Hot Melt Troubleshooting: Stringing

If you’ve ever opened a packing line to find fine, sticky threads of adhesive stretching between the nozzle, substrate, and anything else unlucky enough to be nearby, you already know the frustration of stringing. Also known as cobwebbing or angel hair, stringing is one of the most persistent and messy issues that can affect a hot melt system and it rarely stays contained. Once those threads start forming, they cling to rollers, sensors, packs, guides and operators’ gloves, creating contamination, blockages, misreads, and unnecessary stoppages.

What makes stringing particularly challenging is that it isn’t caused by a single fault. It can be triggered by a range of factors and pinning down the root cause can be frustrating.

Even small mistakes can create long adhesive tails, glue mist, or cobwebs that compromise pack appearance and gum up the works. And once it starts, it usually gets worse fast leading to cleaning time, rejected packs, and preventable downtime.

To help engineers and operators get ahead of the problem, we’ve created a dedicated Hints & Tips Sheet that breaks down the most common causes of stringing and the practical steps you can take to reduce or eliminate it. From set-up tweaks to environmental control, to identifying when the adhesive itself is the culprit, it’s a straightforward guide designed to get your line back under control quickly.

👉 Download the Stringing Hints & Tips Sheet

Use the contact form to get your free copy and start diagnosing the root cause of stringing on your line.

If the issue is persistent or you suspect the adhesive choice may be part of the problem, our experts also offer a free Discovery Session to review your set-up and recommend the right long-term solution.