hot melt adhesives are one of the few adhesives that are widely used across numerous industries, including packaging, furniture and electronics due to the fast setting features and flexibility. As more and more companies apply hot melt adhesives because of their bonding strength and effectiveness, concerns over these adhesives being reworkable have emerged. Is it possible to rework or remove hot melt adhesives after they are applied on a surface or material?

hot melt adhesives have unique properties that allow them to be quickly set when in liquid form and cooled to solidify and harden. They can form strong and tough bonds that withstand stress and strain in numerous demanding applications. However, the properties that allow these two-step adhesives to bond two surfaces seamlessly can also be the same factors that make it challenging to remove or re-work these adhesives.

Hot melt adhesives possess incredibly high strength but once cured, it becomes a challenge to remove such adhesives once glued. In most instances, the glue is intended to be a permanent solution to the problem addressed.” 

Nevertheless, such hot melt type adhesives can sometimes be softened in order to allow for the repositioning or removal of the glued components. The adhesive can be reheated, either directly or by hot air guns, with the intention of softening the bonds thus enabling repositioning or removal. This is an approach particularly well suited for industrial applications where the need for a certain degree of flexibility is desired, although the degree of success in reworking may be affected by the adhesive and substrate system. 

Significantly, however, some electronics or furniture manufacturers now prefer this technique, especially when clean and optimum fittings are warranted. What companies must be concerned with is what specific hot melt adhesive is used. For example, hot melts that are pressure sensitive may have a much better heat reactivation potential than other types.

While making the decision, the key factor for manufacturers and businesses remains the tradeoff between performance and flexibility. It is thus possible to consider hot melt adhesives for such high performance applications where the joint must be strong and permanent, but at times may need to be relocated. Developments occur in the industry and therefore experts have new proposals that will probably improve reworkability which would widen hot melt adhesives application in future.