How Long Does Wood Glue Take to Dry?

If you have been asking yourself, “how long does wood glue take to dry?” Then you’re in the right place!

We will look at the different aspects that may affect some of the things that have a role in the drying abilities of glue to help answer your question as detailed as possible.

So let’s get started…

Aspects That Affect the Drying of Glue

What Type Is Your Glue?

There are a large number of glue types, some of which are epoxy, casein, polyurethane, animal glue and they all have their own properties, applications and drying time.

Some glues have a very short period of drying time (as you may have seen in countless advertisements in print and TV), others take longer, depending on what they are being used for, in this case, big chunks of wood.

The mere fact that there are different types affects the duration for wood glue to set. Although you may want to seek out quick drying wood glue, you should still learn their cure time.

The most common type of quick-drying glue used for common household jobs is polyvinyl resin.

This is perfect for jobs that are not bound to be exposed to high heat or extreme weather and needs waterproofing.

For woodworking, animal glue, or hide glue (so called because it is collected from boiling animal connective tissue) is used and has a higher setting time.

Glues and Their Setting Times

Cyanoacrylate Glues

These types of glues are otherwise known as superglues and quick-drying glues, so naturally, they have quick curing (a process that will turn the liquid glue into solid) and setting time.

A typical superglue will set in about 5-60 seconds and will cure in about a couple of hours. These glues work best for wood, plastic and metal.

Polystyrene Cement

This glue is typically used to construct plastic models. They set in less than a minute and will cure in as many as 8 hours.

These glues are best used for plastic because they actually dissolve the layer of plastic they are applied on and fuse it to the adjoining piece.

Epoxy

Epoxy is the most commonly-used glue and has been in use for a very long time. It is waterproof and shrink resistant and also fuel proof.

The setting time is about 5-30 minutes and they fully cure in about 12 hours. These glues work on wood, fiberglass, glass, paper, plastic and metal.

Rubber Adhesives

This type of glue can be applied on to flexible surfaces because it uses natural rubber as a base(pdf). This type of glue works on all types of surfaces and take about 12 hours for setting and up to 2 days to fully cure.

Polyvinyl Acetate

Also known as ‘white glue’, this is the glue that you see children use in arts and crafts projects. They can be cleaned and thinned with water and become quite strong after drying.

They work on wood, paper, plaster and foam and not so great on metals, rubber and plastics. These glues take up from 15 minutes to an hour and cure completely in about a day.

The Density of the Wood

Sometimes, it could be the wood itself and its density. To join two pieces of wood, some part of the glue needs to remain on the surface, while some, needs to wet it.

The more porous the wood, the more glue it will require because some of it will be absorbed by the wood.

To create a tough bond between the two pieces, some glue will remain between them. This would mean that the denser the wood, the lesser the glue it will require and hence the setting time would be shorter.

This is because there would hardly be any moisture to escape so that the glue can be set.

Please note that the more glue the wood absorbs (if it is porous), the stronger the bond will be. In other words, the more the glue penetrates the wood’s surface, the better the bond will turn out to be.

Humidity

If the environment has a lot of humidity, it would take longer for the glue to form a bond, because the moisture in the glue also needs to evaporate.

Having said that, if the wood has been stored in a moist environment, it would also take some time for the moisture absorbed by the wood to evaporate.

For this reason, any woodworker will tell you that the wood needs to be well cured in order for it to retain a bond. You may have often seen woodwork being done in areas where the moisture content is low, such as outdoors or in sunlight.

Similarly, pieces of wood which have natural moisture will take a longer period to dry, because it will take time for that moisture to evaporate via environmental factors.

Temperature

We saw that excessive moisture will cause the glue to dry slower. Following that logic, the higher the heat, the quicker the glue will dry and set.

This also depends on the purpose of your craft. Sometimes, resins like polyvinyl could melt because of very high heat, causing the bond to soften.

Other times, areas which are hot, but retain moisture (coastal areas), they will cause the glue to dry slower.

So How Long Does Wood Glue Take to Dry?

As we now know, there are multiple factors that can affect the length of time taken for glue on wood to dry. This is particularly important for wood you don’t plan to saw down.

While making a bond between pieces of wood, it must be kept in mind that all these factors come into play.

It could be the environment or the kind of glue you are using or simply the type of wood.

Whenever you are buying glue for your project, pay close attention to the instructions that are provided at the back of the bottle.

Some glues are quick to bond but may have a longer curing time.