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One of my kids' friends accidentally knocked down a bottle of liquid glue on a container filled with glitter.

So, is it possible to separate the glitter from the glue?

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  • What do you want to salvage? The glue? The glitter? Both? What kind of glue is that?
    – virolino
    Commented May 27, 2019 at 5:47
  • @virolino, both if possible, follow by the glitter, and glue last.
    – user275517
    Commented May 27, 2019 at 9:24
  • What sort of glue?
    – Chris H
    Commented May 27, 2019 at 12:32
  • @ChrisH, normal liquid sticky glue.
    – user275517
    Commented May 29, 2019 at 1:33
  • That's nowhere near enough information to help you. I can't even tell if it's water based or solvent based from that little.
    – Chris H
    Commented May 29, 2019 at 5:36

1 Answer 1

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Depending on the glue, there might be solvent available. Dilute the glue a lot (the one containing the glitter), use a sieve to separate the glitter from the diluted glue.

Repeat until the glitter is clean enough. If you are lucky, the solvent of the glue will evaporate and you will be able to salvage the glue also.

Easier method: throw the mess to the garbage and buy new glue and new glitter.

@rebusB posted a very useful comment (thank you):

  • Unless it is water soluble glue like Elmer's or actual gold in the glitter, the labor, toxicity of solvents, and likelihood of it being a huge messy waste of time makes letting the gluey glitter go a better call.

  • OR just use the glue glitter as is.

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  • Wow, good to know that it is possible to sieve glitters from glue!
    – user275517
    Commented May 27, 2019 at 9:26
  • Be warned: 1. I never did such thing. I would prefer to throw away and buy new stuff. 2. It depends on the glue and on the availability of the solvent. It also depends if the glue had the time to cure or not - this can make a huge difference.
    – virolino
    Commented May 27, 2019 at 9:39
  • 2
    +1 for the easier method... and only for that part. Unless it is water soluble glue like Elmer's or actual gold in the glitter, the labor, toxicity of solvents, and likelihood of it being a huge messy waste of time makes letting the gluey glitter go a better call. OR just use the glue glitter as is.
    – rebusB
    Commented May 28, 2019 at 22:22

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