Glue pot upgrade after 12 years of fighting crusty jars

Used to keep my PVA in an old jam jar and reheat it in a saucepan on the stove whenever it got thick. Every Sunday I'd spend 20 minutes scraping crust off the rim, and half the time the glue would boil and get lumpy. Finally got a proper heated glue pot from a shop down in Portland for $45, and it holds the temp steady at 140 degrees. Now I just load it up before I start sewing and it stays smooth for the whole session. Took me way too long to realize that the jar method was wasting more time than it saved. Anyone else stick with a janky setup for years before upgrading?

1 comments

1 Comment

miles_hall27d ago

The "boil and get lumpy" part hit home for me. I had a similar situation with hide glue for years, using a double boiler that was maybe 15 degrees off, and the top skin would always cure into this weird rubbery film. One day I got a used candy thermometer and realized I had been working at 180 degrees instead of the 140 you mentioned, and honestly the temperature was the whole problem. Now I just trust the tool and wonder why I ever thought eyeballing heat was a good idea.