We may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

How to Make Glue – 11 Easy Homemade Glue Recipes

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.

Closeup of homemade glue in clear bowl with paintbrush

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, and if you’re crafty, that’s something you’ll enjoy.

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.

Besides, learning how to make glue for yourself is a form of crafting. It’s fun, interesting and educational, especially if you can involve kids.

Glue bottle dispensing homemade glue on wood

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, like corn starch, corn syrup, flour, vinegar and gelatin. You can even make some glues with just water and flour,
 
But a few are more craft related. You may need ingredients like glycerine and gum Arabic.
 

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. One thing you’ll need is a sealable container to store the glue.

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. 

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