# Cotton and CA



## BobRad (Jul 28, 2010)

Maybe you guys knew this- but I was a bit shocked.

*Applying cyanoacrylate to materials made of cotton or wool (such as  cotton swabs, cotton balls, and certain yarns or fabrics) results in a  powerful, rapid exothermic reaction. The heat released may cause  minor burns, and if enough cyanoacrylate is used, the reaction is  capable of igniting the cotton product, as well as releasing irritating  vapor in the form of white smoke.[5]*
*Material Safety  Data Sheets for cyanoacrylate instruct users not to wear cotton or  wool clothing, especially cotton gloves, when applying or handling  cyanoacrylates.*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate


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## Pioneerpens (Jul 28, 2010)

Good to know, thanks for sharing....I almost bought those little cotton pads the other day (for removing makeup) and didn't because i thought the fuzz would be a problem.  Never would have thought about them being combustable!


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## seamus7227 (Jul 28, 2010)

yeah i have heard and witness this everytime or part of this everytime i do a CA finish. I use bounty paper towels and they will smoke after about 7 seconds of application and create a very strong odor. I like it, tells me that my glue is working the way its supposed to and that it is hardening.


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## PTownSubbie (Jul 28, 2010)

That's why if you use paper towels, they have a bit of cotton in them, they will get hot and smoke.

CA and BLO are combustable combinations. Many a story can be told about someone burning down their shop because their rags with CA/BLO went up in flames!!


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## ToddMR (Jul 29, 2010)

PTownSubbie said:


> That's why if you use paper towels, they have a bit of cotton in them, they will get hot and smoke.
> 
> CA and BLO are combustable combinations. Many a story can be told about someone burning down their shop because their rags with CA/BLO went up in flames!!



That is why I will only use CA and never BLO.  Just my preference.  Once I found out how you have to handle BLO and dispose of it etc, I decided I didn't even want to mess with the stuff.


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## ThomJ (Jul 29, 2010)

all my flammable stuff is in a metal cabinet,


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## BobRad (Jul 29, 2010)

I soak all my BLO tissues  in water and then put outside in a bin


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## LarryDNJR (Jul 29, 2010)

I also soak any BLO paper towels etc in water and throw away outside.


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## Craftdiggity (Jul 29, 2010)

I keep all of my CA/BLO rags and towels in a water filled aluminum bucket.


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## jaywood1207 (Jul 29, 2010)

We used to use a lot of CA for canvas tops we made for the Tracker.  We had one lady who thought she would be smart and glue the patch with the company logo onto her sweatshirt.  When her shirt started smoking over her left breast where she stuck the patch she whipped her shirt off pretty quick.  We also had one of our maintenance guys who was working on a machine sit on a little spot that had been spilled or something.  He ended up with burns on his butt from it.  I'm glad I wasn't his supervisor at the time because somebody did have to take a peek to see if he needed medical attention.  Luckily he didn't but we all had a good laugh after the fact.


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## johnnycnc (Jul 29, 2010)

jaywood1207 said:


> We used to use a lot of CA for canvas tops we made for the Tracker.  We had one lady who thought she would be smart and glue the patch with the company logo onto her sweatshirt.  When her shirt started smoking over her left breast where she stuck the patch she whipped her shirt off pretty quick.  We also had one of our maintenance guys who was working on a machine sit on a little spot that had been spilled or something.  He ended up with burns on his butt from it.  I'm glad I wasn't his supervisor at the time because somebody did have to take a peek to see if he needed medical attention.  Luckily he didn't but we all had a good laugh after the fact.



Say, that's not a bad entertainment bang for the buck on a little bottle of CA glue! :biggrin:


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