Cleaning Up Wood Glue In Bathroom Sink

[Wiley's Woodworks]

My wife has thrown me into the doghouse over using the basement bathroom sink to clean off my tools after doing glue ups. I've left a thin film (she can feel it) of glue on the basin of the sink. The sink and countertop are one piece of cultured marble.

How do I clean the basin without destroying the original polished finish? Most of the glue was Titebond III.

 

[Graywolf]

Wiley, I certainly can understand why you are in the dog house. Something tells me that is probably a regular thing, but that’s another subject. Really hot water allowed to soak help will clean up most of your waste product. This will take patience on your part. With all that said I can not say for certain that you will not have damage to the glaze already from the glue setting dry for the duration. Good luck.

 

[Tarhead]

White vinegar on a rag allowed to sit on the glue for 30 minutes will soften it.

 

[Martin Roper]

Denatured alcohol.

 

[creasman]

After the cleanup is done I recommend a dozen roses to complete the repairs. Maybe a nice evening at a favorite restaurant as well.

 

[Wilsoncb]

Are you sure she’s not just trying to get a new sink?

 

[old and in the way]

Wiley:

I don't know how much use this sink gets, but it might be easier to scuff the bowl and spray it with a clear poly or epoxy that matches the sheen of the top.

Good luck.
Tone

 

[holcombej]

Wiley, there’s some good suggestions above and I can’t add to them but I would suggest 2 dozen roses and a nice dinner come February 14!

 

[J_Graham]

Admittedly my experience is more with carpet glue cleaning using this method. When we would get glue on vinyl baseboards mineral spirits on a rag with light scrub did the trick. WARNING: I have no idea how mineral spirits with interact with your sink finish.

Additionally,
The rose solution should not be overlooked in this case.

 

[wndopdlr]

I use my shop bathroom sink regularly to clean up glue brushes. I clean it with a product called soft scrub and one of those white sponges that my wife seems to love. Works pretty well. The roses won't hurt a thing either.

 

[Craptastic]

I second Mark's white vinegar on a rag and left on the glue for a bit.

Can work wonders.

 

[Leviblue]

White vinegar, or a white eraser pad used for scuffs and removing soap film.

 

[SabertoothBunny]

Considering it is a whole piece of cultured marble that you are in trouble over, maybe step up the game from mere roses. There is also the option of the Raleigh symphony ater dinner should cleanup not go as planned.....

 

[smallboat]

No help here, but this reminds me of when I was teaching and had a big “No Epoxy in Sink” sign over the sink.
Kids’ll do the darndest things.

Of course that didn’t keep one enterprising student from pouring plaster down the sink.

Which makes me think of the time my daughter had a sleepover and one of the girls broke a glass in the sink.
So they decided to run the garbage disposal to get rid of the evidence.

Good luck!

 

[danmart77]

Sounds like the Titebond III is doing what it promises: waterproof. Not sure how to do it but I still have T-3 on my pants from 3 years ago. Good luck,

 

[Dee2]

Giving roses/dinner/dancing/concerts as a penitence can be habit forming and can lead to higher expectations. DAMHIK. YMMV (but I doubt it)!

 

[Oka]

maybe add some Heat, at 150 deg it will begin to soften enough to delaminate

.......... or just get a new sink

 

[jfynyson]

Several options and I'd love a follow up to know what you did and how it turned out. Folks need to be careful using acids, even diluted vinegar, on natural stone, especially marble (worst case stone). Solvents and heat won't be an issue though. It may scratch somewhat easily as well if using metal scrapers but w/o seeing photos and the polished look I cannot say how risky scraping would be. If it were me I'd try a few things in order of aggressiveness and even testing in small spot as you progress (assuming the first or second option doesn't do the trick).

1. As suggested, try allowing hot water to dwell on it. Get water as hot as possible (even boiling water from the stove after first running sink hot water over the area to heat up the stone). Allow to dwell ~30min then try scraping with a stiff plastic scraper or even a credit card.
2. Try softening the glue with a heat gun (on low at first) and scraping in the same manner as mentioned above
3. If options 1 & 2 didn't work try adding hot water and acetone (more acetone than water but need some heat) for a ~30min dwell and scrape

 

[Warped Woodwerks]

@Wiley's Woodworks HOW DARE YOU!

I agree with OKA.. perfect excuse to upgrade to a proper bathroom sink. New marble counter top with an under counter sink.
What do you say?

Regardless.. good luck

 

[AllanD]

Haven't done this but the two things I would consider trying would be a stripper like citristrip or Safer stripper. Added heat would be a good idea. If that doesn't work or any of the above suggestions then start sanding. Wet sanding would be especially easy and keep going finer and finer even up to 1000 or more if needed