Making homemade glue is easy. With just a few ingredients you can prepare a glue for crafts as effective as the one sold in shops, but with more advantages: it is non-toxic, costs less and yields more.
There are several methods of making pasta at home (with milk, corn syrup, and other products). We’ll show you 3 eco-friendly recipes that work by adhering to cardboard and paper. Also, since they contain no chemicals, they are safer to use children.
Option 1: Homemade glue with flour and water
It is known as dough. Its use is frequent in works with cardboard, in the elaboration of piñatas, in the fixing of wallpaper, in the creation of papier-mâché figures and even in the assembly of puppets.
As soon as it is ready you can apply it and, if it hardens over the course of hours, soften it with hot water.
Materials
- Waterfall.
- Wheat flour.
Step by step
- The precise portions depend on what you want to make. For example, for 1/2 cup of flour you need 3 cups of water.
- Empty the flour into a bowl and add the water little by little.
- Mix them together until you get a smooth, lump-free mixture. Do it with a fork.
- Bring to a boil and stir until boiling.
- Then turn off the flame and let it cool to room temperature.
- Ready! You can use pasta. Serves up to a week.

Option 2: Homemade rice glue
It is recommended for unique paper work. Its drying is hard and it has practically no color. With the following tools and the tutorial you prepare it at home.
Materials
- Water: 300 cubic centimeters.
- Rice: 200 grams.
Step by step
- For 20 or 30 minutes, until thick, simmer the rice. The mellowness means that it has released the starcha rather sticky compound.
- Remove from heat, let stand and filter.
- Again bring the rice to the heat for a few minutes. The end is that it acquires more thickness.
- Finally, wait for it to cool before using this type of homemade glue. Depending on the craft you do, you determine the texture and also whether you’ll be using a brush or palette knife to spread it out.
- Store this gum in a glass container and keep it in the fridge.
Option 3: Homemade flour and vinegar glue
It is just as effective as the previous ones. Requires more supplies, but they’re not hard to get. This glue keeps its properties for up to 2 weeks, provided you keep it in the refrigerator, preferably in a glass jar.
Materials
- Water: 1 litre.
- Soft wheat flour: 190 grams.
- Vinegar: 3 tbsp.
- Sugar: 300 grams.
- Sodium bicarbonate: 2 tsp.
Step by step
- Sift the flour, so that no lumps are formed and cooking will be faster.
- Combine sugar and flour in a pot with water.
- Cook until firm. Over medium heat, stir the mixture. Don’t boil it.
- Once you notice the change in consistency, add the tablespoons of vinegar and always move in the same direction for 5 minutes.
- Then complete with the baking soda without stopping mixing. You will see that foam appears and the preparation turns white, similar to a meringue.
- Turn off and leave to rest.
- once cold, beat again and keep it.
Recommendations for effective homemade glue
Please note that the shared recipes are for cardboard and paper. You will not get favorable results if you want to glue glass, wood, metal, porcelain, plastic, fabric or any other type of element.
However, on hard surfaces (such as those mentioned) it is possible to fix some pieces of paper or cardboard with homemade glue.
In order for the homemade adhesive to work, the following recommendations must be taken into account:
- The flour must not be pre-cooked, otherwise, the glue will not be effective and if the paper sticks, it will peel off in a few minutes.
- Add a few drops of insecticide and the craft will be protected from pests.
- Respect storage times; more than recommended decreases the properties of the product and does not stick.
- Remember to identify the bottle, so that no one confuses its contents by believing that it is a refrigerated food.

Advantages of homemade glue
Although homemade pasta is made for specific cases, the good thing is that you are not limited in quantity. You can prepare as much as you want and when you need without spending a lot of money, unlike conventional glues which are sometimes expensive.
Since the ingredients are natural, you will cook ecological sticks, thus collaborating with the environment. And if there are residues on your hands, you can clean them only with water, without the risk of toxicity or accidents, as happens with industrial glues.
The fact that it’s homemade doesn’t take away from it. By following the instructions carefully, it is as strong as the industrial ones. Sticking sheets of paper or cardboard together without moving them is one of the advantages of non-artificial rubber.
An extra advantage? Perhaps it is the most important: knowing how to make glue will get you out of trouble. If the queue has run out in the middle of a boat, the 3 tutorials presented above are the solution. Just check the pantry for available materials and get to work.
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