# What is the strongest adhesive known? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546 "2022-10-20T13:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/1 "2022-10-20T13:10:11Z")
So you wanna stick two things together really well. What’s the most powerful sticky stuff you could get? (And should it be “Strongest adhesive known” or “strongest known adhesive”?) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/2 "2022-10-20T13:15:38Z")
This goes into the strengths and weaknesses of various classes of adhesives. Looks like there’s no one strongest. > **[What is the World’s Strongest Adhesive?](https://www.haradhesive.com/blog/worlds-strongest-adhesive)** Just for the hell of it. > **[New Guinness World Record for Strongest Adhesive - Advanced Science News](https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/world-record-for-strongest-adhesive/)** > > Guinness World Records title awarded for lifting a 17,5-ton truck on a bonded aluminum cylinder the size of a soft drink can. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/3 "2022-10-20T15:02:09Z")
The answer 100% depends on what you are sticking together. White glue will glue two pieces of wood together with a bond that is stronger than the wood, but won’t glue metal worth a damn. Silicone will glue glass to glass with a strong bond, but is useless for wood. Epoxy is strong on metal, but bad for many plastics. And, nothing glues Nylon to LDPE. ---
**Author:** ![Yosh99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ccd318/32.png) [@Yosh99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yosh99)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/4 "2022-10-20T15:08:54Z")
How would you measure “strongest”? The conditions are important. Are you testing at 20C? 150C? Are you testing in a peel mode? Shear mode? And what about peel rate and shear rate? An adhesive that supports a 17 ton truck might fail with a slight tap of a hammer. The joint failure could be from adhesive failure to the substrate, cohesive failure of the adhesive, or substrate failure. Measuring adhesive failure would be meaningful in the case of pressure sensitive adhesives like a tape. In the case of cohesive failure of the adhesive or substrate failure I’d think the strongest joint would be a metal weld. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/5 "2022-10-20T15:16:21Z")
You could qualify the question to “What is the strongest adhesive when used to bond its intended surfaces?” Industrial and Aerospace structural adhesives are probably the contenders. Structural adhesives must withstand a lap shear force of at least 6.9 MPa (1,000 psi). I know of aerospace grade adhesives with a lap shear strength of up to 21MPa when applied properly to bond aluminum, titanium, or composite surfaces. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/6 "2022-10-21T00:54:47Z")
Wheat paste will stick a poster to a wall with what appears to be an unbreakable bond but it won’t stick your broken glasses frame back together. It’s all about the surface and materials you need to stick together that determines the strength of the adhesive. That being said, Gorilla glue holds shit pretty damned good. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/7 "2022-10-21T01:58:18Z")
Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind next time really need to hold my shit. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/8 "2022-10-21T05:49:29Z")
I’d be ready to wager that dog shit is the substance with the best adhesion to the human foot. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/9 "2022-10-21T05:52:46Z")
If my teenage son’s experiment in his bedroom is anything to go by, dried-on weetabix residue seems to impossible to shift from a porcelain surface. I think it could be used to protect spacecraft on re-entry. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/10 "2022-10-21T08:10:38Z")
If two people share a specific bias, that really sticks them together. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/11 "2022-10-21T10:41:30Z")
In many cases, the strength of the bond itself isn’t what makes a repair work, because the underlying materials that broke still faces the same stresses. And if you insert a strong bond that has different properties from the nearly material (for instance, a rigid glue holding together pieces of more flexible wood) you can create a focal point for stress, concentrating those stresses on the nearby material. I’ve seen a lot of mended items break right next to the glue joint. The glue held, but the wood broke again a millimeter or two away from the repair. ---
**Author:** ![superwombat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superwombat/32/16616_2.png) [@superwombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superwombat)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/12 "2022-10-21T10:49:09Z")
Love. Love will keep us together. Up to certain values of torsion, shear and ductility. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/13 "2022-10-21T21:26:43Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > If my teenage son’s experiment in his bedroom is anything to go by, dried-on weetabix residue seems to impossible to shift from a porcelain surface. I think it could be used to protect spacecraft on re-entry. newsflash … your context information leads me to believe the substance you talk about might not be dried-on weetabix residue… ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/14 "2022-10-22T06:38:34Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > newsflash … > > your context information leads me to believe the substance you talk about might not be dried-on weetabix residue… christ, well if not there is something _seriously_ wrong with his plumbing, and his aim. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2022, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/15 "2022-10-25T03:39:23Z")
I remember a science program (NOVA? National Geographic special?) stating the adhesive exuded by barnacles is the strongest “glue” known to science. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/16 "2022-10-26T20:26:26Z")
For household stuff, JB Weld is the best adhesive I’ve found. Their two-part epoxy is extremely tough. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/17 "2022-10-26T20:53:29Z")
> [@superwombat](#): > > Love. > > Love will keep us together. > > Up to certain values of torsion, shear and ductility. 😀😊😁 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2022, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/18 "2022-10-27T00:54:32Z")
That’s been my experience, too. I like wood glue for wood, but for almost anything else i like JB weld. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2022, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/19 "2022-10-27T11:46:09Z")
Sure: Titebond III is the best all-around wood glue on the market, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-strongest-adhesive-known/973546/20 "2022-10-27T19:27:29Z")
JBWeld has [different formulas for different purposes.](https://www.jbweld.com/products) The products are excellent when using the correct one for the circumstances. If you need a simple epoxy glue without fillers then odds are any brand you choose will work just as well.