Also known as hot glue, hot melt adhesive is 100% thermoplastic. The hot melt adhesive is best applied when in a molten state though it quickly solidifies upon cooling. It has to be put in special dispensing machines to melt first before application, as shown from the video.
Types of Hot Melt Adhesives
Metallocene, EVA, Polyamide, Polyurethane, and polyethylene are the various types of hot melt adhesives. Polymers, resins, plasticizers, waxes, oils, and antioxidants are the main ingredients of hot melt adhesives.
The adhesives come in various forms, the most popular being sticks, pellets, blocks, and slugs.
Hot melt adhesives are mainly used in textiles, book binding, packaging, paper laminates, and other industries. That’s because hot melt adhesives work well on wood, plastic, metals, and paper. Most of the products in your home are bonded together with hot melt adhesives.
How Hot Melt Adhesives Work
The hot melt adhesive needs to have a low viscosity to avoid wetting and must not cool rapidly. To apply the hot melt adhesive, you’ll need either a handgun, hand held squeezer bottle, pneumatic gun, automated electric gun, or an industrial glue machine.
- You can use the following steps to apply a hot melt adhesive to a surface.
- Put the hot melt adhesive form in a dispensing machine for melting.
- Apply the adhesive between the two surfaces you want to join.
Press the two surfaces together. It is advisable to preheat the surfaces first. The surfaces will allow the hot melt adhesive to cool, gradually making the adhesion stronger. Once the hot melt adhesive cools, it will be impossible to separate the two surfaces.
Conclusion
Use a hot melt adhesive when you want clean and long-lasting bond. Heating the hot melt adhesives is necessary as they come in solid form at room temperature. When applying, use a dispensing machine as it has a heating device to melt the glue.
.
