How to Heat WoodUbend

It may seem like a simple thing, especially to me as I use WoodUbend every day, but i’m often asked questions about the best way to go about heating the mouldings. It’s not a a tricky process, but can be daunting for those just starting off, so read on to discover how to get your mouldings nice and bendy.

First up though, let’s discuss when you should be heating your mouldings. Obviously, before you begin to use them they need to be warm and bendy, be careful though as WoodUbend can cool down quickly, they take roughly the same amount of time to cool down as they did to warm up. so make sure it’s good and warm before you get to work. It’s just as important, but not as widely known, to heat them when they are being adhered to the surface. This makes sure, as Angela Bailey of Elfen & Helden says, that they snuggle to the surface. A rule of thumb is, if you think you should be warming your mouldings…then you should be.

A Heat Gun

Now, this is the quickest method of heating your mouldings, however, it is also the most risky – if you’re not too comfortable using a heat gun, then I would advise caution. Most heat guns can reach anywhere between 200°C all the way up to 600°C. This is more than enough to cause some damage to your surroundings, your WoodUbend mouldings and, most importantly, yourself.

As the name suggests, WoodUbend has a very high wood content – this is why they react just like wood when cool. As they have such a high wood content, they can be scorched, just like wood; when using a heat gun it is imperative to keep it moving. Keeping the gun moving is especially important if you have glue on moulding, the glue can bubble and burn really quickly, so be sure to keep an eye on it.

A Hairdryer

A hairdryer will take a little longer to warm up your WoodUbend mouldings, but if you are a little hesitant to use a heat gun, this method carries with it a much lower chance of damaging your lovely mouldings. The flip side of this, however, is that a hairdryer is going to take longer to warm up your WoodUbend.

So, if you’re a little reticent by a heat gun, a hairdryer is the perfect tool to use,, just be prepared to be sat there for a little while longer.

WoodUbend on A Griddle

An interesting one, but immensely useful, having a sausage griddle with a little bit of tin foil on and set at a medium heat is a perfect way to gently warm up your mouldings whilst you’re working on other parts of your project. It’s a little outside of the box, but it works an absolute treat, especially if you combine it with one of the two methods I’ve mentioned earlier – you can be painting away, safe in the knowledge that your WoodUbend mouldings are warming up ready to be used.

The tin foil is an important factor in this though, the griddle can get warm, so this just protects your mouldings from being scorched whilst sat there – it also works well to keep sausage grease off of them!