Bathroom mirror challenges

[skucera]

I hung my bathroom mirrors again with VHB double-sided tape, but after a short drive the mirrors were both partially detached from the plastic mirror holder. The problem is that the mirrors are glass and absolutely flat, but the plastic vacuum-formed mounts don't hold them flat. They flex and one corner of the mirrors peel away from the plastic mount. They were both almost unstuck, so I carefully peeled the mirrors off the frames so they won't fall off and break.

So, the puzzle is now to mount them to their obviously flexible mounts. My instinct is the try to mount them at three points, since three points define a plane, and to mount them flexibly somehow. Any ideas?

Plan B might be to just get some mirrored plexiglass, so if it falls off it won't break.

Plan C might be to remove the original plastic mirror mounting and to use Ram mounts or something to hold a mirror that can be repositioned, and screwed solidly to the wall or ceiling.

Time to start googling and see what others have done with this same problem. I'm sure I'm not the first to experience this. Given all the double-sided tape adhesive I had to remove, previous owners of my trailer fought this problem repeatedly. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Scott

[skucera]

Google sure didn't turn up much about how others have solved my problem. The mirror mounting solution used in the early Eighties trailers was apparently a cheap expedient, and trailers from the Seventies had a better mirror system that used an aluminum frame that could pivot to accommodate both short wives doing their hair and tall husbands who needed to see to shave. My trailer's fixed bathroom mirror mounts are definitely not as versatile, and mirrors appear to drop out of them from very early on. There were mostly unanswered requests on how to mount mirrors better, but no good answers.

So... hmmm... there aren't a lot of good recommendations posted in the past to solve my problem. I'm going to have to get creative. I like the idea of the movable mirror from the early-Seventies trailers. I'll have to think about how I can recreate that while still keeping my period look.

(Yeah, I'm the type of person who likes to preserve old cars and trailers rather than customize them. I prefer restoration over gutting and remaking the interior. It's just the type of guy I am....)

As always, I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Scott

[skucera]

Time for an update.... Well, I've tried two different types of double-sided tape, one from Gorilla, and the other being 3M VHB after some super-careful cleaning. Mirrors came loose with both types of tape, but luckily the tape held on to the mirrors without letting them fall to the counter, toilet, or floor. I had hopes for VHB tape, and I thought maybe even more careful prep might get it to stick, Given that some people use it to mount solar panels to the roof of their trailers, but it lasted only a couple of months in my bathroom.

Any better ideas?

Scott

[skucera]

Another update a year later: the thicker 3M VHB tape popped loose at one corner of one of my mirrors, but the mirrors have nonetheless stayed up for a year. OK, I'm growing to appreciate the stickiness of VHB. Even more careful prep may have improved the bond, so wiping with paint thinner, and then with denatured alcohol, and then letting that dry for day partially worked.


This solution is good enough for me.


Scott

[nvestysly]

Sounds like success to me too.

Reading your posts, a few things come to mind. Just some thoughts to help you/me/others select the proper tape for future applications...

3M VHB and other "double-sided tapes" are considered pressure sensitive adhesives. Applying pressure to the joint for some period of time usually several minutes to as much as several hours will increase the bond of the tape to the substrates. As you mentioned, a thorough cleaning of the surfaces is a must. Depending on the surface of the substrate it may be helpful to lightly sand the surface to increase surface tension at the interface.

There are various grades of VHB and your application sounds like you'd want the highest shear strength available. You also mentioned the small irregularities and this generally points toward a thicker, more pliable foam body in the tape so the adhesive can effectively bond to the surface.

I am certainly not an expert on the matter of double-sided tape but used 3M products in a number of commercial applications back in my days as an engineer. Clean surfaces and applied pressure to the joint were the keys to success in my opinion.

[Nelson428]

Plus I used a few of these. Kinda old school but I remember my great grandmother used them to hold a mirror on the back of her bedroom door. So I used a few and they don’t look too bad. I just got paranoid of not being so lucky next time.

[skucera]

Those little clips have a pleasing Art Deco feel to them. There's a mirror next to my trailer's kitchen sink that uses those clips, and it was factory installed with little acorn nuts on the back side of the thin plywood wall.

Somehow, I never thought about using these little clips in the bathroom. I now wonder why I didn't. They'd have worked.

Scott