# Why hot glue and not just room temperature glue?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hot-glue-and-not-just-room-temperature-glue/972930>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 8, 2022, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hot-glue-and-not-just-room-temperature-glue/972930 "2022-10-08T05:05:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hot-glue-and-not-just-room-temperature-glue/972930/21 "2022-10-09T13:49:35Z")

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Good point, Si\_Amigo!

I think I’ve heard that dioctalphthalate (DOP), or diethylhexylphthalate as it’s also called in some circles, outgasses in cars. It’s the oil that’s mixed with polyvinyl chloride to create soft flexible vinyl. Some consider it harmful to the health. I’ve heard it condenses on the insides of car windows and requires alcohol to be removed, which is a shame because spilling alcohol on vinyl dashboards creates permanent stains. I haven’t verified any of this.

Is this one of the things you’re referring to?

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-hot-glue-and-not-just-room-temperature-glue/972930/22 "2022-10-09T13:59:49Z")

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> [@Napier](#):
>
> I spent years in this industry (and if you have a disk drive you probably have one of my inventions in it)

As an aside, me too. I worked for Applied Magnetics for most of the 90s.

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