I often shy away from sticky subjects, but today I’m diving in. So today’s topic is … glue!
When tackling crafts and projects I first try to create with what I have on hand, before buying materials. I always have basics such as fabric (you know I know those upcycle clothing DIYs), paper and cardboard, wood scraps, rope and glue on hand.
Thinking through some projects recently I got stuck on that last one — glue. As any crafter would, I have hot glue, Elmer’s glue, Mod Podge, glue sticks and more — none of it remotely “natural” or very environmentally friendly (things I value).
Using extra time the pandemic provided I’ve put extra effort keeping things natural at home.
Sometimes this takes the form of constructing materials for projects myself, as I love to do. But after foraging for natural materials it feels weird to then hold projects together with plastic in the form of hot glue. So many crafts for myself or my kiddo involve glue sticks or trusty Elmer’s glue.
Assuming that most glues are currently made from chemicals (and probably fossil fuels), my moderate use of household adhesives is making me slightly uncomfortable.
Some online searching informed me glue has a lengthy history. The earliest glues consisted mostly of tree tar. I read about birch bark tar in particular.
We also bring to mind the phrase of sending an old animal “to the glue factory,” because for centuries glue was made from animals. Large animals such as horses have high amounts of collagen — protein in skin, bone and muscles.
To make glue, animal parts were boiled, and the liquid reduced to a gel substance — like gelatin. I found some references to animal glue still being used in corrugated cardboard manufacture, but did not suss out whether this is universal, or just the practice of some companies.
Other glues were made from another animal product — milk. In fact, a dairy spun off Elmer’s glue company, hence the cow logo.
I found homemade glue recipes that included milk. From my understanding, basically one separates the curds from the whey with vinegar and uses the solid whey as glue. Some recipes called for the addition of baking soda to the curds.
Although this sounds like a relatively simple recipe, I’m sure commercial glues made from milk included stabilizers and preservatives.
The information about ingredients in the current formula of washable and non-toxic Elmer’s glue is limited, as it is considered proprietary. But I found speculation that it is a combination of synthesized chemicals.
These days glues advertised as natural may be made from animal parts, milk or plant materials — particularly corn starches and syrups.
Many glues are synthetic. On treehugger.com I found most common glues “belong to two categories: thermoplastics and thermosets. The resins used in thermoplastic adhesives include nitrocellulose, polyvinyl acetate, vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamides, polyesters, acrylics, and cyanoacrylics. Resins used in thermosets include phenol formaldehyde, urea formaldehyde, unsaturated polyesters, epoxies, and polyurethanes.”
I don’t know what all those are, but many I recognize are petroleum based.
The homemade glue recipes I found included classic flour and water paste, the aforementioned milk recipes, syrup and starch mixes and gelatin based adhesives.
Glue seems inescapable.
I don’t have hopes of replacing all my sticking and securing needs with homemade glues, but I am definitely going to pause when crafting and consider if a paste or syrup and starch recipe could replace conventional glue.
