by Professor Gene Wengert
Q.
What is the difference between wood glue and regular white glue?
A.
Regular white glue is probably a PVA adhesive (polyvinyl acetate), and as such is an acceptable glue for wood that will be stronger than the wood itself. (But if you are an old guy like me, you remember the white glues that were really paste and that we could eat?) The PVA adhesive was invented in the early 1950s (Elmer's glue). Since then it has been improved and now we have the yellow glues (Carpenter's Glue, Titebond, etc.) and even now the cross-linking PVAs (Titebond II).
Professor Gene Wengert is Extension Specialist in Wood Processing at the Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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