Which glue works on paper?
Which glue works on paper?
A glue stick or PVA for everyday work; wheat starch paste or methylcellulose for anything you want to survive — and never tape.
Paper cockles because cellulose fibres swell when they take up water and shrink again as they dry, and they do not return to quite the same place — so the wetter the adhesive, the more the sheet ripples. That is the whole reason glue sticks and dry adhesives exist. The other consideration is time. Pressure-sensitive tape is the single most damaging thing applied to documents: the adhesive oxidises, the carrier falls off and a brown stain migrates through the paper, and by the time it is noticed the damage is permanent and expensive to reverse. Conservation practice is entirely built on reversibility — starch paste and methylcellulose can be released with water, so a repair never forecloses a better one later.
The options, ranked
| Option | Good at | Bad at |
|---|---|---|
| Glue stick | Almost no water, so thin paper does not cockle, and it repositions for a few seconds. | Weak, and the bond lets go within a few years as the adhesive dries out. |
| PVA | Strong, flexible when dry, and the standard adhesive for bookbinding spines. | Carries a lot of water, so it wrinkles light paper; ordinary PVA is not archival. |
| Wheat starch paste | Reversible with water, pH neutral, and the conservation standard for repairing documents with Japanese tissue. | Has to be cooked, keeps only a few days, and is slow to dry. |
| Double-sided tape or dry mount film | No moisture at all, instant, and clean for mounting photographs and card. | Permanent and, in ordinary grades, acidic — it yellows and stains what it touches. |
Technique that changes the outcome
- Use the least water the job allows, and weight the sheet under a board while it dries
- Apply adhesive to the smaller piece, working outwards from the centre onto scrap paper
- For a tear in a document, use Japanese tissue and starch paste on the reverse rather than anything from a stationery shop
- Let PVA go slightly tacky before joining, so less water enters the paper
What goes wrong
- Any pressure-sensitive tape on a photograph, certificate or letter you want to keep
- Rubber cement, which stains and fails within a few years
- Soaking a print to remove old adhesive without knowing whether the inks are water-soluble
Compiled practical guidance rather than a published standard. Product formulations vary by brand and market, so read the label — and where the work is structural, electrical or gas, the regulations that apply where you are govern rather than anything here.
Other glue and adhesive questions
| For | Use |
|---|---|
| Plastic | It depends entirely on which plastic — identify it first, because solvent cement is unbeatable on some and useless on others. |
| Polypropylene and polyethylene | Ordinary adhesives cannot wet these plastics at all. Use a polyolefin primer with cyanoacrylate, an MMA structural adhesive, or weld the plastic. |
| Wood | PVA wood glue for anything indoors; a water-resistant grade (Type I / D4) or polyurethane for anything that gets wet. |
| Metal | Two-part epoxy for anything structural, cyanoacrylate for small dry parts, and MMA where the surface cannot be properly prepared. |
| Ceramic and pottery | Two-part epoxy for anything that will be handled or loaded, cyanoacrylate for a clean break on a display piece — and neither is dishwasher-proof. |
| Shoes | A flexible shoe repair adhesive — polyurethane or a neoprene contact cement — never superglue, which cracks within a day of walking. |
| Fabric | A washable fabric adhesive or a fusible bonding web — and never superglue, which reacts with cotton violently enough to burn. |
| Glass | UV-cure glass adhesive for an invisible joint, clear epoxy where it must hold load, and neutral-cure silicone where it must stay flexible or wet. |
| PVC pipe | PVC solvent cement with its matching primer — and PVC, CPVC and ABS cements are not interchangeable. |
| Tiles | A cement-based thin-set in almost every case; ready-mixed tub adhesive only on small dry walls, never on floors or in showers. |
| Phone screens | A pre-cut adhesive gasket, or a flexible B-7000-type adhesive around the frame — superglue destroys screens and is the classic mistake. |
| Rubber | Contact cement for large flexible areas and rubber-toughened cyanoacrylate for small ones — but silicone and EPDM need a primer or they will not bond at all. |
| Outdoor and waterproof joints | Polyurethane or epoxy for rigid joints, MS polymer where the joint has to move — and check the water-resistance class rather than the word "waterproof". |
| Acrylic (Perspex, Plexiglas) | A solvent cement run into the joint by capillary action — not a tube adhesive, which will always look like a repair. |
| Concrete | Epoxy or a construction adhesive for bonding to it, and a chemical anchor resin — not glue — for anything that carries load. |
| Leather | Contact cement for a permanent flexible bond, or a leather-craft PVA to hold pieces while you stitch them. |
| Silicone | Effectively only more silicone, and even that needs a primer — and any silicone residue left on a surface stops everything else sticking too. |
| Foam | A foam-safe water-based adhesive or low-temperature hot melt — solvent adhesives dissolve polystyrene on contact. |
| Polycarbonate | A urethane or silicone adhesive is safest; solvent cements work but polycarbonate is unusually prone to stress cracking days later. |
Common questions
- Which glue works on paper?
- A glue stick or PVA for everyday work; wheat starch paste or methylcellulose for anything you want to survive — and never tape.
- What should I avoid?
- Any pressure-sensitive tape on a photograph, certificate or letter you want to keep Rubber cement, which stains and fails within a few years Soaking a print to remove old adhesive without knowing whether the inks are water-soluble
Related pages
- Which glue works on plastic? It depends entirely on which plastic — identify it first, because solvent cement is unbeatable on some and useless on others.
- Which glue works on polypropylene and polyethylene? Ordinary adhesives cannot wet these plastics at all. Use a polyolefin primer with cyanoacrylate, an MMA structural adhesive, or weld the plastic.
- Which glue works on wood? PVA wood glue for anything indoors; a water-resistant grade (Type I / D4) or polyurethane for anything that gets wet.
- Which glue works on metal? Two-part epoxy for anything structural, cyanoacrylate for small dry parts, and MMA where the surface cannot be properly prepared.
- Which glue works on ceramic? Two-part epoxy for anything that will be handled or loaded, cyanoacrylate for a clean break on a display piece — and neither is dishwasher-proof.
- Which glue works on shoes? A flexible shoe repair adhesive — polyurethane or a neoprene contact cement — never superglue, which cracks within a day of walking.
- Which glue works on fabric? A washable fabric adhesive or a fusible bonding web — and never superglue, which reacts with cotton violently enough to burn.
- Which glue works on glass? UV-cure glass adhesive for an invisible joint, clear epoxy where it must hold load, and neutral-cure silicone where it must stay flexible or wet.
- Which glue works on PVC pipe? PVC solvent cement with its matching primer — and PVC, CPVC and ABS cements are not interchangeable.
- Which adhesive should I use for tiles? A cement-based thin-set in almost every case; ready-mixed tub adhesive only on small dry walls, never on floors or in showers.
Sources
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place