10 Best Wood Glues 2024 in the United States

Whether you are trying to repair furniture yourself, or doing a woodworking project at home, you'll find yourself in need of a wood glue. But there is a wide range of wood glues. Some glues depend on the type of wood you are interested in gluing—hard or soft, oily or dry. Others require that you clamp the pieces together, whereas some dry instantly. (The drying time is also called “curing time”.) If it dries fast, it won't give you a lot of time to realign the pieces. And you also have to know if the glue fills gaps between the pieces, in the event that the parts don't fit together anymore. Here is a guide to some of the best wood glues on the market.  

• PVA glue: This is the most common type of wood glue. It employs polyvinyl acetate (=PVA). This is a water-based adhesive. Once it dries, it is water-resistant and bonds in a natural wood color. The only warning with using it is that it is difficult to remove when it dries, and it might ruin your wood's finish. If something went wrong and you have to glue the parts together again, you must clean the wood surfaces from the dried PVA glue. “Elmer's Glue-All” is the most famous example.

• Hide glue—this is glue made from animal hides. There are two varieties:

• Hot hide glue, which requires you to heat the glue granules in water heated to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The glue granules melt in hot water. You then brush the solution onto the wood pieces that you want to glue with a brush or spatula, press the pieces together, and wait for it to dry and cool. Usually the cooling time is a minute or less.

• Liquid hide glue: This is hide glue that can be applied at room temperature. It doesn't require hot water to use. It has an advantage over PVA glue, in that you can reapply more hide glue if the previous bond breaks. (PVA glue will require you to clean off the surfaces before applying glue again.)

• Epoxy—these are glues that are two parts that you mix. Epoxy consists of a resin and a hardener. It is waterproof and fills gaps between the pieces being glued.

• Cyanoacrylate (“CA” or “Super glue”)--This adhesive is good for many surfaces, including wood. You might need more super glue when gluing a porous surface like wood, though. If you are gluing very absorbent wood, you might need super glue that comes in a gel form. If you want to glue wood that is oily or acidic, super glue might require an accelerator to help the pieces of wood bond.

• Liquid plastic—These are glues that are activated by ultraviolet light. (Maybe you've seen your dentist use a glue like this when s/he fills a cavity.) They come with a UV flashlight. You apply the glue, and then shine the UV flashlight on it. As long as you don't expose the glue to UV light, you can still adjust the parts.

• Polyurethane glue—This type of glue is activated by moisture, dries quickly and is very strong. It foams up and expands when it comes in contact with moisture. “Gorilla Glue” is an example.

• Warnings with polyurethane glue: Since this glue expands up to 4 times its volume when it touches moisture, you don't need very much when gluing wood. It also has a limited shelf life, and will come to dry out after opening. So you shouldn't buy a very big bottle, unless you need a lot of glue.

• Drying Time: Super glue dries the most quickly, so it doesn't allow much time to fit the parts together. But you won't have to wait very long for results. Polyurethane glue, PVA glue, and hide glue may require clamping. Clamping is very important with polyurethane glue because of its tendency to expand. Clamping it will push out the excess glue.

• Glue color: Super Glue is colorless—so it works well in cases where you don't want it to be obvious that you glued the parts together. PVA and hide glue can be in different colors, which might not match the color of the wood you want to glue. That might be important if you don't want the glue to be noticeable.

• Cleanup after gluing: Polyurethane glue expands, so it might seep out from where you apply it. It tends to be messy. Super glue is the cleanest, in that it doesn't ooze out from between the surfaces where you applied it. It also is perfectly clear, so it is almost invisible. Hide glue and PVA glue will require sanding to remove the excess that might ooze out.

• Filling gaps: Epoxies are best when the parts don't mate perfectly. Hide glue is also suitable in such cases. Some Super Glue gels can fill small gaps (no more than 0.25 mm).  

Bondic-- is a construction supplies company located in Niagara Falls, New York. They specialize in UV-activated glues.

Gorilla Glue—is a glue company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were started in 2006, based on a glue formula that was used on furniture in Indonesia. They now make adhesives that are sold as super glues, wood glues, epoxies, and adhesive tapes.

System Three-- have been manufacturing specialty adhesives, coatings, and composite resin systems since 1979. They are located in Auburn, Washington. They originally made adhesives for boat building, but later expanded to making coatings for plastic materials that were not previously bondable.

Franklin International—is a manufacturer of adhesives and sealants, which started in 1935 under the name Franklin Glue Company, with their headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. They have a wide range of glues, for many types of materials. Their company has a division for adhesives and polymers, as well as construction building products.