If you thought the handy old glue gun was versatile enough as an adhesive, then you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s actually a lot more well rounded than that! There are several ways to use your glue gun in situations where you might have not thought to use it before! Here are some really cool tips and life hacks for your trusty glue gun.
1. Makeup Brush Cleaner
Inspired by this video, you can make use of an old plastic clipboard to make an all-in-one makeup brush cleaner to thoroughly rinse your brushes without the hassle. Just take your plastic clipboard and clean the surface well. When the surface is dry, use your glue gun to dab some pea-sized dots on a section of the board, and gradually make them bigger as you go across it.
Next, for another section of the board, use your glue gun to create multiple wavy-line patterns next to each other. It doesn’t have to be neat, but you want to make it so that the lines have different sizes for different brushes. Once you’ve covered your board, let your glue gun dry.
Now to try out your new brush cleaner, run your brushes under some water to get them wet, then put your board under the tap with the water running, Next, put some liquid makeup brush cleaner onto the board and then run your brushes onto the nubs you made with the dried glue. The texture is very effective in getting the soap into the bristles of your brush. Once everything is coated in the cleanser, rinse your board and then rinse your brushes the same way by running it through the glue nubs. Simple as that! You now have a new DIY makeup brush cleaner.
2. Non-slip Clothes Hanger
If you have one of those clothes hangers that don’t have any grooves in them for your tank tops to hang off of, here’s an easy way to fix that without having to buy a new one!
Just use your glue gun to create some wavy line patterns down the top of the hanger, on the part where your clothes would hang from. Let it dry and voila! Your clothes should stay right in place when you hang them up.
3. Size Down a Ring
You might have a ring that you want to wear that’s just a few sizes too big for you now. If you want a quick fix for that, you can dab a small amount of glue from your glue gun on a hard surface, then while it’s still hot, dip the bottom part of your ring to let the glue cover roughly the amount of space you have in excess when you wear it on your finger. Once the glue adheres, take it out and let the glue set for 15 minutes.
Try it out and see if it fits. If it doesn’t don’t worry! You can peel off the glue with hardly any resistance and it won’t damage your ring.
4. Hang Posters Without Damaging the Wall
This one is simple enough. Just use painters tape or thick masking tape and make 4 L-shaped corners that are just a bit smaller than your poster. You can then apply a dot of glue with your glue gun on the corners of your poster or on the tape itself and stick your poster on. Smoothen out the glue and you’re all done!
5. DIY Non-Slip Rug
Another extremely simple trick! For this one, all you have to do is flip your rug over, then, starting from one end, use your glue gun to run an even line across the width of your rug. Do the same every few inches, depending on the size of your rug and once you have the entire back striped in glue, let it dry completely, then flip your rug back over and enjoy your DIY Non-Slip Rug.
6. Make your Kids’ Bath Toys Mold-free
You may think that bath toys don’t require cleaning because they’re in the bath all the time, but letting it sit with bathwater inside it can actually lead to mold forming on the inside! When you buy a new bath toy, plug up any holes with your glue gun and let it dry before using it in the bath. This keeps the inside mold-free!
7. Non-slip Slippers
It might sound self-contradicting, but nobody wants to slip and fall when wearing their slippers, especially your kids! Use your glue gun to make a pattern under your kids’ slippers. You can ask your kid what design they want, too! You can do stripes, zigzags, polka dots, or even write their names in glue. Have fun with it and let your kid help you out with the design.
8. Hot Glue Matches
This one is very handy if you want to make portable hot glue. Use your glue gun to make a small round ring around a matchstick, about a third of the way down from the match head, and then let it dry. If you’re doing a lot of these at a time, you can have a block of clay handy to stick them in upright while they dry.
Now pack them up in your emergency kit along with the matchbox. If you’re ever in a situation where you need to stick something with strong hot glue, just ignite the match and let it melt the dry glue. Once it’s been melted, blow out the flame and smear the hot glue onto whatever you need to stick it to. This is really good for emergencies, especially if you’re packing light and don’t have a portable glue gun!
9. Hanging Fairy Lights Without Wall Damage
Fairy lights are a holiday staple, but they’re also very popular with the youth when decorating their room. Using a hot glue gun is a quick and easy way to hang up the fairy lights without having to drill anything, and it’s not an eyesore like the tape is! You can easily remove the glue whenever you want to, and it won’t damage your wall or your lights.
10. Keep Frames From Slipping Out of Place
If you’re like us, you absolutely hate seeing crooked picture frames. You just have that urge to fix it and it drives you nuts! One easy way to combat this very common antagonist is by, you guessed it, using a hot glue gun. Once you’ve picked out a place to hang your frame, just put dots of hot glue at the back of the bottom corners and let it dry. Then hang your picture frame up and make sure it’s level. Not only does this give your frame a bit of grip, but it also protects your wall from any scratches via any errant frame corners. You’ll get a good night’s sleep knowing your frames are perfectly aligned for life!
11. Homemade Beads
This is perfect for making cards and scrapbooks! Use your glue gun to drop a dollop of hot glue on your work surface. Let them dry, then take them off the work surface and paint them with acrylic paint. You can even get creative and do some designs with a fine pen or paintbrush! The best part about this is you can make as many as you want and whatever size you want, on top of being able to design them exactly the way you need them to be.
12. Melted Crayon Art
One of the most enjoyable parts of being a kid is coloring with your new set of crayons. And if you’re an adult now, one of the most enjoyable parts of being an adult is taking crayon art to the next level. I’m talking about melted crayon art! Take your hot glue gun and replace your glue stick with a wax crayon (after you take off the paper of course!). Then gently guide the crayon as it gets melted and it’ll splatter onto your paper. Have fun with using different colors and you’ll end up with an abstract masterpiece of your own! This is also fun for the kids to try, with proper supervision.
13. Quick Fix for Broken Glue Gun Rests
Glue guns typically have a piece of wire or plastic underneath the main barrel so you can rest them upright when you’re not using them. If, however, you find yourself with a broken glue gun rest, one easy way to remedy that is to rest your glue gun on a binder clip! The typically black ones with the wire handle and clip. Rest the glue gun on them like this and it functions just the same as the wire or plastic rest would!
14. Remove Hot Glue From Any Surface
Hot glue typically removes pretty easily just as it is with a little bit of applied force. But if you ever have a hard time doing this, the easiest and safest way to remove objects bound by hot glue or hot glue sticking to a surface is to use rubbing alcohol. Use a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol and rub it on the edges of the glue. It should come off easily after a while.
15. Make Your Own Wax Seals
For our last glue gun hack, we’ll go back to the melted crayons. Letter-making just isn’t as popular as it used to be, but it’s still very stylish and fancy to send a sealed letter to a loved one! If you want to make those cool wax seals, use the crayon in a glue gun trick to drip some wax on the seal of your envelope. Once you have enough, you can let it dry, or you can use a stamp to brand it with a cool design. Using different colors after one another can also create some great swirly effects on your wax seal.
To get started using these glue gun life hacks, check out Chandler Tool Hot Glue Guns! The brand of glue guns that are built to last and offer maximum versatility and reliability!
