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How do you dispose of the remaining glue left in an old bottle of CA?
Thanks, Wendy

we have a really cool trash can in the kitchen - when pressure is put on the top, it is hinged to create a space, which then gravity takes over when I let go of the old bottle over the void that was create from the aforementioned pressure.

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

I jus toss mine out too. I don't think there's anything hazardous in there.

If you live in an area where it may be illegal to just throw it away, put it in your neighbors trash

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

OK OK! Maybe I was being overly cautious. But I wasn't sure if I could just dump it in the trash when the bottle is leaking and I know it causes paper towels to smoke. I didn't want to start a fire in the dumpster. Also, where I live I think it comes under the definition of hazardous waste, like paint. We have to turn old paint cans in once a year at the fire department. But in the trash it goes today. And if smoke starts coming out of the neighborhood dumpster I will just shrug and look the other way.

Once it solidifies, any hazardous characteristic is gone... so, let it dry and harden.

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Pour into water, put in bottle, dispose.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Does one REALLY need to be told how to dispose of a super glue bottle?.... I'm just giving you a hard time, cally.

But it brings up a larger point maybe.

At restaurant supply stores you can buy very large disposable trays. These things are about twice the size a typical frozen lasagna tray.

I pour all waste chemicals that will evaporate, cure, or dry into one of these pans. Dirty solvents, old lacquer, catalyzed finishes...into the pan it goes. I'll keep doing it until the layers stack up and the thing becomes a huge brick. Then it goes into the trash. With bottles or cans that have wet chemicals in them....I'll shake a little acetone inside, pour the dirty solvent into the tray, and then toss the can out.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

It really needs to be burned at midnight of a new moon or it will kill the tone of all the guitars you used it on.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Take a piece of scrap and pour the glue onto that letting it cure, then throw that away.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

That's what I do for stuff like paint and shellac. I just grab an empty cereal box or something out of the trash, that can be bent a little to make a shallow bowl, so the pool of stuff doesn't run off the edges. And of course leave it outside to cure so you don't suffocate.

Might need a sheet of plastic wrap over it for CA due to the fire hazard. Not sure if soaking into thicker paper would expose it to enough air to heat up significantly. Probably not, but doesn't hurt to be safe.

If it's solid there's no problem in most municipalities. If it is still liquid and you can get most of it out of the bottle (in a well ventilated space) squeeze it onto a sheet of aluminum foil and proceed to spray it with some ammonia based window cleaner or even straight ammonia if you're feeling saucy. The same goes for any residue in the bottle. CA reacts or "kicks over," as referred to in the industry, when in the presence of a nucleophile (generally just a fancy way to say it's a base.) After exposure to ammonia, even in low concentrations, it will react and begin to harden quickly.

Again, just make sure that you're kosher with local waste disposal regulations and all will be well. If you need to make it solid quickly, now you know. Also, if you don't want to spend as much money on activator spray bottles ammonia and windex do a great job by simply applying it to one side of the joint prior to gluing.

Will CA actually get hot enough to cause fire?

I threw out an old bottle of CA in my shop garbage pail yesterday afternoon. Took it out before I went to bed. Just in case it leaked. I'll take the cap off, and put it in a pail of water, just in case.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

place sawdust in a pile outside on a concrete floor away from anything that may burn or catch on fire...

squirt large amount of CA into the sawdust and see if it will catch on fire... I've noticed CA wicked into sawdust smokes...

On the subject of ammonia if the ammonia mixes with any pyrotechnic composition containing potassium chlorate or any other chlorate salt... this forms ammonium chlorate which is very unstable and may spontaneously combust...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I poured it into water in a glass bottle like Colin suggested. It made all sorts of designs as it poured through the water. After sitting outside for the afternoon it looked like hardened streaks of parafin in the water and I just threw the bottle in the trash. I have problems with the fumes so I didn't want to pour it onto something and have it sitting around hardening. I get such bad headaches from the fumes that I don't even want it sitting around outside. When I use it I have to wear a mask AND use it outside. Thanks for all the answers. Wendy

Given the right conditions it can be made to spontaneously combust. For a quick and quite safe demonstration of the exothermic reaction I've alway been partial to putting a dime sized application of CA on a piece of paper towel and folding it over a few times followed by a good squeeze. This will usually get the spot up to 170 degrees or so. To take it further, the goal it to increase reactive surface density. The classic example for this is tightly balled cotton. Thinner CA's contain less filler and are much more aggressive, not to mention they wick into cotton much more readily. Saturate the cotton ball and you will likely at least get some smoke out of the deal, and fire is not uncommon. I have also seen it spill on someone's jeans and proceed to smoke.

If it's thin CA just save it and eventually it will become medium CA.
If it's medium CA just save it and eventually it will become thick CA.

The floor of my shop is wood. I pour everything like this on the floor, in the "high wear" areas, like the threshold.

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Don't know about that, but it sure can get hot. I had one of the big bottles of Hot Stuff open on my bench one day--I was using a pipette to glue in some bindings. Clumsy oaf that I am, I knocked the bottle off of the bench, but my reflexes are still good. Too good in this case--I caught the bottle in mid air on its way to the floor and found my hand completely covered in CA. The fact that my fingers were glued together was no surprise, but the fact that my entire hand felt like it was on fire sure was! That stuff gets really really hot--"Hot Stuff" is a very appropriate name.

After quite a bit of time and half a bottle of CA solvent, my hand once again functioned normally. No fire, but lesson learned: Always have CA solvent on hand (no pun intended!).

Dave