Which Glue is Right For You? Hot Melts vs. Water-based Glues.

Hot Melts:

Hot melts are perhaps our most versatile glue product. They often provide fast bonding, are multipurpose, and low cost. Hot melts are great for a variety of industries and applications including bookbinding, packaging, product assembly, fulfillment and more.

Hot melts are an excellent and versatile product for several different jobs, some of which include work in the realm of bookbinding and tacking, folding, padding and more.

They come in three different forms, the first form being pellets, which are available in: 53-027W and 37-127W. Hot melt 53-027W is the most versatile and works on a variety of stocks from offset to bond to coated. It has excellent page pull strength, yet it is still flexible. However, keep in mind that U.V. and digital stocks using fuser oil may not be compatible. 

Hot melts also come in the form of blister pack. The one type of glue that comes in this particular form is 37-612, also referred to as Europak, which is a premium general purpose semi-pressure sensitive hot melt. It has excellent high-tack long open time on wide ranges of surfaces.

Lastly, hot melts also come in the form of pillows. We provide two types of this type of adhesive: 37-016 and 37-127. Hot melt 37-016 was designed as a general purpose and specialty adhesive for difficult to bond surfaces including matte and coated/gloss stocks. Lastly, hot melt 37-127, which comes in a light amber color, is a general purpose adhesive with good adhesion to a variety of standard stocks and moderate to fast set-up speeds. 

Hot melts are great for more than just bookbinding jobs. Fugitive hot melt is useful for folding jobs as well. Last but not least, hot melt glues can also be used for padding purposes. With different levels of flexibility and colors, types UD7008 and UD8008 should cover all of your padding needs.

Water-based Glues:

In the glue world, centipoise, or cps, is considered a measurement of viscosity, which is essentially its thickness in a liquid state. Liquid glue comes in various forms, styles and types that are used for several different jobs and have different levels of viscosity.  Permanent, fugitive and pressure sensitive glues are just a few of the liquid glues Update Ltd provides.

One pressure sensitive glue provided by Update Ltd is UD730, which is a liquid glue for folders. It’s a full pressure sensitive cold glue and can be used for peel and stick applications. This water-based glue can be used on difficult substrates such as UV or Poly coatings where a strong bond is required – it’s also compatible with other water based cold glues. There is a multitude of permanent glues for folders and mailing operations available at Update. Different adhesives are required for different contact systems versus non-contact systems. Generally, non-contact systems use glues of lower centipoise that is thinner. You can learn more about these water-based glues on the Update Ltd website or within our catalogs.

At Update Ltd, fugitive water-based glue is available in three different types: UD900, UD950, and UD1000. UD900 is a low peel bond for uncoated stocks. It is suitable for applications by contact or non-contact systems. Be sure to keep in mind that this glue may leave a slight waxy residue after use. UD950 has a high peel bond for coated stocks. It’s used on both contact and non-contact systems. Similar to the UD900, it may leave behind a slightly waxy residue. Lastly, UD1000 is latex based liquid fugitive glue and works both on coated and non-coated stocks. There are also several forms and types of permanent liquid glues available at Update Ltd. We also have a fugitive hotmelt available - UD153, otherwise referred to in this industry as "booger glue". This glue is low staining and has great machining characteristics.

Some of our most popular glues are UD200, UD500 and UD550, which are all permanent water-based glues for folders and laminating. Adhesive UD200 is applied by a contact system while UD500 and UD550 are applied by a non-contact system. Suggested uses for UD200 are cartons, uncoated paper, aqueous coated paper, and some wax coated paper. UD500 is a general purpose, high quality adhesive that works on most substrates and runs on low pressure systems. It works best on folding carton and uncoated paper stock and has excellent penetration and adhesion to a variety of paper stocks. UD550's suggested uses are also folding carton, uncoated paper stock and aqueous coated paper stock. However, we advise you to test the adhesive before use because we cannot guarantee the effectiveness of the adhesive on coated papers. UD550 is also not for UV overcoat or untreated poly. Other permanent water-based glues for folders available at Update Ltd are UD510, UD560 and UD700, all of which are high quality products that offer great adhesion. 

We will be posting more glue blogs soon so stay tuned to learn more! 

Warning: Due to the many variables in papers, inks, and coatings (i.e. ink bleeds, fuser oils, UV coating etc.), you are at risk of not achieving proper adhesion. Therefore, testing glues before use is of the utmost importance. Glues not previously tested and sent overnight for an immediate job cannot be guaranteed to work. We are happy to provide glue samples for testing purposes.