Sugar soap for Glass bed adhesion

Hey,

Has anyone else experimented with cleaning/treating a common glass bed with strong sugar soap ?
I have been getting some pretty interesting results. Adhesion for PLA was strong enough that I broke my first bed accidentally while trying to detach.
Similar results on ABS, curious to try Nylon and other materials now that normally don't attach to regular glass.

I understand it's a common degreasing agent, however acetone or alcohol that I used previously to clean my bed didn't achieve results that good.

We are talking about the variety commonly found in the UK
[en.wikipedia.org]

On a side note, I can separate the parts from the glass now, just takes a sharp 'technical tap' while being careful to not break the glass.

Given that the link says that in the UK there are different formulations, and that the formulation is different again in the US and France, it might be worth giving a brand/product name, preferably a link to an online supplier, so that others can try to recreate your results.

David

Sugar soap is basically sodium silicate, probably with a surfactant.
As mentoned its action would be as a degreasant.

I use ABS juice now. All my sticking problems are solved. At least with ABS.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2013 05:03PM by dave3d.

According to the Wiki sodium silicate is water glass and sugar soap appears to be various things but no mention of sodium silicate or water glass.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

A purple Elmers Glue stick

[www.elmers.com]

you can get them for $0.77

no fuss no mess just rub it on the glass PLA sticks fast!

nophead:

checking into it a bit further, yes it seems that sugar soap means different things depending on where in the world you are. For example it can contain tri sodium phosphate in the states or be based on soda ash (washing soda) in europe.
I was thinking specifically about Mangers sugar soap in the UK. I am from the chemical industry and may have picked this up from a commercial recipe. Ignore what I said.

This is the stuff I used: [www.wilko.com]

The appeal to me is that it doesn't leave a mess, most glue sticks do after time, especially with dust build up etc, also the adhesion is a lot higher than any glue I have tried. I have on occasion suffered from edge lift based on the glue stick used.

Since a lot of them seem to contain Sodium Silicate I suspect part of the action is that it causes micro abrasions to the glass during cleaning.

[www.ehow.com]

i've mentioned this a few times in posts before but floor acrylic seems to work well with abs. turn on the heated bed, and pour on thick out the nozzel, then rub it across the glass untill it becomes sticky, then let it dry with heated bed on for 5 more minutes. abs parts stick well, and pop off when glass cools from shrinkage. I think i'm using mop and glow.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2013 08:16PM by jamesdanielv.