Glue Bottle Battle 2014!

It's here, that time of year where it is me vs. my glue bottles.
The beginning...
Each summer I head to +Staples and stock up on their glue bottles when they go on sale for a penny or a nickel! As a teacher you can get 25 of them at this price! (I will post more on Staples penny sales later). I use the glue in them for glue practice and then refill them Elmer's Glue All. The Staples glue is a bit runny and can separate but a close second to Elmer's. I know there is a big glue debate in elementary art education-glue sticks or glue bottles? I insist on glue bottles-they stick better, can be used on many different surfaces and are cheaper than glue sticks. I teach my students the glue rules and have a giant anchor chart dedicated to this. My Pre-K and kindergarten students glue skills get put to the test every fall when they complete a glue skills sheet, it uses up the Staples glue and lets me see just how much we need to work on our glue skills. You can find this skill sheet in my TpT store. Get your Glue Skill Sheet here!

How to Use Glue Anchor Chart-Great for the kids and Subs!

Right now...
    So about halfway through the year my glue bottles start showing some wear and tear. The heat makes them dry out faster, students forget to close and clean them, and I occasional find a bottle that has been 'fixed' with a pencil. After the students left this week I decided to try an experiment. I came across a pinterest idea that if you lube up the glue caps with oil/grease/Vaseline that it helps prevent clogged glue bottles.

I separated the orange glue tips from the white cap and let them soak in hot soapy water for a bit. I removed any gunk that was in them and cleaned off dried glue (which I lovingly refer to as glue boogers) of the neck of the bottles too. 

I didn't have any Vaseline, but I did have a tube of cherry +Carmex  =)  I figured they are pretty similar and no harm could possible come from this genius swap. I took half the bottles and returned them to my glue bin. The rest of the bottles had their caps lubed up with cherry Carmex! The tube actually worked great I could just squirt the stuff right in there. I made sure to get all the threads with a cotton swab. I marked all these bottles with a green 'x' and returned them to the bin. Now we wait for the results of the Glue Bottle Battle 2014! Results coming soon!













What are your thoughts on glue bottles? Any pointers on keeping yours clog free? Leave a comment below!