I have always used teflon when connecting threaded metal plumbing bits & bobs. However, I have seen plumbers use a sort of putty & long hair type thing.

I have just bought some of the putty & hair, 1e what a bargain. To seal a threaded fitment do I put a bit of putty on first then wind the hair round? or wind the hair round & add the putty on after?

I assume once tightened it doesn't really matter, but I'd like to get it right first time.

Any tips much appreciated.

haven't you tried yourself ??

can't understand why you gave up on the teflon tape. Usually buy a trade pack of 6 from Screwfix for a couple of £'s

nowadays the Spanish I have come across use plastic piping for everything, including hot water. Also use alot of metal flexible hoses as well.

Yes plastic is the newbie on the block and it's childs play.

I use PTF tape, but I note that some Spanish use sealant, it does seem to work.

Biggest problems over here are, a little 20c job can cost you 1000's Euros coz they bury the bloody pipes behind expensive tiles.

but boxes around surface pipes are so....British !

I decided to not tell my landlord that when he came to inspect the damp patch in the wall where a pipe joint built into the wall was leaking.

.

We originally started with PVC plumbing, but after two bursts inside walls, we'll never use it again in places where leaks cannot be fixed without major surgery.

Back to copper we went. Hell of a lot more expensive, but it doesn't break unexpectedly.

The correct answer is that PVC is for copper or plastic and the horse-hair stuff is for brass and/or steel or iron.


The beauty of the 'gook' is that it expands to make a water-tight joint.


Put a little gook on first, then a little hair, then a little more gook to smooth the hair down - works a treat. They also use it in UK on steel/iron pipes (it's NOT old fashioned at all).

Are you soldering ? Is it flux by any chance ? Lol. Apply the flux or what ever it is then wrap what I'm assuming is horse hair around the fitting. The hair just makes the joint tighter.

The hemp (hair) and putty method of sealing threaded pipe is as old as the hills in UK plumbing. It is still used in steel and brass fittings, but the white ptfe tape is just as good if not better.

This cannot be used on plastic to metal fittings, these are compression joints and don't require any sealing other than what is included in the compression fitting itself.

That should have been PTFE tape of course (doh!)

You can use a liquid version. I had some in the UK made by Dunlop called PTFE Sealant and I have found one in Spain called "Sellador de tuberias con PTFE".

It's an anaerobic adhesive (like Superglue) with added PTFE. A couple of drops on the joint and it seals immediately. It is at full strength after 3 hours. I used it once on some high pressure (1000 psi) and it worked OK.

It seals but doesn't totally lock the joint so reasonable pressure with a spanner will break the seal if you need to open it up.

The closest answer

"gook" was originally called "Boss white" (in the UK) and is a sealant mainly for metal threaded pipe fittings. It's commonly used with horse hair or hemp. The procedure above is correct.

PTFE or the liquid version, is mainly for brass threaded pipe fittings.

Most copper fittings are soldered (braised for gas pipe) or use fiber / rubber seals.

thanks for the replies - I will try the gook as its metal on metal, not copper.

cheers all

or compression olives

If you use PTFE tape, which is good, make sure you wind it round the thread the correct way; ie, so that when you attach a nut to tighten round the thread, the nut doesn't undo the tape.

The hairy stuff is ok; it used to be used until tape came along!