There are so many adhesives it's impossible to keep up with them. On
leatherette, a rubber or neoprene based cement like Pliobond is the best
choice. To most folks in the U.S., "rubber cement" means the
milky-translucent, light-duty stuff sold by Union Rubber, a product made for
paper paste-up and easy removal. "Contact cement" is very strong, for counter
top lamination, veneers, etc. Pliobond has some properties of both. Most
important, it stays flexible, doesn't dry out and can be re-dissolved with
methyl ethyl ketone. It has more tack than the factory sticky-back leatherette.
> The importance of using contact cement is that it can be readily made to let
> go with the application of a little heat.
You don't need heat with Pliobond. Hardware store contact cements are too
strong, and withstand heat pretty well. (Otherwise my kitchen counter would
have lifted after the first couple pots of soup.) Mostly they fail because
they get hard and brittle, and fracture at the joint. If you can't find
Pliobond in NZ, you may have to experiment, and I would start looking for a
cement used to manufacture or repair shoes, or patch tires.
Try cementing a piece of vinyl onto a piece of metal and wait a day or so.
Then try to pull the pieces apart. If they won't come apart without alot of
effort, that's bad. If they come apart too easily, that's bad too. If they
come apart smoothly, but cleanly, that's better. If they come apart smoothly,
but with little strands of adhesive stretching in between--like chewing gum or
cheese on a hot pizza--that's best.
If the leatherette has lifted, you should clean off the backing at that spot.
Don't try to cement over the dirt and dust. With OM's, you can peel off the
whole piece and clean off the part that has lost its tack. Scrape off all the
factory goo in that area and get right down to the vinyl. Your cement will
stick much better now.
Leatherette that's peeling, with a curl, has dried out, beyond repair...like
the vinyl roof on an old Camaro.
Morgan
|