Clean and pretreat surfaces with isopropanol
Many will know it: you try to glue something – whether with a tape or a liquid adhesive – and what first looks like a success turns out to be a failure after a short time. Either the adhesive comes off or does not adhere properly in the first place. It is often assumed that the wrong adhesive was used or that the adhesive is of inferior quality. In some cases this may be true, but much more often the reason for failure is incorrect or insufficient pretreatment or cleaning.
Inadequate pretreatment in this context may also include incorrect cleaning. Many common household cleaners leave a film directly after cleaning to protect the surface or even to leave a pleasant scent. One, for a successful
Bonding, absolutely unsuitable property. Instead, a cleaner is needed for this purpose, which is best left to evaporate quickly and without residue after cleaning.
Isopropanol: the industry standard for residue-free cleaning
This is where isopropanol comes in. The liquid – an isomeric variant of propanol – belongs to the family of alcohols and not only has excellent cleaning and degreasing properties but also evaporates within a very short time and leaves almost no residue. In addition, isopropanol has naturally good compatibility with most surfaces. Especially metals, most painted surfaces and plastics can be cleaned and pretreated excellently with isopropanol.
Important to note: it should always be checked whether the surface is really suitable for treatment with isopropanol!
Proper cleaning as a basis for most bonding
Isopropanol is also very easy to handle when it comes to cleaning itself. To do this, soak a paper towel with isopropanol and run it in one direction over the surface to be treated, waiting until the cleaner has evaporated completely. If the surface is still contaminated, simply repeat the previous steps until the surface is cleaned. If the surface is free of impurities, bonding should take place promptly.
If the adhesive has now been applied correctly and according to the respective specifications (more on this in our adhesive lexicon and our processing instructions), nothing more stands in the way of an ideal hold. Based on our many years of experience in the field of bonding, we at AMZ naturally also have an isopropanol in our product range that offers an excellent price/performance ratio. Find out more in our online store: