Adhesive for cardboard and paper - how to make a choice

A regular glue for paper is required by a person on a regular basis, many even use it daily. Such tools help to glue envelopes, make school crafts, stick photos, are widely used in creativity. There are several types of adhesives that are well suited for working with paper, cardboard.

Content:

• What should be a quality tool
• Types of glue for gluing paper and cardboard
• Glue stick
• PVA
• Super glue
• What other glue is suitable for paper and cardboard
• The best adhesives for decor
• Glue for photos
• Homemade adhesives
• Universal remedies

What should be a quality tool

In order for the glued paper product to retain its original appearance for a long time, and the connection point should not be damaged, you need to use only high-quality, reliable means. A good paper glue should meet the following requirements:

1. Optimal consistency. Compositions that are too thick are poorly applied; liquid formulations are able to impregnate and deform paper.
2. Sufficient shelf life. If the glue is spoiled, it will begin to delaminate, lay down in lumps, and lose its adhesion to the surface.
3. Lack of chemical smell. Most paper work is carried out indoors, many of them are carried out by children, so the glue should be safe.
4. Convenience of application. The product in an aerosol, with a convenient spout, is easier to apply faster, moreover, the accuracy will seriously increase. For adhesives in large jars, you will have to additionally purchase brushes.
5. Colorlessness after drying. If the adhesive becomes yellowish or white as it dries, it will be visible on the surface of paper products and may spoil them.

Types of glue for gluing paper and cardboard

Depending on the composition, there are several types of adhesives that are well suited for working with paper.

Glue stick

Such glue is the most popular in children's creativity, is widely used in schools, kindergartens due to ease of use, lack of stains on the hands. The bottle of glue is compact, it is easy to hold in your hand, at an affordable price, it is sold everywhere. Glue stick is quite dense in consistency, economically consumed, successfully glues paper, cardboard, textiles. Other advantages are the absence of paper deformation from glue, the possibility of applying it with an even thin layer. Such a tool leaves no traces at all.

The disadvantage of the glue stick is significant - the place of gluing will not last long and after a few days may begin to lose strength. It is recommended to use sticky pencils for temporary fastening of paper, joining small parts, for example, when gluing applications on a sheet. It is better for them not to fix bulky products, as well as complex seams, joints - they will separate from each other almost immediately.

PVA

Glue based on polyvinyl acetate (PVA) is well suited even for thick paper, cardboard, because it has excellent adhesion. In addition, using PVA, applications are created from natural material, fabric, feathers, threads. High-quality glue is thick, white, but after drying it becomes almost transparent, does not turn yellow. It has a mild odor, completely harmless to humans.

PVA is easy to distribute along the base, does not deform the paper, although it should be applied on the thinnest sheets with a minimal layer. Usually it is available in small soft bottles with a brush or a thin nozzle.You can not leave the package without a cap for a long time: the product dries quickly, and a dense “jam” may form in the dispenser, which will have to be removed. The glue sets in 3-5 minutes, but dries completely in a day.

Super glue

Such products are made on the basis of cyanoacrylate and have the highest adhesion force, which reaches a maximum on thin and porous materials. Superglue includes the familiar “Moment”, “Second” and many other brands. By means of means it is possible to glue paper, cardboard designs of any hardness and complexity. The adhesive composition is equally well suited for non-deformable substrates made of such materials:

• tree;
• metal;
• plastic;
• rubber;
• the cloth.

A distinctive feature of superglues is their instant setting, so when working, accuracy of application and speed of pressing parts are important. Such funds should not be given to children - they can firmly glue fingers, emit a pungent odor and require careful ventilation of the room during work. Nevertheless, for the most reliable gluing of paper, they are better than others.

https://youtu.be/epXcVih1Pn0

What other glue is suitable for paper and cardboard

To work with durable paper, acrylic adhesives are used. Often they are made in the form of sprays, so they are very easy to apply and do not get your hands dirty. Acrylic adhesives are water-based and should not be applied to materials that are too thin due to the risk of deformation. Over time, such tools can turn yellow, as a result of which it is better to use them on the back of structures or on dark material.

Another adhesive suitable for paper is clerical or silicate. There are also adhesives based on silicate compositions with enhanced setting, referred to as "liquid glass". They are widely used for gluing paper, cardboard, papier-mache crafts. Over time, the place of gluing can acquire a yellowish tint, and gluing along the seam can crumble. “Liquid glass” glue is deprived of this drawback, but conventional clerical glue has a long service life. Both tools are not suitable for attaching photos to an album: the pictures in the places of their application fade, the image is blurred.

To connect paper products, gum arabic glue, which is arabian gum dissolved in water, can be used. Such a composition is harmless to humans, reliable, has a high degree of adhesion. Unfortunately, ready-made adhesives are not often found on sale, but some masters prepare them with their own hands (mix 20 ml of water and 10 g of gum).

To work with paper, you can also apply carpentry glue - reinforced PVA with the addition of hardening additives. There are other types of wood glue: they are made on the basis of bone, fish meal, mezdra, casein. The gelatinous mass, which is such an adhesive, quickly connects paper, cardboard, boxes and crafts, suitable for fabric. The product does not turn yellow, does not crumble over time, however, it may have an unpleasant smell.

The best adhesives for decor

The stores offer a wide range of adhesives that are well suited for creativity. In working with paper, you can use the following brands:

1. Glossy Accent by Ranger. Transparent adhesive varnish giving a glossy finish. Non-toxic, easy to use, allows you to connect bulk products, suitable for paper, cardboard, and for acrylic, plastic, metal, bulk materials.
2. Universal adhesive based on polymers. Thick, but distributed by a layer of any thickness. Ideal for scrapbooking, other areas of creativity, can glue paper, cardboard, natural and artificial leather, fabric, wood, cork. Curing takes place in 20 minutes, and complete drying - in a day.
3. "Professional binding" from the "Decor Factory". It is used for bookbinding with paper, cardboard, fabric and leather. Helps to form an elastic layer on products, which protects them from damage.
4. Typographic. Binding glue used for gluing bookends, fastening individual blocks, gluing roots, as well as for any other work with paper, cardboard. It is used in scrapbooking, the manufacture of boxes, notebooks.
5. Tacky Glue Original. High-quality glue from the USA, exists in the market more than 50 years. Reliable, durable, quickly grabs surfaces thanks to a thick and sticky texture. Great for creativity, domestic needs. It works best with paper, cardboard, wood, felt, and other types of fabric. Non-toxic, does not turn yellow even after a few years.

Glue for photos

In stores there are glue sticks marked "for photo". They have a higher adhesion force than conventional products in such packages. Glue is applied to the photos with a thin layer, after which they immediately lean against the photo album page. Good brands are:

• Ranger;
• Aleene’s;
• Erich Krause.

From liquid means for gluing photos, you can apply Acid-free Tacky Glue. It does not turn yellow, does not lead to the appearance of spots, and in consistency is similar to ordinary PVA. The tool is equipped with a convenient thin nozzle nozzle, economical in consumption.

Another high-quality adhesive for photos is UHU Creativ. In structure, it resembles The Moment, but is non-toxic, does not emit an unpleasant odor. The tool easily connects glossy paper, durable cardboard, can attach photos not only to paper, but also to the skin. Glue does not deform even thin paper. This company produces another tool - UHU Twist & Glue. Despite the rather liquid texture, it does not spoil paper and photographs, although it dries somewhat longer than its analogues.

Often, “Crystal Crystal” glue is used to attach photos. This tool is great for paper, plastic, leather, rubber. It is toxic because it contains acetone, but after drying it becomes harmless to humans. It is necessary to work with glue with good ventilation, and for allergy sufferers - only with the use of personal protective equipment.

Homemade adhesives

To stick paper, make an applique or other objects of creativity, crafts, it is not necessary to go to the store. Durable glue can be prepared with your own hands. For this purpose, you need to take water and potato starch, and then act in this way:

• pour a little starch into the container;
• dilute with a small amount of cold water until a viscous mass is obtained;
• put the product on fire, add boiling water, mix well;
• After boiling, immediately remove the composition from the stove, cool, stirring regularly, so that there are no lumps.

To give the gelatinous mass even more traction, you can introduce a little bit of borax into it - about 25 g per liter of finished paste.

Another recipe for homemade paper glue is this:

• soak gelatin in a container (1 pack), adding a little water to it, leave for 5-6 hours;
• pour a glass of water into a saucepan, put it in a water bath, introduce dissolved gelatin and a spoonful of flour into the water;
• warm until the mass begins to resemble thick sour cream;
• remove the product from the fire;
• pour in a tablespoon of glycerin and alcohol.

Also at home, you can dilute hard wood glue, which is sold in bars or in the form of a powder. The glue is diluted with cold water, boiled in a water bath, stirring vigorously until it begins to bubble. After they remove it from the fire, let it cool and use it to make crafts.

Universal remedies

One of the most famous universal adhesives, which is perfect for paper, cardboard, is the "Titanium Universal". This is an inexpensive composition with a transparent structure, implemented in plastic bottles of 250-1000 mg."Titan" has a rather unpleasant odor, and when working with it you need to ventilate the room. The glue dries quickly, and the layer applied by it after polymerization becomes like glass.

For paper use the following adhesives:

• "Factory Decor Universal" - a popular tool on a polymer basis, is widely used in creativity, transparent, with a convenient dispenser, non-toxic, removed by rolling;
• Magic - great for paper, fabric, ribbons, cork, wood, white in color, but after drying it becomes completely transparent.

When using paper adhesives, you do not need special skills - even a child will cope with most of them. Choosing a reliable tool, you can achieve high quality gluing, get original crafts, toys, embodying all your imagination in them!