Have you ever wondered how to make glue? You can make your own homemade glue – even specialty crafting glues. Why would you want to do that? It’s not as if it’s always much of a money-saver. But it’s fun, interesting and educational.
Many of these glues are safe for kids to help with. And you can make exactly the glue you like in exactly the amounts you need.
Making Glue is a Craft Project In Itself
You may be wondering why you’d want to do this. It’s true that store-bought glue is mostly cheap and effective, though some specialty glues are expensive and hard to find.
One reason is that it’s fun. Making glue is a craft in and of itself. It’s fun, interesting and educational, especially if you can involve kids.
Another reason is that you can in some cases make a better glue for your purposes. This is especially true if you’re doing an arts or crafts project with particular needs.
And you won’t have to worry about store-bought glue drying out before you can use it up, so you end up buying more. When you make it yourself, you’ll rarely have any glue going to waste.
What Projects Can Use Homemade Glue?
You can use homemade glue in paper crafting, constructing model airplanes, collages, scrapbooking, making homemade envelopes and paper mache. You can also use these around the house for repairing broken crockery and even making minor repairs to furniture.
Ingredients to Make Homemade Glue
You’ll need some ingredients. Many are are household ingredients which you probably already have on hand. Here’s how they all work.
| Ingredient | Purpose | Science Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Corn Starch | Thickening Agent | Corn starch helps to thicken the glue mixture, giving it a gel-like consistency. This thickness helps the glue adhere to surfaces and stay in place. |
| Corn Syrup | Viscosity and Stickiness | Corn syrup adds stickiness to the glue, making it more adhesive. It also contributes to the glue’s viscosity, which helps it spread evenly on surfaces. |
| Flour | Binding Agent | Flour acts as a binding agent, holding the other ingredients together and providing structure to the glue. |
| Vinegar | Mold and Spoilage Prevention | Vinegar acts as a natural preservative in glue recipes. It helps prevent mold and spoilage, keeping the glue usable for a longer period. |
| Gelatin | Adhesive Strength | Gelatin provides additional adhesive strength to the glue. It helps the glue stick better to surfaces and improves its overall bonding capabilities. |
| Glycerine | Flexibility and Moisture Resistance | Glycerine enhances the flexibility of glue, making it less brittle and more resistant to cracking. It also helps the glue resist moisture absorption. |
| Gum Arabic | Viscosity and Adhesion | Gum Arabic, a natural gum, increases the viscosity of glue, allowing it to spread smoothly. It also improves adhesion, helping the glue bond to surfaces. |
Supplies to Store Homemade Glue
Some of the supplies you need are items you may already have around the house. Others, you may need to buy. To store homemade glue so it stays usable for as long as possible, follow these guidelines:
1. Clean container: Use a clean, airtight container to store your homemade glue. It needs to be clean so it can’t contaminate the glue and affect its quality.
2. Labeling: Clearly label the container with the date you made it and the type of glue it contains. This will help you keep track of its freshness and avoid confusion if you have multiple types of homemade glue.
3. Refrigeration (if necessary): Some homemade glue recipes may need refrigeration to prevent spoilage or mold growth. Check the specific recipe you used to see if refrigeration is recommended. If so, store the glue in the refrigerator and make sure it is tightly sealed.
4. Cool, dry location: If refrigeration is not required, store the homemade glue in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and extreme temperature fluctuations. Excessive heat or moisture can degrade the glue and reduce its effectiveness.
5. Stir before use: Before using the homemade glue, give it a gentle stir or shake to ensure that the ingredients are well-mixed. This helps maintain a consistent adhesive quality.
6. Check for spoilage: Regularly inspect the stored homemade glue for any signs of mold, unusual odor, or changes in texture. If you notice any of these signs, discard the glue and make a fresh batch.
Buying Suggestion
I like these reusable glue bottles. They have a good size opening for refilling, and I haven’t had any trouble with leaking. They’re air tight, which keeps the glue from drying out or molding.
Other than that, all you need to make these easy recipes is a bowl and spoon or whisk, and a saucepan to make any of the cooked recipes. You’re just going to be putting ingredients together in a bowl to stir them.
How to Make Glue Stronger
These are general tips that apply to any glue in this list.
- Increase the quantity of binding ingredients: The binding ingredients like flour in a homemade glue recipe are responsible for its stickiness.
- Add Vinegar: Add a small amount of vinegar to the mixture. The acetic acid in vinegar can help to strengthen the bond of the glue.
- Add Salt: Salt can act as a desiccant and help to remove moisture, improving the adhesive properties of homemade glue.
- Boil longer: The longer you boil your homemade glue, the thicker and stronger it will get.
- Use Corn Syrup or Sugar: Adding corn syrup or sugar to your homemade glue can increase its stickiness and make it stronger.
Troubleshooting Tips
Making glue at home is easy, but sometimes things go wrong. Here are some tips to help you fix those little problems.
| Issue | Troubleshooting Tips |
|---|---|
| Consistency adjustment | If too thick, gradually add small amounts of water until desired consistency is achieved. If too thin, add more flour or another thickening agent. |
| Adhesive strength | Increase the amount of glue ingredients (e.g., flour, cornstarch, or gelatin). Allow the glue to dry for a longer period. |
| Quick-drying | Increase air circulation or use a fan to speed up the drying process. Add small amounts of salt or baking soda to accelerate drying time. |
| Mold or spoilage prevention | Add a small amount of vinegar or lemon juice as natural preservatives. Store the glue in a clean, airtight container when not in use. |
| Surface compatibility | Roughen the surface slightly before applying the glue. Test the glue on a small, inconspicuous area before using it on the entire project. |
Learn How to Make Glue At Home
It’s so simple to make homemade instead of going for store bought glue. Some of these recipes involve no cooking and can be made safely by younger kids. Supervision is always a good idea.
Most of these involve a little bit of cooking – mainly just boiling water, adding ingredients and stirring. They’re as easy to make as a simple pasta sauce, and older kids can safely make them as long as they know how to use stoves and saucepans safely.
Please note: I keep getting asked what glue would be safe to put on skin. I’m not a scientist, so all I can say is that all of these ingredients are edible, according to the internet, so they should be safe. But that doesn’t mean you won’t have a reaction of some sort – people can be allergic or sensitive to almost anything.
11 Homemade Craft Glue Recipes
The most basic of the homemade glues, which you may already be familiar with, is a flour-based glue. This is a very easy glue to make.
It tends to dry out over time and stop holding together whatever it was holding together, but it's fine for, say, crafting decorations you only intend to keep up for a few hours.
If it starts to dry while you're working with it, just add more water a few drops at a time. If you accidentally make it to thin, just stir in flour to thicken it.
It works very well for paper mache projects, although there's another version below that's slightly better. The drying out part doesn't matter because once the whole project dries, it forms a shell that will last a while.
This cornstarch glue recipes is a basic glue that works well in paper craft projects and anything involving cardboard. The cornstarch mixture makes it good for holding paper together without making ripples or bubbles.
Have you ever wanted to make your own homemade DIY PVA glue? Well... you can't. But you can make something very close to it that will work just as well.
This makes yet another basic homemade glue. This one has a good consistency for making slime.
Paper mache is simply pieces of paper applied to a mold with glue. This is the recipe for making another version of flour and water glue that works great for these projects.
This is the strongest glue recipe here. It's made with gum arabic, which makes it powerfully adhesive. To use: dip a matchstick into it to apply a very thin coat of it to both sides of broken crockery, and then fit the pieces together. As you would do with Superglue, hold the pieces firmly together until the glue dries, which could be up to an hour.
Great for wood, ceramic, glass and more.
This makes a simple paste suitable for kids' crafts. It's a lot like that paste you used in school for arts and crafts time.
This one is so easy, and kids can totally make it themselves. It makes a thick paste that won't hold forever, but is suitable for kids' crafts.
When you're gluing something together that's going to go under water, you need a glue that doesn't melt. This waterproof glue recipe is the one you need.
This waterproof glass glue, or milk glue, is strong and can also stand up to water. It works a lot like super glue, in fact. It can be used to mend broken china, like super glue. It also works well to glue labels on cans and jars, or to glue glass to other surfaces. All in all, it's pretty strong.
If you making your own envelopes, you'll need a very special glue recipe. Learn how to make envelope glue that will dry on paper and be activated by water.
It's easy to learn how to make library paste. This is a fun homemade craft that's perfect for gluing together booklets or even repairing old books.
