# Attaching Hygrolon, Help Needed



## CJ's Exotics (Mar 8, 2018)

Hello there! I am working with 2 projects involving hygrolon, which is new to me, so I need some help. I am working on a vivarium, and a cork bark display, and how should I attach the hygrolon? For the vivarium, it has a foam backgound with a cork hardscape, and I think I will put a thin layer of silicone, let it dry a little bit, then put the hygrolon on the foam. For the centerpiece, would gorilla glue or silicone be the way to go? Any suggestions on how you experienced keepers would do it? Thank you for your suggestions, and for reading through this! (PS, I can include pictures if needed )


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## charoozz520 (Dec 8, 2008)

I use gorilla glue for my recent hygrolon background and it worked great. As I was attaching the hygrolon to the glass directly, I put a thin layer of silicone down first. After the silicone is cured, put a THIN layer of Gorilla glue on, and I mean thin, I made the mistake of putting more than I should and some of the glue seep through and expanded into the hygrolon. 

There is also this method which looks to be a lot easier but I couldn't find the right hot melt sheets to do so:


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## CJ's Exotics (Mar 8, 2018)

charoozz520 said:


> I use gorilla glue for my recent hygrolon background and it worked great. As I was attaching the hygrolon to the glass directly, I put a thin layer of silicone down first. After the silicone is cured, put a THIN layer of Gorilla glue on, and I mean thin, I made the mistake of putting more than I should and some of the glue seep through and expanded into the hygrolon.
> 
> There is also this method which looks to be a lot easier but I couldn't find the right hot melt sheets to do so:


Thank you for the reply! Would hot glue in a thin layer work? I tried some last night on my cork display, I wanted to experiment and see how it would work.


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## charoozz520 (Dec 8, 2008)

CJ's Exotics said:


> Thank you for the reply! Would hot glue in a thin layer work? I tried some last night on my cork display, I wanted to experiment and see how it would work.


I don't think so, from my experience Hot Glue doesn't hold up well in humid environments.


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## CJ's Exotics (Mar 8, 2018)

charoozz520 said:


> I don't think so, from my experience Hot Glue doesn't hold up well in humid environments.


Thank you! I will see what I can do.


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## CJ's Exotics (Mar 8, 2018)

Any more suggestions?


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## Austindg13 (Aug 31, 2017)

They now have a gorilla glue spray. I would use that. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## CJ's Exotics (Mar 8, 2018)

Thank you!


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## CJ's Exotics (Mar 8, 2018)

Could I use a thin layer of silicone? I want to do this in my enclosure, with the classic dirt on background custom, and patches of hygrolon in there. Hot glue would work very well for this, but I have heard that the hot glue may not stand to the humidity. Thoughts?


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## CJ's Exotics (Mar 8, 2018)

Has anybody tried using silicone? Please reply.


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

> Has anybody tried using silicone? Please reply.


Yeah I have, but just over the last few months. Seems to work fine so far. I've got it pieced in among some "cracked cork mosaic" stuff, where I wanted some wideness and no cork/moss areas on my drip walls. Imagine "islands" of cork and moss jutting off the background, in a field of flat but still plant-accepting "vertical substrate". The cork got siliconed on first, then I packed moss. Lastly, I cut and stuck the hygrolon in the areas between the "islands".

In some areas, in the beginning, I applied a continuous thin bead of silicone to the glass around the perimeter. In others, later, I did a sort of "grid of dots" of silicone onto the glass. Regardless of the pattern, I put on a glove and "mushed" the hygrolon down so the silicone oozed into it some. (This is where I got the idea for the dots, vs the continuous bead - the silicone messes with the wicking some, as you can probably imagine. A little dot every 3cm or so keeps a nice tight fabric, no saggy baggy, but lets the water wick around like it wants to.)

Anyway, as far as adhesion, keeping the hygrolon up on the wall - no issues. Depending on how heavy a plant growth I let cover it - maybe it'll pull off eventually. Maybe not. Looks and acts pretty bomber so far. It's kind of like using silicone around the perimeter of your substrate barrier fabric - as long as it's not purely superficial, and you get some silicone mushed up into the weave, it seems to grab and hold great.

Hope this helps. Would also love to hear others' experiences.

cheers


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