Glue squeeze out

In another “topic” started my Mexiquite titled “Tips and Tricks”, there was a discussion that revolved around glue squeeze out and how to handle it. I thought this topic was important enough that it deserved its own post.

A couple suggestions in Mexiquite’s post were using shavings, a plastic straw snipped at a miter and the old damp rag. All of these work to a point. Shavings work for a hidden areas. The straw trick works for pulling up lots of glue but needs to be followed up with the damp rag. The damp rag works well on joints you can get to. This does raise the grain.

But all these are limited if you are glueing up a panel as the clamps inhibit your ability to clean up the glue in that area. The best approach here is to let it dry than use a plane or scraper to clean it up.

In the March/April Fine Woodworking there was an article by Michael Fortune that discussed his approach to squeeze out. He uses silicone free wax (Waxlite) to prep the external surfaces. Lets the squeeze out dry for an hour or so and the glue can be pulled off the surface. The wax is then cleaned up with denatured alcohol and a light sanding before the finish is applied.

I think this method has a lot of merit and plan on giving it a try. Has anyone used this method? Or do you have another favorite method to handle squeeze out.