The usual adhesive coating for "gum tickets," is the cheaper varieties of gum arabic dissolved in water, applied with a brush and dried.
Mix dextrine with water, and add a drop or two of glycerine.
Labels that are exposed to acid fumes or damp, may be attached with any good paste, and when dry, coated with copal varnish. If neatly done, the appearance is very good, and moisture and acids have no action on them.
For attaching labels to tin and other bright metallic surfaces, first rub the surface with a mixture of muriatic acid and alcohol; then apply the label with a very thin coating of the paste, and it will adhere almost as well as on glass.
To make cement for attaching labels to metals, take 10 parts tragacanth mucilage, 10 of honey, and 1 of flour. The flour appears to hasten the drying, and renders it less susceptible to damp.
Another cement that will resist the damp still better, but will not adhere if the surface is greasy, is made by boiling together 2 parts of shellac, 1 of borax, and 16 of water.
Flour paste to which a certain proportion of nitric acid has been added, and heat applied, makes a lasting cement, but the acid often acts upon the metals. The acid converts some of the starch into dextrine.
Dissolve 2 dr. isinglass in 4 oz. distilled vinegar; add as much gum arabic as will give it the required consistency. This mucilage keeps very well, but is apt to become thinner, when a little more gum may be added.
Dissolve isinglass in vinegar to a pretty thick consistence when warm. This congeals on cooling, and before it is used should be gently warmed.
A capital adhesive liquid for sticking tickets on glass, wood, or paper, is obtained as follows: About ½ oz. fine glue which has been a day before soaked in water, and some candy sugar, with ½ oz. gum arabic, and 3 oz. water, are placed in a small bowl over a spirit lamp, and continually stirred till the composition thoroughly boils and dissolves, and the mass becomes thin. When coated with this cement and then dried, the tickets, when moistened with the tongue, will stick with the greatest tenacity.
Dextrine, 2 parts; acetic acid, 1; water, 5; dissolve in a water-bath and add 1 part of alcohol. Forms an excellent mucilage for stamps and labels that are to be kept ready gummed.
It is said that for the labels of seltzer or soda water bottles, the best paste is one made of good rye flour and glue, to which linseed-oil varnish and turpentine have been added in the proportion of ½ oz. of each to the lb. The paste must be made quite hot, and the oil incorporated with it by thorough heating. Labels attached by this cement do not fall off in damp cellars.
Soften good glue in water; then boil it with strong vinegar, and thicken the liquid, during boiling, with fine wheat-flour, so that a paste results.
Starch-paste, with which a little Venice turpentine has been incorporated while it was warm.
Paint solution of tannin over the spot, let dry, and then affix the label previously gummed and moistened.
Corrosive sublimate, 125 parts; wheaten flour, 1000 parts; absinthe, 500 parts; tansy, 500 parts; water, 15,000 parts. This cement is useful for vessels which are kept in a damp place; the addition of the sublimate retards the destruction of the labels.
Starch, 100 parts; strong glue, 50 parts; turpentine, 50 parts; the whole boiled in water. This cement dries quickly.
Best red sealing-wax ½ oz., spirits of wine 2 dr., and from 5 to 10 drops of muriate of tin; let stand for 36 hours, and stir with a glass rod before using. This answers for making nearly everything adhere to tin articles.
Leather to polished zinc. Nothing better than glue, made in the ordinary manner, but rather thin, to which is added its own bulk of Beaufoy's acetic acid.
T. A. Richardson, the architect, recommends to every 2 tablespoonfuls of the best wheaten flour to add a teaspoonful of common moist or brown sugar, and a little corrosive sublimate; the whole to be boiled, and continually stirred to prevent getting lumpy, till of the right thickness. To stop moul-diness, a few drops of some essential oil, as lavender or peppermint. This paste is used to make different thicknesses of cardboard. In putting or jointing together, he recommends 6 oz. gum arabic (best), 1 oz. or less of moist or lump sugar, 1 teaspoonful of lavender or other essential oil, and a tablespoonful of gin - the whole to be mixed in cold water to the consistency of a thick syrup, no heat being in any way applied.
Dissolve 180 gr. of best French glue in 180 gr. of water by soaking and heating. Then add a solution of 1 gr. of shellac in 6 gr. of alcohol, and stir well as long as the solution is warm. Mix also 35 gr. of dextrine in 50 gr. of alcohol and 25 gr. of water, stir it well in a beaker and place it into warm water until the solution is completed and has acquired a clear brown colour. Mix this solution with that of the glue,and pour the whole into a suitable form in which it may solidify. When wanted for use, cut off a small piece and liquefy it by warming.
Lehner publishes the following formula for making a liquid paste or glue from starch and acid: Place 5 lb. of potato starch in 6 lb. (3 quarts) of water, and add ¼ lb. of pure nitric acid. Keep it in a warm place, stirring frequently for 48 hours. Then boil the mixture until it forms a thick and translucent substance. Dilute with water, if necessary, and filter through a thick cloth. At the same time, another paste is made from sugar and gum arabic. Dissolve 5 lb. gum arabic and 1 lb. sugar in 5 lb. of water, and add 1 oz. of nitric acid and heat to boiling. Then mix the above with the starch paste. The resultant paste is liquid, does not mould, and dries on paper with a gloss. It is useful for labels, wrappers, and fine bookbinders' use.
Paper pasted, gummed, or glued on metal, especially if it has a bright surface, usually comes off on the slightest provocation, leaving the adhesive material on the back of the paper, with a surface bright and slippery as ice. The cheaper description of clock dials are printed on paper and then stuck on zinc; but for years the difficulty was to get the paper and the metal to adhere. It is, however, said to be now overcome by dipping the metal into a strong and hot solution of washing soda, afterwards rubbing perfectly dry with a clean rag. Onion juice is then applied to the surface of the metal, and the label pasted and fixed in the ordinary way. It is said to be almost impossible to separate paper and metal thus joined.
Dissolve 1 oz. gum tragacanth and 4 oz. gum arabic in 1 pint water; strain, and add 14 gr. thymol suspended in 4 oz. glycerine; finally add water to make 2 pints. This makes a thin paste suitable for labelling bottles, wooden or tin boxes, or for any other purpose paste is ordinarily called for. It makes a good excipient for pill-masses, and does nicely for emulsions. The very small percentage of thymol present is not of any consequence. This paste will keep sweet indefinitely, the thymol preventing fermentation. It will separate on standing, but a single shake will mix it sufficiently for use.
4 oz. rye flour, ½ oz. powdered gum acacia. Rub to a smooth paste with 8 oz. of cold water, strain through a cheese cloth, and pour into 1 pint of boiling water. Continue the heat until thickened to suit. When nearly cold add: 1 oz. glycerine, 20 drops oil cloves. This is suitable for tin or wooden boxes or bottles, and keeps sweet for a long time.
4 oz. rye flour, 1 pint water, 1 dr. nitric acid, 10 minims carbolic acid, 10 minims oil cloves, 1 oz. glycerine. Mix the flour with the water, strain through a cheese cloth, and add nitric acid. Apply heat until thickened to suit, and add other ingredients when cooling. This is suitable for bottles, tin or wooden boxes, and will not spoil.
8 parts dextrine, 2 parts acetic acid, 2 parts alcohol, 10 parts water. Mix dextrine, water, and acetic acid to a smooth paste, then add the alcohol. This makes a thin paste, and is well suited for labelling bottles and wooden boxes but is not suitable for tin boxes.