Glue that works on Styrofoam?

[telophase]

I may not need it because I may go a different direction, but hey: any info is good info.

Background: I bought two earpick-shaped* lacquer pins for making tama kanzashi** from Zipangu Treasures, as an experiment. You can see a photo of one here at their site. If you click on the "Detailed Description" link, there are a couple of photos of tama kanzashi made using them - one with a big, colorful bead, and one with a ball covered in tiny hana kanzashi.***

They're made by getting your ball-shaped element and then attaching the pick to one end and the ear scoop to the other: the pick and scoop do not actually join together.

I've got some Styrofoam balls that I could use for this, either simply covering one with silk or by gluing flowers to it, but obviously I'd need a glue that does not eat through Styrofoam, but does fix Styrofoam to wood and plastic securely. Any ideas?

I'm also going to the craft store this evening and taking an earpick with me to look for lightweight, pretty, large beads that would securely fit the pick ends, but would not be so heavy that it would overbalance and pull the pin out of the hair. I may end up going in that direction for the two picks if I can find such a bead. (or barring that, find a lightweight round bead that I could cover with silk.)

ETA: And if anyone knows of a source for metal wire combs like the larger ones here (about 3" x 1") that cost less than $3.60 each, plz to be hooking me up? I don't need the small ones - Hobby Lobby carries ones like that.



--

* Apparently people do want to wear personal care items in their hair. Who knew?

** Ball-shaped.

*** Flower kanzashi

Comments

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

I'd need a glue that does not eat through Styrofoam, but does fix Styrofoam to wood and plastic securely. Any ideas?

[via friendsfriends]

We had to tackle this very problem in a theater troupe I'm part of, and I'm glad to say there is an answer. 3M produces a spray-adhesive called "Super 77", which will, provided the instructions are followed, attach Styrofoam to just about anything, including more Styrofoam, without "eating" it.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you! :)

[tekenduis.livejournal.com]

Got to be careful, though, because 3M just changed their formulas and Super 77 now eats through foam like it's going out of style, as we discovered when our new shipment arrived at the polysculpting company I work for.

The new formula, Super 78, won't eat through foam, but doesn't have nearly the sort of adhesion it used to, and now we use it strictly for foam to foam applications.

We use a 2-part urethane adhesive to stick foam to other things now. Much stronger bond.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Ack! Worth knowing for future reference...

[ebony14.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but the nice folks on the Internet do (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080210173323AALLZDl).

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[cawingcrow.livejournal.com]

On the combs, can you buy wholesale (http://www.goodhairdays.com/twisted-wire-metal-sidecombs.htm)? You need to send them your business info to see the prices, but I suspect they are much better than Hobby Lobby. I'm sure there are other sites, this just happened to be the one I tripped across while looking.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

If I get to the point where I think I'd me making an order over $100, that might be the way to go, but I'm not there yet. :)

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

JewelrySupply.com (http://www.jewelrysupply.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=14174) has 2" twisted wire combs for $1.39 each (with price discounts for buying larger quantities). This eBay seller (http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Silverplated-Wire-Hair-combs-Wire-wrap-w-Beads_W0QQitemZ130266256275QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item130266256275&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A3|65%3A15|39%3A1|240%3A1318) has slightly smaller ones (about 1.75") at $1.50 each. If you don't mind a slightly different style of comb that's still very workable for easily attaching tiny things on wires, Beadaholique (http://www.beadaholique.com/p-10089-silver-plated-metal-hair-combs-fun-craft-beading-project-1-34-inches-6.aspx) has 1.75" silver wire combs for fifty cents apiece. (If you ever want really big ones to do one of those massive cluster kanzashi, there's another eBay seller with 4.5" combs for 99 cents...)

I've shopped with Beadaholique before and had no problems, but I have no direct experience with the other vendors.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

The larger ones are what I'm looking for - the 3"+ :D

[tekenduis.livejournal.com]

Hey! Telophase asks a question that I can answer from first hand experience working for a polysculpting company. YAY! :D

I likely would have recommended Super 77 as well, up until recently. However, 3M has changed the formula and Super 77 is no longer safe to use on poly foams. It will eat through them, and fast.

They have a new product on the line called Super 78, which is their new foam adhesive and won't eat through your product. Unfortunately, Super 77 and Super 78 are not great for adhering foam to other products.

We use Super 77/78 extensively for gluing foam to foam, but if it's not foam to foam, we don't use it at all, because the hold is not strong, and doesn't last. For gluing foam to other things, we use Replast Easy (By Wurth) - This is a two-part urethane adhesive that bonds over time. (30 seconds up to 10 minutes, depending on the set time that you buy). Any two part urethane adhesive works for this, it doesn't have to be Replast Easy.

It's more expensive, but well worth the extra cost in durability, especially if these are things that are going to be in people's hair where they're subject to curious fingers, wind, rain, and god only knows what else.