What are contact adhesives?

Contact adhesives are used in various sectors through Ireland.

Contact adhesives see particular use in areas like gluing flooring, furniture manufacture, gluing insulation and the like.

Deciding on what type of contact adhesive to use, can be a daunting task but don’t worry, as Ireland’s best known research based manufacturer and distributor of adhesives, we are sure to have a contact adhesive which will meet your needs. But how do our experts select the right contact adhesive?

In selecting the correct contact adhesive to meet your needs,

• How large are the areas that have to be glued?
• What materials are being glued?
• What is being manufactured?
• How many items will be glued?

These few questions allow us to suggest either a brush/roller applied adhesive or a spray adhesive. We can also determine the best adhesive chemistry suitable for the manufacturing process. Contact adhesive is available in both a paste form and a liquid form and each type does have its optimum end use application.

Paste adhesive can be applied by roller, brush or trowel and it is best suited for heavier applications, such as gluing a sheet of laminate to a wooden or particleboard substrate. Its high shear-resistance and superior bond prevent the laminate from warping or buckling.

Spray applied glue is best for lighter applications, such as gluing veneer onto MDF etc, in the manufacture of decorative laminates or for gluing insulated sheets of polystyrene or polyurethane.These larger applications are common in an industrial setting and use a pneumatic compressor and spray gun.

These are just a few of the applications where contact adhesives are used. Our laboratories are always available to offer you the right advice, when and where you need it. We stock a very large range of contact adhesives, all manufactured in the UK by Alpha Adhesives, for decades the leaders in contact adhesive technology.