Make your own PVA glue at home: it doesn't take much to make a batch
PVA glue (aka wood glue, white glue, carpenter's glue, school glue or Elmer's glue) is one of the most essential materials needed for a myriad of jobs, decorations, crafts and even some DIY repairs. As a result, most DIYers have a supply of PVA glue at home. Whilst not very expensive, there may be times when we run out of this useful glue and need a quick alternative.
Fortunately, it is possible to prepare a large quantity of this type of glue using some ingredients that we probably have at home. So, just from a couple of spoonful's of "real" PVA glue, we can make jars of it for (almost) free. And depending on how you prepare it, you can also decide to make it more or less viscous!
Video Tutorial via Graciela Herman/YouTube
The ingredients:
- 100 grams of corn starch;
- 1 heaped tablespoon of baking soda;
- 500 ml water (best if warmed up);
- 3 tablespoons of PVA glue (4 if it is the liquid glue that children use at school).
Preparation:
- Pour the starch into a bowl;
- Start by adding about 200 ml of water and mix with a spoon until the lumps of starch are dissolved as much as possible;
- Meanwhile, heat another 200 ml of water in a saucepan;
- When the water is hot, pour the dissolved starch into the saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon. Keep on low heat and keep stirring;
- When it thickens, and without stopping stirring, add the baking soda;
- Keep stirring until you see all the lumps have dissolved;
- As soon as the mix becomes thick and creamy - but before it starts to burn - remove from the heat;
- Add the rest of the water (or more, if you prefer a more liquid glue);
- Add the glue, and keep stirring.
At this point, you will have a creamy glue, which can be very useful for your DIY projects. And by heating more water, and adding it slowly, you can get a more liquid glue.
You can see all the steps on how to make this home-made glue in the video tutorial below:
