The
fourth R isn’t mentioned as often as the first three, but here’s a tip from
Rachel that could help to keep a broken piece of crockery out of the waste
stream.
Using
superglue of the Araldite kind where you mix the resin and hardener together to
make it, stick your broken item together and wipe off excess glue, as per
normal. Just follow the instructions on the glue, basically.
THEN,
when set, sellotape it together so the mended joint(s) won’t move even when you
melt the glue.Then bake it for an hour at about 80 degrees in your normal oven.
When cool, remove the sellotape – you may need to soak it off.
I have used this method of supergluing and then heating to mend china for a number of years. I don’t know how it works and hold out no guarantees! But I can say I personally have used it to mend cups, mugs, teapots and other things that have to withstand heat and liquids. E.g. I mended my favourite coffee cup like this which I use almost every day then put in the dishwasher.
March 2006