For years I used Hollister 7730 medical grade silicone adhesive, a 3.2 ounce can usually lasts me 3 weeks of daily use. Then someone on this forum talked about 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Adhesive, (MSDS is located at the bottom of this page)  a product found in every large home store, at Wal-Mart, virtually everywhere and the can is 16.75 ounces. I sneered at the mere suggestion that some over the counter spray on glue would do what I wanted it to do.

One other fact that you need to know before I go on, I use Goo Gone to remove my forms daily, no skin irritation, no degradation of the forms, no problems whatsoever after over three years of hard use.

Back to adhesives.
-Hollister 7730 is about $25 to $40 per can depending where you buy it. I usually buy it on eBay and pay about $20 per can with shipping. I generally get 23-25 applications per can. Application time is within 5 minutes of spraying the adhesive on the forms, after letting them "kick off" a bit so they don't slide. If you wait too long another application of adhesive is needed to revive the first coat.

-3M Super 77 is about $10 per can for the aforementioned 16.75 ounce can. 3M Super 77 lasts around 140 applications for me. Applications time (and I am still experimenting) is within 10 seconds to 15 minutes spraying only the breast forms, which is the same for both products. The adhesive is just as aggressive as the Hollister and actually seems to hold better, tighter to my skin.

Both clean up easily with Goo Gone. My procedure to remove breast forms after wearing them.
-I place a few sheets of paper towels on the edge of the kitchen sink, I lean over until my chest immediately below the breast forms is against the paper towels  holding them in place. I spray Goo Gone onto my chest above the breast forms and let it trickle into the glue. I help it along a bit by spraying and gently prying up an edge of the form to allow the Goo Gone to seep into the glued area.
Once the glue starts to break down, I let gravity drop the forms onto the paper towels while spraying Goo Gone on the freshly exposed glue line.
Never try to pull them off too fast, you will regret the tears and abrasions on your skin for weeks to come.
 

The following method was my original method of removing old glue but I now have found a more complete method that can be found here

  Breast form glue removal method   

Once the forms are lying on the paper towels, I take a brush of some sort and spray a bit more Goo Gone onto the freshly exposed surface of the breast form and scrub gently to emulsify the remnants of glue. Then I add Dawn or whatever liquid dish detergent to the flat surface of the form and rub it with my hands until all the Goo Gone is emulsified and has broken down.
Then rinse in warm water and take them into the shower and wash with hair shampoo to get the remains of any chemicals off them. Lay nipple down and let the form dry. I pat them dry with a towel and let them sit, until the next time I wear them. If they are not going to be worn for more than a couple of days I put them back in their shaped box for storage and safety.

None of my forms shows any degradation of the outer layer at all, in fact they look as good as the day I received them.

Self adhesive breast forms. I have two pair that I have worn many times. Both pair suffer from slippage if I don't wear a bra, and I rarely do. When I get warm and start to "glisten" (remember women don't sweat, they "glisten") the forms will sometimes start a gentle slide down, pretty noticeable. that is just my experience, some people wear them with no problems whatsoever.

Other adhesives: Another member just suggested a product named "It Stays" is available from a medical supply sales company. I have no experience with this product and cannot comment other than to say the expense is greater than the 3m but less than the Hollister.
 

Another author wrote:

I took a different route. I've been using Nu-Hope Medical Adhesive, and I'm very happy with it. It comes in a container with a dauber and you simply brush a thin film around the perimeter of your breast forms. Seems to hold well, and I don't have to worry about overspray. The price is very reasonable, way less than Hollister and it seems to last a long, long, time.

The Nu-Hope is often used for attaching Ostomy devices and is intended for use next to the skin. That's my only problem with Super 77. It's not specifically for use on human skin and it may contain certain chemicals and solvents that might cause allergic reactions, or worse. A lot of people have recommended it, but I would be very careful.

Nu-Hope makes their own adhesive remover and I use it for removing The Forms. But your right, I can't find anything better that Goo-B-Gone for cleaning up the residue on The Forms.

I'm familiar with Nu-Hope and I like their prices, but I would imagine any Ostomy Adhesive would also work. You all might want to try it as an alternative. Just about anything would be cheaper than Hollister's!
 

Another Author wrote:

It appears that some of us are more reactive to the chemicals in the adhesives than others. That was one reason I started this thread, to find out what others had done and hopefully dispel rumors of one thing working and another not working.

One of the concerns I keep hearing is the degradation of the plastic covering on silicone forms. My original triangle forms have been in almost daily use for two years and fairly heavy use for two years before that and have not shown any signs to date of deterioration or the plastic degrading. It could just be that the pair I have are covered with a different type of plastic than others.

I want to thank all of you for including your experimentation with adhesives and the impact. As far as chemical burns, I have never experienced actual chemical burns but have had massive chest skin damage due to impatience on my part, trying to remove the forms too fast. (and I was not using any chemicals to remove the glue residue) Many of the skin tears were visible for over two years until they finally grew out.

I now use Goo Gone in its thin yellow form religiously and have not a mark on my chest. I do use about a quart of Goo Gone per 3 months and about 2-3 cans of Hollister's. Now that I am trying the 3M product the Hollister's has been shelved for awhile.

As another addition to the alternatives, I have used toupee adhesive "Topsol" no-Tape Silicone bonding agent from Vapon of West Caldwell, NJ with limited success. While it may hold a light weight toupee in place it does not appear to be designed to hold a weighted object against a vertical surface. It held initially for about 20 minutes and then started a slide south. I had to remove them and use traditional adhesive to continue.


Keep those cards and letters coming folks, the more information we have the better decisions we can make.

And another person wrote in:

I finally tried the 3M super 77 this weekend with good results. Sprayed a little on my chest and a little on the forms. Waited until it still felt sticky but didn't come off on my finger when touched i.e. no strings of glue. I put them on Friday at 6pm and they were still stuck firm and feeling good when I went to bed on Saturday night. By Sunday morning, they were a little ragged and coming away at the edges. I've only used Hollister once before and the 3M was as good if not better. No burns, itchiness etc. but when I took them off the skin was a little red but that's hardly surprising when something pulls on your skin for 40 hours. They're size 9 (40DD) so I guess it'd work even better with average size boobs - I'm thinking a size 7 or so might look and act better, maybe next purchase.

As per Tami's technique, I used about half a small bottle of Goo Gone which took about 10 minutes to soak through and the forms to fully fall off. Bit of advice - do one at a time as when one is half off or more, it pulls harder on the remaining glued skin so you want to hold it with 1 hand and work the goo gone with the other - a bit difficult to do 2 at a time.

I then lay on a towel and put more goo gone on my chest and rubbed it round and round to dissolve the glue left on my chest - took another few minutes. My forms look like brand new after a wash in Goo Gone then washing up liquid - better than they did before. Then I hopped in the shower and a good scrub and I was all clean.

Another bit of advice - The goo gone combines with the glue to make a runny but still slightly oily sticky runny substance. I sat in my big shower and removed the forms, but I left the shower for half an hour or so before I showered and the substance had dried out leaving a sticky film on the shower floor. No big problem to clean up with a pad and cleaner but it would have been even easier if done straight away. And I wouldn't want it to get on a carpet.

Several hours later, the redness on my chest is virtually gone, it's not itchy or sore and I think it'll be totally invisible by the morning. So don't go 40 hours and take them off just before you need to show your chest to an unknowing person but generally the side effects seem no problem.

All in all, my breasts felt great, the 3M & Goo Gone works as well as the Hollister's did (the one time I used it) and it was a hell of a lot cheaper and much easier to clean up. Pretty successful and something I look forward to doing again.

For myself I have used non-self attachable forms and Hollister's adhesive. It works, but I screwed up and didn't order the adhesive remover, which means after a year of occasional use there was a full can's worth of adhesive stuck to the back side of the forms, giving it a leathery texture. I'd spot cleaned a couple times as a test with various things but nothing seemed to work to remove it, though I was able to remove extra adhesive with some effort from my body with nail polish remover.
On a whim today I tried something different. Liquid wrench by Gunk. Sprayed some on and let it sit. As these were older forms I am replacing shortly anyway, and weren't top quality to begin with ( $60 off eBay) I wasn't all that concerned with damaging the breast forms, I just wanted to see if that would work.

Well it worked. Extremely well. I had to spray the forms and let sit about a half hour with the liquid wrench each but this made the yeas worth of Hollister adhesive a sticky gooey mess that I was then able to remove with a cloth, soap and water ( with a fair bit of effort granted, but NOTHING seemed to take the adhesive off before) . I now have two spotlessly clean forms drying off in their original boxes. I washed with sunlight dish soap before putting away removing any residue from the liquid wrench in the process.

Now I'd like to try the 3m77 adhesive, and having a Wal-Mart next door will look for it there, but it would help if someone had a picture of what I'm looking for. I'd tried a few adhesives before I got the Hollister's most of which were failures. Also what department would one look for the 3m adhesive in? I'm not sure it's sold in Canada, but if it is I'd like to give it a try, the Hollister's was easily $40 after shipping.

Two things:
First, ingredients in the 3M 77 glue, label indicates that all dry ingredients "are listed as indirect food contact additives when used in food packaging with minimal opportunity for exposure". Not sure of the whole definition but when I talked to a neighbor who is a chemist that works on food stuffs, additives. He stated that the contents shouldn't hurt you if you let the high ends of the aerosol evaporate first, usually about 3 minutes.

Secondly: while looking at 3M 77 in the store a woman was holding a can of i Intertape AC50 and saw me reading the label on the 77. She said that it was a good substitute for the 3m 77 and cheaper too. I bought a can and took it home to experiment. DON'T USE IT FOR BREAST FORMS. It is entirely different and has a high VOC content. I ordered the MSDS and found that it is not good on human skin at all, too many ingredients that aren't good for us, or any living thing.

i Intertape AC50 is readily available at low lot prices on eBay but it is not for use with breast forms. Scratch this one off your list if it was on there.

I notice a lot of reservations on many people's part about using adhesive to adhere breast forms. I started using the Hollister when advised by the manufacturer of the forms. I ventured out and read what I could find on other adhesives when I couldn't get Hollister's quickly, I failed to order in time. For a completely feminine feeling, attaching the breast forms is second to none. It is the most realistic thing next to your own real breasts. That is the reason I use adhesive and will continue to do so.

Plus, you can't wear a skimpy halter top wearing a bra, every nuance shows so you have to very careful with the placement of the forms to make sure you can cover all of the forms.

I have purchased breast forms from www.breastformstore.com several times before, and always had an excellent experience. When I decided to buy another pair this week, I looked around and noticed that the vendor set has increased somewhat. After some research, I decided to buy a pair of forms from www.truekare.com, their asymmetrical model, size 8. Since they had these with an "imperfect" discount, I ordered these.

The big difference between these forms and those I've had in the past is the adhesive back. The back is protected by a piece of plastic, which peels off to reveal the entire sticky back surface.

I went for the truekare forms because of the price -- a savings of almost 50% versus other vendors -- and had rather pooh-poohed the notion of self-adhesive forms. The vendors themselves, as well as others in the TV/TG/TS community say that it's unlikely you can go braless with these forms; the adhesive is "merely" useful to keep them in place inside your clothes.

So, I wore them a few times with the plastic backing in place, and of course, they sent me straight to transgender heaven, as forms always do in comparison to cheap alternatives, like water balloons. But, after a few hours, I figured it was time to try the adhesive, and see how it performs.

I did this with some fear and trepidation. I'm totally closeted; wife and family away for a week or so, but my chest is rather hairy, and I was a little concerned about what the stickum would do to me. "Well, no guts, no glory," I thought, as I peeled off the plastic from the forms. "How bad could it be, after all?"

I stood in front of the mirror and carefully placed first one form, then the other, on my front. I was rather surprised, then delighted, then ecstatic about how well they stuck. For the first time in my 40-something-year transgender life, I got to experience what it was like to put on a bra over my breasts, as opposed to putting one on so that I could stuff it with them . Oh, yes, more transgender heaven.

I tried on a variety of bras, bathing suits and braless clothing options, and was delighted with the results. The forms will start to peel off around the edges if they're not supported, no doubt about it -- so the vendors and community are right to discount the totally braless option. I'd certainly not go out dancing in a Little Black Dress with nothing holding me together but this adhesive. But, the effect is far superior to non-sticky forms with those pads stuck on the back of them.

Several of my outfits provided enough support to go braless, including a stretchy tank top, a bathing suit with a built-in bra, a very tight tee-shirt (oh, yes, wait till you see yourself with a wet tee-shirt!). A filmy negligee didn't work; the forms would clearly separate if I slept in them without a bra.

Oh, and before some of you ping me about not sleeping with my forms on -- been there, done that. Having lived with a rather well-endowed GG for 20-something years, I know they don't sleep on their front, because it just doesn't work. Neither do I, en femme. But, waking up in the morning in a nightgown is worth the potential risk of breaking the forms -- which I've never done or heard of.

So, finally, the moment of truth -- taking the forms off. I prepared for the worst, imagining a painful extraction, and seeing their back surfaces covered with my chest hair. But no! Peeling them carefully off my chest, they separated cleanly and took virtually none of my hair with them. AWESOME!

This is the reason I'm starting this thread. I've avoided sticky forms for years because of what I assumed they would do to my chest hair, and that I can't shave without outing myself. Turns out, at least with me, this was not an issue.

And, ladies, the effect of having the forms being a "part" of you, even inside a bra or bathing suit, is easily worth the price of admission. Have you ever tried to do a "shimmy" with loose forms in a bra? Doesn't work too well, because the forms jump around, faithfully obeying Newton's second law of motion. But the adhesive forms are part of your body a lot more than the others, and "I can shimmy like my sister Kate" and everything stays where it ought to.

Bottom line -- self-adhesive forms turned out to be a way better idea than I thought they might.

Other input -- the TrueKare "imperfect" forms I bought were fine. I *think* I can see the imperfection -- a little fold on the underside of the left -- but clearly no big deal.

Update on 3M Super 77:
I have now used this adhesive about 75 times and the only down side that I find so far is that if you don't let the high ends evaporate for enough time, it could cause your nipples to be very cold. Possibly even irritate them.

I first noticed this on an 80 degree day, getting dressed and felt very cold. Then I realized it was just my breasts that were cold, I had put the forms on after maybe waiting only 5 minutes. The adhesive was still very wet and had not fully kicked.

I have now waited as long as an hour after initially spraying them to put them on with no change in the holding power. In fact, they seem to hold longer than the 7730 Hollister and the clean up is just as easy. Make sure you use enough glue, I have had one form fall off when I used too little glue on it, note just below this one.

IMPORTANT 3m 77 DISCLAIMER:

Although I am a user of this product and to date I have not suffered any noticeable ill effects from it, the potential for long-term impact is there. Careful reading of the MSDS for this product by a number of members on this forum have brought forward data that could cause us to re-think our constant use of this product.

I relayed my cold and tingling breast feeling just yesterday and was informed of potential skin absorption damage to the liver and other organs within a short time thereafter. This product may be too good to be true and may need to be used with an eye towards long term potential damage to our bodies. Never mind that it could impact critical thinking, something we could all be accused of losing long ago...

Therefore I am posting this notice that any user should think about or limit the use of this product to minimize health risks. Members who smoke may really be at risk due to the highly flammable fumes that are released when the product is applied. Just something to think about or research on your own.

I also have some self-adhesive forms, they were never designed for bra-less wear. They have a great adhesive to hold them in place under a light fitting bra but the adhesive is not designed for bra less wear. You can add your own adhesive to them and they act just like the others, they will stick very well and hold but they require you to use the same removal technique as the others, with Goo Gone or a similar product.

Just another update on 3M 77. Yesterday was fairly warm around here, about 86 degrees. I used 3M 77 and was working on a person's face applying permanent makeup when I felt the left breast form gently release from the chest wall. I was leaning over my work table and the form stayed in place because the top I was wearing was fairly tight, but nevertheless, this form had come loose. I gently pressed it back into place and it held until my client left. I pulled up my top and took a look, the form fell completely off. Sweat had loosened the bond and it released. The other one was still attached but not by much.

I had not really cleaned the chest wall with alcohol or anything else and assumed the adhesive would hold in the heat, it didn't. I believe Hollister would have held, it has in the same conditions before.  Update: I did the same thing the next day in even hotter weather and used more of the 77 and it worked fine. I believe I applied too little glue and let it dry too long. 
 

I recently used the 76 adhesive in very hot humid weather. I have been finding that the glue dries almost instantly after it is sprayed and application to the forms alone is not sticking very well. What is working... (really well) I wore them for about 36 hours and went bike riding in the hot humid weather braless (using the bike jersey built in support)

1. Mark the outline of your forms on your chest
2. Spray forms, let dry.
3. Spray some adhesive in a pile on paper. Use some paper towel to dab the adhesive before it dries and wipe your chest where the forms will go. This results in a very thin layer of adhesive on your skin and it dries almost as fast as you can apply it.
4. Wait a while until all surfaces are dry.
5. Apply forms, just like contact cement they will stick and can't be removed without using a solvent (like paint thinner).
6. To remove use a paper towel soaked in thinner and wipe around the edges with gentle lifting.
7. Give yourself about 1 day for the redness due to pulling on skin to go away...be very careful you don't damage your skin especially easy to do on the edges of the forms.

Other than potential health risks and no ability to quickly undress... doing this for a full day or so is quite the experience.

The MSDS for 3M Super 77 Adhesive

Material Safety Data Sheet