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I mix up batches of glue and freeze it. How long will it last in the freezer and will freezer burn negatively effect it?

do test should be good for a month or so

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Indefinite. As John says, do a test if you're concerned.

I have a squeeze bottle of hide glue (the kind LMI sells, 192 gram strength) that's been sitting at room temperature for several years now, and every now and then I warm it up and glue a test piece. Still pulls chunks out of walnut. Surprising that it hasn't grown mold or dried out by now, even being in a plastic bottle.

I have gravitated towards just mixing a small squeeze bottle for the work at hand, and maybe reheating it once before starting fresh again. Maybe overkill but it factors out any doubt about freshness.

It would seem maybe cycles of reheating might be more of a concern than duration in the fridge or freezer.

Any thoughts John?

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

That's amazing. I put my bottle in the fridge after use and it starts to mold in about 3 weeks. I just use tap water. Are you using distilled? Holy?

Pat

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Pat

I use a small squeeze bottle for HHG and keep it in the fridge. I replace it after reheating 5 or 6 times. Depending on what is going on that might take 6 months. Never had any mold. I'm also using the LMI glue but I do mix it using distilled water.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I would be careful about putting HHG through several freeze/thaw/heat cycles. I think it was a factor in some problems I had a few years ago. But, who knows?

Nowadays, I only work with freshly made HHG, a few fluid ounces at a time, in one of those HHG double boilers. I use distilled water in the glue (tap water in the heat bath), and heat it on a laboratory hot plate. And I spread it with brushes. No problems with the glue in years.

I used to make a lot, put it in squeeze bottles, and freeze the bottles, then heat the bottles in a pan of tap water. It works OK, but I did have a few problems with my glue back then. I like it better fresh, and I like the brushing better than the bottle squeezing when it comes to application. Plus, since I make a small batch at a time, I can vary the water content, add or not add urea in varying amounts, etc. it gives me lots of flexibility and no worries regarding freshness.

one thing I will tell you.
I make what I think I will use today. I like to heat it in the morning and allow it to cool then heat when ready to you. Since I gravitated to using a squeeze bottle I think I don't loose as much. I know in a fridge I can use the same glue for a few days. No need to mix a pile when you only need a daub.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I add salt to my hhg now and typically only make small batches but not only does the salt extend the work time a bit but I imagine it helps preserve it too. I need to test this though. I only started doing this a few months ago and I really like the extended time because I'm slow.

I have a number of small plastic bottles I put glue granules in (along with some small stainless screws for weight) but only add water before heating and using. If the first bottle gets low I'll mix and heat another one. I do freeze leftover glue and thaw and reuse it, so almost no glue gets wasted. If I forget and it stays at room temperature for a few days it rots and smells gross and gets dumped.The bottles allow me keep the glue pot clean and to use the hot water for clean up.
Some people recommend mixing glue and pouring it into an ice cube tray and using the cubes as you need it. I don't use enough of it to make that worthwhile.

Once I learned HHG can be frozen, used in bottles, and doesn’t have to sit in a pot, I switched to HHG. Once I got past the learning curve, I refrigerate the HHG in small ice cube trays, take the cubes out and cut them into smaller pieces to fit in my small plastic bottles, and freeze them in a Ziplock.

It’ll develop ice frost over time, but I just add it to the bottles as they get low - the ice is usually enough to thin out whatever glue was left over in the bottle. I just keep small amounts in the bottle, and almost always have to add each time I heat it up.

I have 2 different bottles for the two different strengths that I use. And I keep a BabyBot filled with 192 as well, when I need to control the flow with a small tip, like on binding and linings.

At 5:43 in this vid, you’ll see Franks solution:
https://youtu.be/Zgse00bjxAg

Tap. But our river upstream is blessed by many snow geese in the spring and fall, so maybe that does it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgT5GnVRKAY

The water here tastes good (very similar to Seattle eastside tap water, actually), so I doubt it's excessive chemicals or anything. It does have a lot of calcium (I have an ongoing battle with the cave formations that grow in the dishwasher) but that doesn't seem to have any effect on hide glue. The air gets bone dry in the winter, which is when I do most of my guitar work, so maybe less spores floating around when I mixed it. Very different from Seattle winter, where it's usually not that cold, but is always wet so it feels worse than it is.

As far as I know, I've never had any failures from bad glue. Pretty much always due to cooling before getting it clamped.

buy some fish glue!
problem solved.
Mike

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Mike Collins