As I prepared to make my Peter Rabbit play set, I knew I’d need to find the best glue out there for popsicle sticks. I’ve used craft sticks (aka popsicle sticks) before with my Elf Family house. For that project, I wanted them a little warped to add texture, so I used wood glue. This time I was going to use sticks for the fence in the background of Mr. McGreggor’s garden, and I wanted the sticks to stay straight. Additionally, this time I’d be gluing to the fabric backing of the suitcase I was using to hold the play set, where the Elf House was made entirely of wood. Gluing wood to wood made the decision to go with wood glue easy. But wood to paper? We needed to test things out.
I grabbed every glue I had on hand and did a trial run. Each glue was tested based on the strength of hold, how much it warped the stick, and the drying time. Here’s what I found.
Elmer’s Glue
- Hold: The hold was fine, but not the best
- Warp: The stick warped quick a bit
- Drying time: one of the longest drying times of what I tried
Tacky Glue
- Hold: The hold was good
- Warp: The stick warped quick a bit
- Drying time: Long drying time
Quick Dry Tacky Glue
- Hold: The hold was good
- Warp: The stick warped quick a bit
- Drying time: Drying time was quick, which I liked
Wood Glue
- Hold: The hold was gerat
- Warp: The stick warped a tiny bit, but not as much as the previous glues
- Drying time: Drying time was long
Hot Glue
- Hold: The hold was great
- Warp: The stick did not warp
- Drying time: Almost instantly dry
In the end I found that all the glues held the sticks to the paper fine. I loved the ease of the quick drying time from hot glue and also loved how the stick didn’t warp at all with use, so that’s what I decided to go with as I worked on Mr. McGreggor’s garden in my Peter Rabbit play set.
You can see exactly how each glue worked in the video below.
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