If you are at home and working on a variety of projects, such as if you are repairing things, or even if you are doing artistic projects, then something that you are going to need is a good type of adhesive. Now, in terms of adhesives that are convenient for use at home, two of the best ones are super glue and hot glue.
Now, with that being said, although both super glue and hot glue are very useful and have many different advantages, they are not at all the same things, and they function very differently.
What we are here to do today is to perform a side by side comparison of super glue and hot glue to see exactly what they both are, what they can do and what they are ideal for. Let’s get right to it and figure out whether you need super glue or hot glue for your next project.
| Gorilla Super Glue Gel | Surebonder Hot Glue |
|---|---|
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Main Component: Cyanoacrylate Application Scale: Small scale – Repairs Materials: Everything but smooth plastic Curing Time: 5 minutes or less Toxicity: Minimal |
Main Component: Plastic Application Scale: Large scale – Arts & Crafts Materials: Everything but smooth plastic, metals, silicone, and wax Curing Time: Up to 24 hours Toxicity: Minimal (less than super glue) |
Super Glue Review
The first type of glue that we want to look at is super glue. Super Glue is an extremely versatile and widely used type of adhesive, especially for home use. When it comes to performing small repairs, super glue is often the adhesive of choice. Let’s figure out exactly what super Glue is, how it works, what it’s made out of, how long it takes to dry, if there are any different types, and more. By the end of this Super Glue review section, you should know absolutely everything that there is to know about this awesome type of adhesive.
What is Super Glue?
OK, so super glue is a very special type of glue that is often used for home repairs and small projects. For those of you who don’t know, Krazy glue is a specific type of super glue. Super glue often comes in very small tubes because you really don’t need much of it. A little bit goes a long way. Super Glue is very well known for its great strength and very fast bonding time, as well as the ability to bond with virtually any and every material out there. Super Glue is therefore one of the most versatile types of adhesives that you could possibly use at home.
What is Super Glue Made of?
Alright, So what you need to know here is that super glue is technically known as cyanoacrylate glue. Cyanoacrylates are a family of extremely fast bonding adhesives that are derived from ethyl cyanoacrylate and methyl cyanoacrylate. Once any sign acrylate adhesive dries and cures, it takes the form of a polymer. In simplest terms, this more or less means that it hurts into plastic once it cures, and of course plastic is extremely strong. The tensile strength of super glue is therefore very high.
What is Super Glue Used for?
The cool thing about Super Glue is that it can be used for an extremely wide variety of tasks. The benefit of super glue is that it has the ability to bond with very many different materials such as ceramics, leather, rubber, vinyl, wood and much more, even metals too. Cyanoacrylate glue also has the ability to bond to rough plastics, but with that being said, this type of glue does not bond well to smooth plastics, so it does not serve well for plastic repairs. With that being said, when it comes to commonly used that he sieves at home super glue, it’s most likely the number one most common adhesive as it can serve so many different purposes.
Different Types of Super Glue
In terms of the types of super glue out there, there are three main kinds. These include ethyl, alkoxy, and methyl superglue. Now the reality here is that the most common type out there is Ethyl Ester cyanoacrylate super glue. However, the other reality here is that the distinction between these three is negligible, to say the least, and moreover, when you buy them. It’s not like this is going to be labeled anyway. In terms of use at home, it really doesn’t matter what type of super glue you get because they all function in more or less the same way.
How Super Glue Works
Super glue, or cyanoacrylate glue, is a very interesting type of gloom, because unlike other types of glue, that feature chemical reactions with themselves or simply have the moisture evaporate out of them, super glue is very different because it contains as special Formulation which, when it comes into contact with moisture, causes a chemical reaction that then causes it to cure. Even the minimal amount of moisture contained in the air around you is enough to activate super glue, and once it activates it dries very quickly.
How to Make Super Glue Stronger
Many people wonder if you can make super glue stronger, but the reality here is that you cannot. There are some myths that mixing baking soda with super glue makes it stronger, but this is just that, a myth.
Drying Time
The really cool thing about Super Glue is of course that it does not take very long to dry and to cure. Depending on the moisture conditions in the air it may take as little as 30 seconds or up to five minutes for it to dry and cure.
Is Super Glue Toxic?
Super Glue is technically slightly toxic when in liquid form, but the good thing is that it cures and bonds so quickly that it is more or less impossible to ingest liquid super glue.
What Brand of Super Glue is Strongest?
Most people would say that either Loctite super glue or Gorilla super glue are the best kinds.
✅Purchase link: Buy Gorilla Super Glue at Amazon
Hot Glue Review
Now that we have learned everything there is to know about super glue, let’s do the same for hot glue.
What is Hot Glue?
Hot glue is also known as hot melt adhesive or HMA for short. Hot Glue is a special type of glue that you first need to melt using a hot glue gun. Once the glue melts inside of the hot glue gun, you have to use a trigger in order to disperse it from the front of the gun. Once the glue is dispersed, it will cool down and rapidly start to harden as it cools. All you have to do is insert a cylindrical stick into the gun, and you are good to go.
What is Hot Glue Made of?
OK, so hot glue is of course a hot melt adhesive and this technically speaking is a form of thermal plastic adhesive that is usually sold in the form of a cylindrical stick that comes in various diameters. The sticks are then inserted into the hot glue gun, melted and then dispersed. To be clear, hot glue is made out of three different thermoplastic elastomers. Which one is used depends on the specific type. As we will discuss below, there are three main types of hot glue.
What is Hot Glue Used for?
Although hot glue does have many different applications, you do need to be aware that it’s definitely not the strongest of glues, and it’s not very heat resistant either. Hot glue is generally used for arts and crafts for binding books, for constructing boxes, and for other such lightweight tasks that do not require much shear strength or integrity.
Different Types of Hot Glue
He did say that there are three main types of hot glue out there, which is true as far as you are concerned for home use, but with that being said, technically speaking there are actually five different kinds of hot glue. We aren’t going to take the time to describe them all, especially what the differences between them are, because the differences are quite negligible and for your purposes it really doesn’t matter. That said, the five types are EVA, polyethylene, metallocene, APAO, and polyamide hot glue.
How Hot Glue Works
Hot glue is one of the simplest types of glue out there because it works by cooling. Hot glue is really nothing more than melted plastic, and once it cools down, it hardens back into its original form.
How to Make Hot Glue Stronger
You can’t actually make hot glue any stronger than it already is, but you can make it bond to surface is much better by first sanding them.
Drying Time
It usually takes only 10 or 20 minutes for hot glue to dry, but for it to fully cure, it will take around 24 hours.
Is Hot Glue Toxic?
Hot glue is toxic when it is in its melted form, but when it is solid, it really poses no risk.
What Brand of Hot Glue is Strongest?
Most people would agree that Surebonder makes the strongest hot glue around.
✅Purchase link: Buy Surebonder Hot Glue at Amazon
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Comparing Super Glue vs Hot Glue
Now that we know everything there is to know about these two types of adhesives, let’s do a quick side by side comparison in terms of the most important factors that you need to be aware of.
Applications
In terms of the applications, super glue can be used to bond a very wide variety of materials and is often used for basic home repairs and small projects. Super Glue does have good weight bearing capabilities, so it can be used for some structural integrity related tasks. Hot glue, on the other hand, is not very strong in really any way at all, and is therefore really only good for bonding cardboard boxes and for arts and crafts.
Materials
Super Glue can bond virtually any material, all but the smoothest of plastics, whereas hot glue can also bond most materials all but the smoothest of plastics, metals and vinyl.
Strength
There is simply no denying the fact that super glue is much stronger than hog Luan. This is true in virtually every single way. When it comes to structural integrity and overall strength, hot glue just does not stack up to super glue.
Cleanup
You can more or less scrape hot glue off of any surface, and if that doesn’t work then you can also melt it off. On the other hand, super Glue is a bit harder to deal with, but with that being said, some simple nail Polish remover will do the trick.
Health Warnings
Both hot glue and super glue don’t come with any huge health warnings, especially when it comes to ingestion, because ingesting both of them in their liquid form is nearly impossible. With that being said, Super glue the fumes that come off of it are very irritating to the eyes, nose and throat, so you do want to be careful that.
Differences Between
The main differences between these two types of glue is that hot glue is susceptible to being melted, and it is also extremely susceptible to chemical solvents. On the other hand, while Super Glue doesn’t do great with chemical solvents, it handles heat just fine. Moreover, super glue just bonds a lot better with more materials than hot glue does, and the bond is also much stronger.
