In my quest to find products that are more “green”- that is, Earth and human friendly, I found a product by the makers of Amazing Goop, Eclectic Products. I love me some good glue, and if they had a “non-toxic” version of Goop, then I wanted to be the one to bring it to you. Meet EcoGlue Craft Adhesive!
I checked out the properties as listed on the package and website, and this is what I found:
Amazing EcoGlue® is a water-based adhesive.
• Less than 1% VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
• Virtually no hazardous air pollutants (less than 0.165 by weight)
• No animal derivatives
• Excellent water resistance
• 100% recyclable packaging!
Adheres to wood, metal, stone, tile, and glass. Wow- those are tough surfaces for solvent-based glues! I thought I’d test it out on some common craft materials.
When I opened the bottle, I took a good sniff. It has a very mild odor, kind of like what you get with a traditional “tacky” white glue. I dispensed some in a puddle on my worktable, and I found it to be very thick and viscous- again, much like a tacky-type glue.
I made a swatch-test of some common crafty items:
So as you can see above, the vellum curled up a bit when it was wet. But more importantly, here’s the swatch board, dry:
So the curling of the examples are from my tugging- not as a result of the glue curling. From the upper left:
- Origami paper (thin)- no wrinkling, holds tight.
- Textured cardstock (thick)- no wrinkling, holds tight.
- Vintage sheet music-(brittle)- no wrinkling, holds tight.
- Scrapbook paper-no wrinkling, holds tight.
- Craft aluminum, topped with a plastic rhinestone- Amazingly good hold. Tried to pry it off and could NOT!
- Metal jewelry component- Amazingly good hold. Tried to pry it off and could not.
- Foamies sheet- held well to the cardboard, but the foamie layer started to peel up.
- Glitter- good adhesion, just a bit of shrinking.
- Flocking- good adhesion, just a bit of shrinking.
- Vellum- great adhesion, and you cannot see the adhesive on it. No wrinkling when dry.
- Fabric to cardboard- great adhesion, did not bleed through.
- Ribbon to fabric- great adhesion, did not peel off or bleed through.
I was able to peel the craft foam layers apart without much effort- this is what I saw:
Now, this sample sat for 24 hours and it still didn’t dry inside.
And that pin back? Well, the glue dried clear and held pretty well. I was able to pull the back off with a twisting motion. And when I looked at it closer, I saw that it, too, hadn’t cured all the way between 2 non-porous surfaces. (But for some reason, the rhinestone adhered to the craft foil really well. Maybe because it was a thinner coat?)
So I took a look on the website for more info about curing times & durability:
Water resistant 100%, after completely cured
Abrasion resistant Great for bonding object subject to wear
Paintable Paint to match surrounding area or make UV resistant
Sandable Once cured
Washer/Dryer safe Safe for use on clothing and shoes. Do not dry clean.
Tack time 20 – 30 minutes
Dry time Thin film: 30 minutes / clamp wood / thicker film 24 hours
Cure time 3 – 5 days for full water / heat resistance
Well, this was 24 hours, but it’s still pretty cold here…so maybe it’s slowed down. I’m going to try re-gluing and letting it sit for 3 days to see if it fully cures.
To summarize, this glue performed very well for a number of craft uses- I can see myself using this on wood, mixed media, attaching charms and embellies! And I love that it’s non-toxic and has no animal derivatives!
As for price, it retails for between $3.00- $3.50 USD, and is available online and at True Value Hardware stores. (Who-da thunk it? The hardware store!) I feel that it’s well worth it for the price and versatility- let alone it’s “green” properties.
Good stuff. I’ll be using it. How about you?
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Christina says
Thank you for this review!
Lee says
Hi, Jenny
I’m using some Amazing Ecoglue that I bought several years ago but never opened before. I’m finding it VERY thick — so thick it is hard to squeeze out of the bottle. How thick was it when you used it?
Jenny says
I checked on mine a week ago and it was dried solid. 🙁
Lee says
What was it like when you used it in a project?