Blu Tack was invented in Leicester, and Bostik still make it there. It's reusable and doesn't set or cure, though it deteriorates a bit after a decade in a drawer. Can repair pretty much nothing, but handy for sticking posters to walls. :)
Sugru is/was a silicone putty that cures after a few minutes in air, and expires in a few months in the packet. Seemed terrible value for money based on the tiny packet I bought so I'd never buy again.
At least with two part putties you can keep plenty in a drawer, for years, they don't cure until you've mixed them and cost a fraction of Sugru.
Edit: Well this provoked quite the discussion. If you're looking for repair putty the two main UK brands I know are: Araldite (Now a US brand, mainly DIY and automotive, also epoxy adhesives), and Milliput.com (Epoxy modelling clay, perfect for repairs to plastics, steel etc. Comes in a few grades and colours), with shelf life in decades. Milliput are Welsh. :)
It lasts six months at room temperature, but ~18 months in the refrigerator[1] (I have seen claims you can double that in the freezer, but haven't tried).
I've ordered a 20ish pack every couple years since the Kickstarter and I always immediately put it all in the fridge. I usually have a few packets go over the expiration and I must agree, ~18 months is when it starts to dry out and become brittle and thus not work as effectively. Using a bit of water combined with lots of massaging helps but detailed work is no longer possible (like building replacement handles for little coffee cups).
I've been using FormCard as a replacement in a lot of places (lately custom-made "hangers" with screws to hold my router from the wall), since if I mess up or I want to recycle it, I can just drop it in boiling water to melt and start over. Although I must admit, Sugru feels much nicer and is a bit softer i.e. good for cushioning - FormCard solidifies after 3-5 minutes into hard, slippery plastic which e.g. doesn't work very well for coffee cup handles or drop-protection for sensitive equipment (phones, cameras, etc.).
That is way better. I hadn't thought of refrigerating it... at the same time I want it in my toolbox and I've got kids so my refrigerator is a mess as it is ;)
Seconding two part epoxy putty as a thing more people should know about, I've used it to repair several sorts of broken plastic clip, fill small holes in walls, etc.
Kneadatite[1] (aka "Green Stuff") which comes as a 'tape' of yellow and blue putty side by side (and becomes uniformly green when you get the base and accelerator mixed completely) is a handy form, much used to make small models. There are also wood-colored putties for filling holes in wood, and even marine-grade ones that can be used under water. Epoxy is amazing stuff!
Also a readily available and inexpensive alternative that is even better for some applications is gas tank repair putty like Waterweld[1]. It's great for repairing door knobs, or your glasses in a pinch. Also it's available at almost any gas station for $5.00 for a tube. It works very similar to green stuff and has gotten me out of a jam more than once. It's sandable and paintable, also sets under water (or gas). Just slice off a chunk, knead, and apply. Sets in a couple hours, fully cured in a day. Also it's shelf stable for basically forever.
I do love sugru for all sorts of stuff though. Especially building custom connectors for electronics wiring harnesses and hanging things on tile without messing up the tile.
if people are looking for another product that's mould-able, good for repairs and doesn't go off (but also doesn't stick posters to walls) then I've done great things with Polymorph.
It's a thermoplastic that sets solid can be fused together and reused by heating it to 62 degrees centigrade. It's also non toxic which makes it great for kids.
This is what bummed me out about it most when I tried it. I had to buy a pack of 6 (maybe smaller sizes are available now), when I wanted to use half of one. The rest was all waste.
This might sound a little melodramatic, but it ruins the product for me.
Sugru is the type if product I want to throw in my toolbox for when I need it, because when I need it I NEED it. But instead I have to buy it online, takes 3 days to arrive, and by that time I've already used duct tape and moved on.
It is a good idea and a great product, but the short shelf life is a huge problem.
Plumber's epoxy putty has been recommended in a number of sailing/cruising "must-have" lists I've read over the years, which has earned it an entry in my (yet-to-be-exercised) provisions list.
I agree entirely. It's the achilles heel of an otherwise brilliant product. Sugru is something I would occasionally need and benefit from, however keeping some on hand is not possible.
Yes, they sell 3 pack [1]. I bought it about 3-4 years ago and back then they also sold 3 pack. I immediately stored it in the fridge together with my Li-On batteries. I used one about 6-12 months after, and it was still OK, but it was red (they had a special deal of 3 diff colors for cheap) and the surface was black, so, not very pretty. Now I bought 3 black around black November and I assume its still good. I don't often use it (or forget to use it) which is kinda meh. But you could argue the reason I don't use it is a lack of creativity. I mean, check the website. So many uses for Sugru!
Yeah, I had a packet from somewhere and came across a perfect repair job for it. I go and get the packet and discover that it has already ossified and is useless. Very disappointing.
And Jane ni Dhulchaointigh (listed as Jane Delehanty which is the english pronunciation of her name) ceased being a person with significant control in May 2018.
Do be aware though that 'Person of Significant Control' is a recent Companies House corporate transparency thing meant to identify people with control of the company via significant share holding or voting rights etc. who may not necessarily have already been listed as directors. So Jane could be CEO and own 24.9% of the company and still not be a Person of Significant Control in this context.
I never made any claims as to her company status. I was just pointing out the companies house records such that the celticninja could investigate her status by themselves.
In fact she was, had you taken the time to review their 288a forms (November 15, 2004), a company director, which was not a huge surprise given she was a founder.
Flippin' 'eck your "bolt-counting" pedantry and davej's below are what gives HN a bad name and makes engaging in the comments often tiresome.
> And Jane ni Dhulchaointigh (listed as Jane Delehanty which is the english pronunciation of her name)
To be nitpicky, it's the anglicization of her name rather than the english pronunciation. The English pronunciation of her name would be something like Jane Nee Dool-coin-tig.
JB Weld is an epoxy. It starts out as a (2-part) liquid, and sets to a hard solid. It's good for fixing cracks or breaks in rigid objects. You want to avoid getting it on your skin.
Sugru is a putty. It's squishy, kind of like clay, and air-cures to a sort of rubbery flexible solid. It's good for repairs to things that are flexible (It's great for repairing and ending stain relief to cables) and also for adding "bumpers" to things or even molding small objects (like hooks). It's also safe to touch uncured Sugru with your bare hands. This makes it a lot easier to work with, in general.
The big downside to Sugru is that it's expensive, it goes bad after a few months (but storing it in the fridge extends the lifetime to a couple of years), and once you open a packet, the whole packet will cure within 24 hours. You pretty much always end up with some waste. If they could somehow make it 2-part so you could make the exact amount you need, or store it in a tube or something so it wouldn't go bad so easily, it would be great.
There are a bunch of different products under the JB Weld brand that are two part clay like material. They are designed for things like patching wood, patching metal, etc. The two parts are different colors, so you take the two parts, squish them together, and knead them a bit until they have a uniform color and then you can mold them into whatever shape you need. I've used the wood one quite a bit for repairing small rotted sections of wood and it works well. Not sure what the shelf life is, but in it's two part state I've had containers around for over a year and they seem like new.
I've used two part putties that should like what you're describing, though I think the ones I'd used weren't JB Weld brand. I'm pretty sure they were all epoxies as well.
When the JB Weld putties you're talking about cure are they hard and brittle, or flexible and squishy? The ones I'd used all cured to a hard plastic.
Yes, I fell into the trap of assuming a brand name actually has a fixed meaning.
Still, that's an epoxy, and if it's like the epoxy putties I've used, I bet it cures to a hard and rigid plastic, rather than the soft and flexible rubber that "Sugru brand mouldable glue" cures into.
I doubt the underlying chemistry is unable to produce elastomeric products. Especially if you look at e.g. 2 part Polyurethanes, you see that while they aren't healthy in their uncured state, they are not fundamentally unable to be made into a non-liquid form, as they don't fundamentally rely on being a liquid.
I'd be very interested to find the equivalent of two part epoxy Sugru, or in other words a rubbery Milliput. Any suggestions?
Coincidentally, such was my need only yesterday. I thought first of Sugru, balked at the price and delivery time as usual, looked into making some 'Oogoo' (silicon sealant mixed with corn flour) and funnily enough I ended up using some Sugru that's been in my fridge for 5 years, which although slightly crumblier than I remember on first handling, did the job fine in the end.
I purchased Sugru years ago to form a small cover on the edge of my MacBook Pro's palm rest because it was uncomfortably sharp. Basically a thin line of Sugru from edge to edge.
It worked well, and it's still there and functioning 5 years later.
When the two tiny packets arrived I thought it was quite expensive for what it was! I only ever used one packet, the other stayed in the fridge door where I just found it and it is rock hard. So I guess my next purchase would be for this Blu Tack.
Blutak would not work for this. If you have it in contact with body heat too long it gets ropey. It would constantly stick to your hands on contact.
I think OP was commenting that they're completely different things, with different purposes and uses. Blutack is great for sticking a poster to a wall, because its easy to put up and take off, and can be useable again. It is not for something to be permanent and used.
Sugru would be great but for the really short expiry as it's just the sort of thing I'd keep by indefinitely for an unplanned repair along with glue, tape and epoxy putty.
Blu-Tack doesn't harden, it stays sticky. It's used to attach posters to the wall and stuff like that. I wouldn't want to use it on the edge of a MacBook, it would just gather dust and grime, and would easily fall off.
If stuck to posters or wallpaper it also leaks oil/plasticizer over time (months to years) which is absorbed by the paper and causes staining. I discovered this the hard way in my late teens/early 20s.
Solution is to apply some Sellotape (Scotch tape) to the back of the poster first, then put the Blu-Tack on the plastic tape, which blocks the solvent. And avoid using it on wallpaper (emulsion or gloss paint is fine). Better still, use poster holders and a picture hook, or go the whole hog and frame your artwork properly.
Sugru ... air-cures: it doesn't have the solvent-leaching problem, but if you used it on a poster the only way to get the poster down would involve a chisel or sandpaper. Blu-Tak is for temporary attachments; Sugru is intended to be permanent.
I think they fixed it since but I recall my last MBP had a wicked sharp edge on it. I used a different trick though, the same one you do when you use tin snips. You can burnish a sharp edge on metal objects. I took a round screwdriver handle and rubbed it on the edge at a 45° angle and it was gone.
Sugru is kind of pricey, but I've yet to find any other adhesive material with the same properties. I've repaired winter shoes, cables, headphones and more with it. It's super easy to work with. I almost wish I could buy smaller quantities economically, because after I repair the one or two things I buy it for, it usually sits unused too long and expires by the time I actually need it again.
Definitely a niche product, but a niche that isn't filled by anything else.
Blu Tack was invented in Leicester, and Bostik still make it there. It's reusable and doesn't set or cure, though it deteriorates a bit after a decade in a drawer. Can repair pretty much nothing, but handy for sticking posters to walls. :)
Sugru is/was a silicone putty that cures after a few minutes in air, and expires in a few months in the packet. Seemed terrible value for money based on the tiny packet I bought so I'd never buy again.
At least with two part putties you can keep plenty in a drawer, for years, they don't cure until you've mixed them and cost a fraction of Sugru.
Edit: Well this provoked quite the discussion. If you're looking for repair putty the two main UK brands I know are: Araldite (Now a US brand, mainly DIY and automotive, also epoxy adhesives), and Milliput.com (Epoxy modelling clay, perfect for repairs to plastics, steel etc. Comes in a few grades and colours), with shelf life in decades. Milliput are Welsh. :)