Best Cyanoacrylate Adhesive For Wood, Leather, Cork Or Paper

Cyanoacrylate adhesives (CAs) contain an acidic inhibitor which prevents them from curing in the bottle, instead allowing the adhesive to cure upon exposure to low-level surface moisture or alkalinity (see our Adhesive Problem? What’s the Cure? download for more information). With acidic substrates, this cure mechanism can be compromised. If you are working with a substrate that is acidic, such as wood, leather, cork or paper, you could apply an accelerator to help the CA cure quickly and completely. This adds an extra step, however, and many assembly operations will want to avoid spraying materials.

We would instead recommend seeking out a “surface insensitive” CA, such as adhere ADH 9416, ADH 9485, or ADH 9454. These cyanoacrylate adhesives contain a substance that neutralises surface acidity, making them suitable for substrates that are acidic. They do have a slightly slower cure speed but offer better bond performance, with high shear and tensile strengths. Alternatively, you can evaluate one of our Born2Bond Ultra range, which have excellent performance against a wide range of substrates.

Cyanoacrylate adhesives (CAs), or “super glues”, have a broad range of applications beyond household repair and basic industrial bonding. This post is part of a blog series in which we highlight our go-to cyanoacrylate adhesives for various jobs. We’d be pleased to offer you advice specific to your application if you get in touch.