Glue conundrum

Ever seen this pin?

The description reads, "CLOG-FREE Glue! This will change your life! :)"

Hmmm. I'm a natural skeptic so I went all "Investigative Report" on this pin and tried it out last summer, so I could report back to you how un-life-changing this is. Because let's face it. Glue is a sticky messy problem that is unsolvable.

I will now eat my words.

Last summer I decided to try this. I took all my brand-new glue bottles home, took off every single freaking orange cap, and soaked them in vegetable oil. Wiped them down and snapped them back on.

Now comes the real challenge. Giving them to children. I am the teacher that avoids liquid glue like the plague. I only use glue sticks. But, I sacrificed my glue sticks and stuck those glue bottles in the table caddies from day one:

This picture may look familiar to you. It's one of my most-pinned images. After the first few uses, I noticed.... nothing. no problems. But that's normal with brand-new glue bottles right? So I gave it a few more months.

And....

Nothing. Even when the kids forgot to close the orange caps for days on end, they didn't clump up or dry out! I remember one morning in March when I discovered still-working glue bottles that had been left open over Spring Break and thinking, "what is this black magic???" Then I realized it was the oil. It had actually worked!

Not only did the bottles stay clog-free, but I found that we could use almost every last drop of glue in those bottles before replacing them. TOTALLY worth it. We finally used up most of the glue and I had to replace the bottles at each table group last week. Let me stress that these were normal-sized glue bottles, not the large ones. And they lasted from September to half-way through May.

Did I soak the new caps? Nope. I was too lazy. And a week later..... CLOG CITY!

So I intended to blow the whistle on this ridiculous claim of "CLOG-FREE GLUE" but I will gladly drink the koolaid instead.

Stay Fabulous! (and clog-free!)