FAQ

Yes, Pratley’s founder and engineer, Mr George “Monty” Pratley together with a chemist friend invented epoxy putty in the early 1960’s. They were working on a design for an Electrical Junction Box and they needed something to anchor the electrical terminals into the box. They achieved this by inventing epoxy putty. Today it is known as Pratley Putty.

The Pratley product is called “Wondafix.” It is a very special epoxy/urethane hybrid adhesive and the first of its kind in the world. Pratley scientists grafted a urethane adhesive onto an epoxy backbone. This result is an extremely reliable adhesive that has both the strength of an epoxy and the flexibility of a urethane. The bulldozer still hangs outside of our Head Office using the “Wondafix” joint.

Yes, Pratley Putty was used by the American space agency on the Ranger space craft. It is the only South African product to have gone to the moon.

Absolutely! Every employee at Pratley lives and breathes by this statement. It is the cornerstone of everything that we do. We continually test adhesives from around the world to make sure that we stay on top.

Yes, please see our Pratley International Distributors

You may have noticed the letters B.G.S on the back of every pack of Pratley Adhesives. So, what does B.G.S actually stand for? As you know, Pratley invented "Pratley Putty", the world's first epoxy based putty. In the early days, our sales representatives (from our electrical products division) would routinely demonstrate this amazing new product "Pratley Putty" to their existing customers. These were mostly practical hands-on people like foremen, electricians, miners and engineers. Our sales representatives would also frequently leave a small sample of Pratley Putty with these customers and enthusiastically await their comments on the follow-up visit." Every Pratley representative sends a written customer call report to management. Curiously, the various representatives' reports would always say the same thing. "Customer says it's "Bloody Good Stuff." After hearing this exact phrase from hundreds of customers, the acronym B.G.S (Bloody Good Stuff) naturally evolved. Today, just for fun and lest we forget, B.G.S is printed on the back of every pack of Pratley Adhesive. So there you have it: B.G.S = "Bloody Good Stuff!"

There are so many factors that can influence how long an adhesive will last on a shelf. Some of these include the degree of temperature, humidity, UV exposure etc. Different types of adhesives are also more or less sensitive to these factors. Because Pratley products are transported and stored in varying environmental conditions that are outside of our control, it makes it impossible to accurately predict the shelf-life of a product. With this in mind, we formulate our adhesives to be as tolerant as practically possible to such factors. 

Yes, but as a manufacturer, we supply our products in dispensers which may include up to 20 individual packs or more (Take a look at our discount structure on our pricelist).  If you only need one or two packs of a product, it is would be wise and more convenient to purchase from a retailer. Our products are available at almost all hardware and chain stores in South Africa. For information on international distribution, please contact our export department.

Not a problem at all! You can simply download a new one. They are available under each product in our product catalog on this website.

Please contact our friendly sales department who will happily send you the required MSDS.

Some plastics have what we scientists call “a low free surface energy” and these types of plastics are very difficult to bond using DIY adhesives. Polyethylene and Polypropylene are examples of plastics that are not good candidates for adhesive bonding. There are other plastics, for example PVC, which can be bonded very well. Be very wary when manufacturers claim that their products bond well to all plastics. This is usually not true. There are some complex surface preparations that can be done to plastics to make them more “stickable”, but these are usually complex industrial processes which involve changing the surface chemistry of the plastic. If you are not sure if the plastic you have is a good candidate for adhesive bonding, you can try our simple “water drop” test on our “Tips & Tricks” page. Some of our products that are recommended for suitable plastics are; Pratley 1-2-3, Pratley Powda Bond, Pratley Ezeebond and Pratley SP001.

Generally,the best environment to store most adhesives is at room temperature, (73°F) at the lowest humidity possible and in a dark place. Specifically, for Acrylics like Pratley Ezeebond, Pratley Superglue and Pratley 1-2-3, the ideal temperature is 45°F - 59°F. (73°F is still ok though. Do not put adhesives in the freezer.)