What is Glue Made Out of?

If you’ve been through middle school, you’ve definitely gotten this answer when asking “what is glue made of?”: horses! A horrifying realization for many children worldwide.

But is this actually true? 

Well, not really. The ingredients in glue have changed over time. We’ve been sticking things together for a long time as humans, and we’ve come up with some pretty creative ways to do so.

If you want to learn about the ingredients of modern glue, keep reading. 

So Glue Isn’t Made From Animals?

Not so long ago, many types of glue were made out of collagen. Collagen comes from the skin, bone, and muscle of animals.

Large animals clearly have more collagen as they have more tissue to work with. As horses are large animals that we have easy access to, there was a time that a lot of glue was made out of horses. 

This is been happening for hundreds of years, so many older products that require an adhesive (such as old books, for example) may be made with an animal glue that’s sourced from horses or large livestock.

There are still natural glues on the market from both animal and plant-based sources and these have many functional uses. However, there are so many adhesive needs now that there needs to be a better and more reliable way to create glues.

Now, however, there are different options. Synthetic adhesives are the way of the future, and they’re what’s in the majority of the glue that you use today.

Okay, So What Is Glue Made of?

The ingredients in glue now are rarely sourced from the collagen in animals. Rather, they’re more versatile synthetic ingredients that can be made with more consistency and regularity. 

There are many different kinds of glue, and the type of glue that you’re looking at will determine the kind of adhesive that’s within it. Glue used by children in school is going to be different from the glue for eyelashes and that is going to be different from superglue, for example. 

Basically, glues require a mixture of a polymer into an emulsion so that there’s an adhesive property to the glue but it doesn’t immediately dry and stick to the vessel that it’s being held in. 

Many adhesives are made from polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, cyanoacrylate, and ethylene vinyl acetate, but there are plenty of other chemical polymers that can create these glues. 

It really depends on the strength that’s required for the purpose.

So when asking “what is glue made of?” the answer is “it depends”! There are so many different adhesives for all different purposes. Think of all of the things that you use adhesive for every day!

There’s a Lot of Science Involved in Glue Making

If you’re wondering “what is glue made of?”, it might be best to leave this question to the scientists. Making adhesives is all about chemicals! There are various polymers and emulsions that can make up glue and they all have different benefits and uses. 

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