I am a fanatic about proper air-sealing on my remodeling projects, and nothing plugs those energy-sucking nooks and crannies as well as canned spray foam. Instead of buying single-use straw-dispensed cans, I use the professional-grade cans that require a foam gun. This reusable tool fits my “a little bit here, a little bit there” remodeling schedule without the unused contents of the canister hardening between uses.

There’s just one problem: Polyurethane foam is sticky—really sticky—and the tip of my gun always used to come out of those dust- and dirt-filled cavities with a blob of foamy debris. Wiping with a rag only smears the foam around, so I was always left with an ever growing blob of foam that would have to be shaved off later with a utility knife.

Knowing that acetone helps to remove uncured foam, I figured there must be a way to use it to clean the tip of the gun before the foam had cured. Then I remembered as a kid seeing my mom at her makeup table use a small jar of nail-polish remover, which contains acetone as a main ingredient. The inside of the jar has a piece of absorbent foam with slots cut into it so you can remove the nail polish from one finger at a time. Now, despite the occasional ribbing I take for keeping such a girly product in my toolbox, I always have a jar alongside my foam gun. The acetone cleans the uncured polyurethane, and the slotted foam helps to remove the debris.

—Justin Fink, Plainville, CT

Edited by Charles Miller

From Fine Homebuilding #241