[Great image borrowed from a blog post entitled How to Create Phat Phants

Super glue is an essential household item. I never seem to have it and I always seem to be paying ridiculous amounts at CVS or Duane Reade whenever I grab some. My last super glue use was to hold on the sole of boot that seemed to fall off every time I walked. I think I’ve gone through a few tubes of super glue for that project. So why is it that I can’t just use Elmer’s Glue or a cheap glue stick?

“Super glues are made up of cyanoacrylate. Cyanoacrylate is an acrylic resin which rapidly polymerises in the presence of water (specifically hydroxide ions), forming long, strong chains, joining the bonded surfaces together. Since there’s moisture always available on your skin, it makes it an easy target for ’sticking” to it and sticking them together.”

Vs

“White glues, such as Elmer’s, bond by solvent evaporation. The solvent in Elmer’s all-purpose school glue is water. When the water evaporates, the polyvinylacetate latex that has spread into a material’s crevices forms a flexible bond. Super glue, on the other hand, undergoes a process called anionic polymerization. The chemical process of polymerization produces a certain amount of heat. If a large enough amount of super glue makes contact with your skin, it can actually cause burns.”

Now that we know the difference let’s get to the most important most commonly asked question out there. How do we get super glue off of our skin???

1. Nail Polish Remover
2. Mayonnaise
3. Let it dry, wait a few days, bite the glue off with your teeth and spit it in the garbage. [Gross]
4. Sand it off with an emery board
5.Immediately soak your hand into a mixture of warm water, soap, and vinegar. Hot water may be more helpful, but it can cause burns if too hot.
6. Wash it with gasoline?[Also Gross]

Do you have any tips and tricks for getting super glue off of skin?

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