# Frozen Glue?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554 "2011-01-06T00:50:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaJoGi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MaJoGi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaJoGi)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/1 "2011-01-06T00:50:58Z")
As I was pasting together my project with white liquid glue I noticed a warning on the back: DO NOT FREEZE. Why is frozen glue so dangerous? I would of had experimented on this myself, but I am short on time, glue, and freezer space. It would be greatly appreciated if make query was answered. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/2 "2011-01-06T01:11:34Z")
WAG: Freezing glue probably isn’t dangerous, it just makes it less adhesive. I do happen to have some glue, time and freezer space, so I’ll report my findings later. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/3 "2011-01-06T01:18:23Z")
White glue is an emulsion of water and polyvinyl acetate (PVA). If you freeze it, the emulsion breaks down and the glue turns into coagulated lumps, useless for anything. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/4 "2011-01-06T01:34:40Z")
I imagine it would also expand and break the container if it was full. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/5 "2011-01-06T04:04:58Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > White glue is an emulsion of water and polyvinyl acetate (PVA). If you freeze it, the emulsion breaks down and the glue turns into coagulated lumps, useless for anything. What if you wanted some coagulated lumps of PVA to look at? Seems to me freeze-thawed white glue would work pretty well for _that_. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/6 "2011-01-06T04:36:49Z")
My favoritest bookbinding glue is made by Lineco. I have to stock up in the fall. They won’t ship it to Wisconsin from Dec-Feb because it might freeze in the trucks. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/7 "2011-01-06T08:47:14Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > What if you wanted some coagulated lumps of PVA to look at? Seems to me freeze-thawed white glue would work pretty well for _that_. Well, sure, if you want clots of coagulated glue to throw at badgers, then yeah, it’s not a completely useless exercise. I appreciate the correction (no, really - I should know better than to express absolutes on a topic like this) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/8 "2011-01-06T14:25:29Z")
> [@MaJoGi](#): > > As I was pasting together my project with white liquid glue I noticed a warning on the back: DO NOT FREEZE. Why is frozen glue so dangerous? Who (besides you) said it was dangerous? A better question to ask would be “Why shouldn’t it be frozen?” Think about that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/9 "2011-01-06T14:29:24Z")
> [@](#): > > White glue is an emulsion of water and polyvinyl acetate (PVA). If you freeze it, the emulsion breaks down and the glue turns into coagulated lumps, useless for anything. In idle moments, I dropped white glue into liquid nitrogen. It generated little white solid balls of glue, which could be conveniently dropped into hard-to reach places. When it unfroze, it melted into white glue again, spread out, and set. Maybe if you freeze the stuff in an ordinary freezer it breaks down, but supercooled to LNT it stayed just fine. There’s a great potential there for specialized application. Also for some really nasty pranks. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/10 "2011-01-06T14:35:38Z")
Can that be done with cyanoacrylate? I’m thinking: Make little frozen balls of superglue, coat them (while still frozen) with wax or some other airtight, but fragile material, then let your imagination run wild… ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/11 "2011-01-06T18:26:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In idle moments, I dropped white glue into liquid nitrogen. It generated little white solid balls of glue, which could be conveniently dropped into hard-to reach places. When it unfroze, it melted into white glue again, spread out, and set. Maybe if you freeze the stuff in an ordinary freezer it breaks down, but supercooled to LNT it stayed just fine. > > There’s a great potential there for specialized application. **Also for some really nasty pranks.** [bold added] You’re _ **EVIL** _! Any tips on where you get LN, cheap? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/12 "2011-01-06T19:11:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In idle moments, I dropped white glue into liquid nitrogen. It generated little white solid balls of glue, which could be conveniently dropped into hard-to reach places. When it unfroze, it melted into white glue again, spread out, and set. Maybe if you freeze the stuff in an ordinary freezer it breaks down, but supercooled to LNT it stayed just fine. > > There’s a great potential there for specialized application. Also for some really nasty pranks. Flash freezing is always a different result then the normal slow freezing of water laden organics. That would be why Clarence Birdseye made a bundle of money inventing the process for flash freezing vegetables. The glue manufacturer is certainly not talking about flash frozen glue on the label. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/13 "2011-01-12T03:30:44Z")
Sorry it took so long. I forgot I left the glue in the freezer. The glue is lumpy and has an irregular consistency, but it is still adhesive. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/14 "2011-01-12T03:33:52Z")
At least one brand of white glue, Aleene’s Tacky Glue, gets thicker when it’s frozen. Perhaps the warning isn’t because the white glue is dangerous when frozen, but simply because freezing it would cause it to thicken when the user wasn’t expecting thick glue. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-glue/566554/15 "2011-01-12T05:22:46Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > Sorry it took so long. I forgot I left the glue in the freezer. > > The glue is lumpy and has an irregular consistency, but it is still adhesive. Excellent job of doing a practical test, though! What brand and type of glue was it? Elmer’s, for paper?