# Glue for scenery



## Fighterpilot

Guys, what is the best type glue for gluing grass down and sealing it. I know it's a basic question, but I'm new to this landscaping thing. I've heard that you spray the glue, sprinkle the grass, then spray again over the grass to seal it down.
Question, what type glue..? I've tried mixing 50% water to 50% white glue, but it won't spray through my bottle sprayer. The plain water sprays fine, but the water-glue solution comes out in a stream.
Anybody got the secret??
Thanks,
Bill


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## norgale

Hey fighter pilot. What kind of fighter did you pilot?
Anyway the spray bottles I use come from the local Ace Hardware. They usually have an adjustable nozzle that you turn to get different sprays. The 50-50 glue mix is what most of us use as far as I can tell. So that part is ok. In the water you should put a few table spoons of rubbing alcohol. That makes for a wetting agent that you spray on first. Soak it on everything that your working on. Then sprinkle on the grass and shoot with the glue till it's good and wet. Soak it in as it will dissapear after awhile. Takes awhile to dry,like about several hours or more and there you have it.
You can do the same with crumpled newspaper to make hills and valleys. Soak the paper with the water mix and then soak with the glue mix. Let dry and Walla! You have hills and valleys. Give it a try on some small sections. After you do a couple of them the mystery is all gone. Pete


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## concretepumper

I have heard a shot of rubbing alcohol in the glue / water mix helps. I have thinned and sprayed elmers and the tacky craft glue and sprayed it through a windex bottle. Maybe its your sprayer?


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## tjcruiser

Alcohol or a few drops of liquid dish soap will help to break the surface tension of the glue/water mix.

That said, I had problems with the sprayer clogging on my end, too. It was a Home Depot sprayer.

TJ


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## raleets

I bit the bullet and bought the Woodland Scenics glue and their sprayer bottle.
The caps are the same size. Therefore, they interchange and make clean-up a breeze by spraying hot water thru the sprayer head when finished.
I've used it at least a dozen times with great results and NO clogging issues whatsoever.
A little pricey, but the sucker works really well. :thumbsup: 
Bob


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## Fighterpilot

Thanks guys. My sprayer has the adjustable nozzle on it too, and I just bought another one from the dollar store with an adjusable nozzel to give it a try if I can't get my original one to work.
I did put a few drops of dish washing liquid in the mix. I'll try adding a couple of tablespoons of alcohol as well.


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## concretepumper

I just checked my windex bottle and it still sprays fine after a few weeks. No wash out after use. Maybe I thinned my glue more than 50/50?


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## Fighterpilot

I think the answer is to thin it out until it sprays. I added a little more water to my mix and about 2 tablespoons of denatured alcohol. It's a pain to have to cover the track rails though, wish there was another way. I put some masking tape over all three rails and sprayed away. Then I pulled the tape and wiped the rails down with Goo Gone.
I think I'll wait to do a larger area next time so I can only tape up the rails one time and get the spraying done. You also have to be careful how hard you spray, too. Now ask me how I learned that after blowing my grass all over the place.


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## norgale

I was under the impression that the alcohol or detergent goes into the water and not into the glue. The glue gets thinned with water. Actually it prolly doesn't make any difference but how is this supposed to work? Pete


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## Fighterpilot

*adding dish washer soap*

I really don't know how or why it works, but I've added dishwashing soap to latex paint along with thinning it with water and it works to make the paint flow better. The soap and alcohol make the glue flow better from the spray bottle and tends to stop the pooling of the glue once it's sprayed. 
Just mix the equal parts water with glue and then add a couple of tablespoons of dishwasher soap and alcohol. Then shake it all up for a good while until thoroughly mixed. If it doesn't spray well add water and shake again. The alcohol, water, and soap will evaporate, leaving the glue dried and holding the grass in place.
Now I need an opinion from you guys. What about the use of heavy hold hair spray? It seems to mist on better than spraying the glue and it dries almost instantly. I've seen a tutorial where a guy used the hair spray to make trees. What do you all think?


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## gunrunnerjohn

I'm guessing hair spray might break down, it's all water soluble.


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