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Tips & Techniques

Reuse Spray-Foam Cans

Insert wire inside a spray-foam tube to prevent it from plugging.

Issue 308 - July 2022

I usually end up with a partially full can of expanding spray foam at the end of each project. Here’s how I prevent the spray tubes from getting plugged so that I can use the leftover foam on my next job. I simply insert a length of 12-ga. or 14-ga. wire inside the spray-foam tube after each use. I cut the wire about 4 in. to 6 in. longer than the tube so I can make a loop that works as a finger pull. I always place the can in a bag, just to keep my truck or toolbox free of any foam that may ooze out.

—Harry Bogosian, Waterbury, Conn.

Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller

Published in Fine Homebuilding #308\


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