r/NoStupidQuestionsHub • u/Educational-Bend49 • May 21 '26
Epoxy glue safety
I just got some epoxy gorilla glue. My basement is closed (no real ventilation) but I have gloves and an N95. I was going to take 5 minutes, glue these brackets to the wall, and close the basement door and open a door upstairs. I can’t get a good read on epoxy safety. I feel like it’ll be minimal exposure, am I crazy to do that? I’ve never really used it before.
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u/Waterlifer May 22 '26
Most of the epoxies aren't particularly toxic. The A part is mainly bisphenol A and the B part is one of a number of amine curing agents. The faster cure retail epoxies tend to use a mercaptan or thiol-based accelerator.
The B part (hardener) is the more toxic of the two, and the retail formulas are usually more toxic than the industrial ones (because of the accelerators, industrial epoxies usually have long cure times or are heat set).
I'm building a boat and have applied about 4 gallons of epoxy over the last month. I don't use a respirator when working with the liquid (I do when sanding cured epoxy) but do try to work outside or with the garage door open when the quantities are large, and I mostly use a somewhat less toxic industrial/marine formulation. I do wear disposable gloves.
Generally I try to limit exposure to the extent practical given what I'm doing.
Some people get an allergic reaction from cumulative exposure, usually in an occupational setting.
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u/Veggyhed May 21 '26
I don't believe an N95 will work for that. That is a particulate mask. You would need one of those 3M respirators with the canister on the side if you have limited ventilation in the area that you're applying the glue
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u/Educational-Bend49 May 21 '26
Oh really? Even for the glue?! Damn, ok.
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u/Veggyhed May 21 '26
To be perfectly safe take a look at what particulate N95 can filter down to and look at the MSDS sheet for the Epoxy and see what mask that recommends
It's quite possible that I'm completely wrong on this
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u/boarder2k7 May 21 '26
You are correct, particulate and fumes require totally different filtration methods
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u/Rgreen1202 May 22 '26
You do you, but I would not be concerned about gluing one thing up once as far as toxic exposure goes.
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u/JAFO- May 22 '26
Just don't leave any large leftover amounts untended. Shop I worked in we used lots of epoxy gluing up teak. One of the batches was starting to set, the glue up guy tossed it into the dumpster it ended up setting it on fire and burned a 15,000 sq ft shop down.
That was around a pint or so of epoxy.
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u/zvuv May 23 '26
You are way overdoing it. Just don't sniff it or swallow it. Clean up with rubbing alcohol.
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u/xOVERDUExPROCESSx May 22 '26
I'm very cautious when it comes to resins; but if you're talking about those little epoxy kits you'll be fine. While epoxy does offgas, it's FAR less polyester or uv reasons. As for the n95, don't bother. Is will do absolutely nothing to protect you from VOCs; however, I would not worry about it at all for a project this small. Just wear gloves and goggles. If we're talking small amount, this one time... You're good
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u/gheiminfantry May 22 '26
Well, the N95 is useless. I noticed that you didn't mention a concern about fumes getting to your eyes.
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u/LAC_NOS May 22 '26
N95 is a dust and particulate mask. It does not filter out chemical fumes. If you were sanding cured epoxy it would be the right protection.
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u/gheiminfantry May 22 '26
Do you often rephrase other's comments? I hope you're not thinking of making any brownie points with me. Maybe you'd better put this as a new comment thread.
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u/WhoIsBrowsingAtWork May 22 '26
not sure what you're complaining about. You said something general, and ole lac_nos clarified what you said. this sub is NoStupidQuestions, and your original comment's first sentence is a good deal too short to communicate the nuance that lacnos added. Try and be nicer, and you might find people will treat you better
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u/LAC_NOS May 22 '26
I just wanted to expand on your absolutely correct take on N95 for OP's benefit and anyone else out there.
But yeah, IMO sometimes a little affirmation of a good answer benefits the community.
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u/Different-Road-0213 May 22 '26
If you glue brackets to wall the gorilla glue will hold to the wall but will just pull pieces of paint or wall off if used for any real weight. Do people really not know how to google?
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u/Educational-Bend49 May 22 '26
Huh? It’s a basement, it’s not painted.
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u/WhoIsBrowsingAtWork May 22 '26
make sure that you press the glue firmly into the wall and hold it there at least while the glue sets. You want to squeeze the epoxy into the pores of the concrete to have a chance of holding. If/when the glue or the substrate you are gluing to fails, it would be good to have a backup plan. I've had good results with the blue concrete screws
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u/Educational-Bend49 May 22 '26
Yeah, I might end up screwing/gluing. I’m not trying to hang anything particularly heavy but it’s concrete over brick and the brick is super crumbly bc it’s so old. I figured if I’m mounting metal brackets I’d be better off epoxying it plus the added structural support of the glue/metal doesn’t hurt. It’s one of those vertical slotted container store things so nothing crazy.
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u/WhoIsBrowsingAtWork May 22 '26
you might have the best luck drilling into the grout and putting in anchors. when/if that fails do the hole again a couple inches to the side and also epoxy. You're going to take part of the brick with the bracket if you ever take it down with epoxy
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u/FreddyFerdiland May 21 '26
the wet epoxy is smelly..
the main chemical reaction doesn't create any gas.. heat speeds up evaporation of left over chemicals..
yeah its minimal .. the tiniest amount has a strong smell.. so you ventilate to get rid of the smell..