CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — If a glue did not stick to the inside of the tube or bottle, you might think it must not be a very good glue. On the other hand, clinging glue has annoyed generations of parents and children attempting to scoop out the remaining bits with their fingers.

This is one of life’s little problems. LiquiGlide, a company started by a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one of his graduate students, has come up with a solution: a coating that makes the inside of the bottle permanently wet and slippery. The glue quickly slides to the nozzle or back down to the bottom. More