No More Dry outs

Wood glue or white glue, what's the difference?

by christina mcmahon September 04, 2015

Apart from the color of the glue, have you ever really wondered about the difference between something like wood glue and a plain old white glue? Or how about when you get into things like specialty leather glue or PVC glue? Unlike other products, glue companies aren’t trying to rip you off by offering the same ingredients in different packaging just to mark up the price. Every type of glue that you see on the store shelf is manufactured using various chemical makeups that, allowing them work on particular surfaces.

The 3-Types of Wood Glue

Wood glue is just a classification of glue rather than the actual glue itself. There are actually three primary types of wood glue that you may be able to find at your local craft or construction store.

One is made from a chemical known as aliphatic resin. This is the traditional yellow glue that may come to mind when you think of wood glue or carpenter’s glue. Yellow glue is a little bit stronger than traditional white glue, but it dries quicker and holders stronger. You can also sand over most yellow glues without having any real problems if you plan on repainting the area, but it is resistant to wood stains.

Urea formaldehyde is a plastic resin glue that offers water resistant properties. It is best used on indoor furniture, but is highly resistant to any type of paint or paint thinners. This type of wood glue also takes around 30 minutes to obtain a good hold on the two surfaces, but once it does obtain a bond it holds very tight.

Resorcinol glue is one of the most durable types of wood glue. It is 100% waterproof so it makes a great option if you need to seal up or fix any outdoor furniture, concrete, or heavy duty repairs like boats, ATVs, etc. When applying resorcinol glue, make sure that you are keeping it away from moisture until it dries

White Glue

White glue is a relatively basic adhesive that holds small things like paper to surfaces. It is developed using the waste byproducts of animals such as bones, ears, hooves, and tails. The byproducts are then boiled in a large container with zinc oxide until it begins to produce a glue-like substance. That substance is then bottled and sold commercially in the form of white glue.

The Similarities They Share

One thing that both wood glue and white glue share in common is that they are both derived from animal byproducts. The resins in wood glue and the products used to make white glue both come from animals just like they have from the beginning of time. The primary different is ultimately how they are processed and the type of chemical manipulations that are performed to achieve the end products adhesive strength.

Superglue like The Last Glue and other brands are made from chemical components instead of animal derivatives. They use an alpha-cyanoacrylate ester that was laboratory designed to provide the benefits of both wood glue and white glue to bond just about anything you can imagine with-out having to choose between the two.