smell.

The other type is rubber dissolved in a petroleum-derived liquid. It’s a clear straw coloured solution used, for example, in inner tube puncture repair kits.

LearnedAmateur - 1-5-2018 at 06:14

When I was into model aircraft building, I used this pink latex product which was dissolved in ammonia solution, used for masking when painting camouflage and such. Goes on opaque and turns transparent when dry and ready to paint over, easily peels off when done.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Humbrol-AC5217-28ml-Maskol-Bottle/d...

Microtek - 2-5-2018 at 01:41

"Liquid Latex" is a colloidal suspension of rubber particles in water. Ammonia stabilizes this suspension. I don't know how easy it would be to make such a suspension, but certainly not easier than just buying it.

What is it for, and how is this related to energetic materials?

DrP - 2-5-2018 at 02:24

Quote: Originally posted by Microtek  
I don't know how easy it would be to make such a suspension, but certainly not easier than just buying it.

What is it for, and how is this related to energetic materials?



I am pretty certain the 'rubber cement' type that was mentioned above is much easier to make. You just dissolve the rubber into a suitable solvent until you have the right consistency.

I have never done it with rubber, but I made polystyrene cement a few times for modelling, which is even easier than rubber cement as it dissolves so readily in many standard solvents.


The last batch of polystyrene cement I made failed... I've made it for years by dissolving up polystyrene in acetone, MEK or whatever solvent I have handy. Recently though I have had trouble dissolving the material - I think the manufacturers have started to put additives into it or something and thus it is more solvent resistant - idk.

urea1990 - 2-5-2018 at 02:32

Quote: Originally posted by Calatli  
Does anyone have good knowledge about how to make natural rubber based textile adhesive?


It isn't natural, but this prep (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euVUa7C5rAM) always works great for me.

[Edited on 2-5-2018 by urea1990]