At home, you can make glue from ordinary flour, which is in no way inferior in quality to that made in an industrial environment. You can use it not only for crafts, but also for sticking paper wallpaper.
Advantages and disadvantages of flour paste
Flour paste is intended only for gluing light materials. And in terms of quality, it is in no way inferior to store-bought adhesives. Plus, if to increase the shelf life of such formulations, manufacturers add not too beneficial for human health chemical substances, then the paste, cooked at home, is absolutely safe. It does not cause allergies, it is easily washed off the skin with water even without soap, and the hands do not crack or peel after it.Properly welded paste can also be used for wallpapering. True, with it you can stick only light canvases on paper basis. Since such compositions are easily soluble in water, old wallpapers will be easily removed from the wall - they just need to be wetted with water and then removed with a spatula.
Advice! Be sure to pay attention to the percentage of gluten in the flour. The higher it is, the better the glue will turn out. Perfect option– 25-28% gluten.
For the paste you will need flour with high content gluten
Manufacturing instructions
So, we tell in detail how to cook flour paste:For a couple of rolls of wallpaper, you will need about a liter of water (5-6 tablespoons of flour are added to this amount of water); in consistency, it should resemble a fairly thick jelly:
Dilute the flour first in a small amount of water;
In a thin stream, gradually add, stirring (it is more convenient to do this with a whisk), boiling water into the resulting mixture;
We put it in a water bath and cook for 5-7 minutes so that it thickens;
Cool, if necessary, filter from lumps;
To improve the adhesive properties, PVA can be added to the cooled glue;
The glue is ready to go.
Despite the fact that it is not difficult to cook such glue, there are some subtleties in its manufacture:It can be made not only from flour, but also from starch;
So that lumps do not form in it, it is better to sift the flour through a sieve;
It is poured in gradually, otherwise it will immediately grab into a large lump;
If the glue turned out to be liquid, it does not matter; put it back in a water bath and boil a little again;
Paste, cooked at home, is not stored for a long time, so it is not prepared for the future; the remains of unused glue are best stored in the refrigerator for no more than 1-2 days.
It is impossible to do without binding components either in children's creativity or in construction, and glue usually plays their role, but it is not suitable for all actions. For example, for pasting a room with wallpaper or working with papier-mâché, it is much more reasonable to use a paste. At home, it is prepared in a few minutes, even a child will master the technology, and it does not matter which of the cooking recipes to learn.
The easiest paste recipe is flour. It is he who is taught to cook kids in labor education lessons, and it is he who is considered a safe and easy-to-use means for fastening light materials: for paper, for leaves, for seeds - flour paste is suitable for absolutely everything. It is used not only when creating any crafts, but also when sealing cracks in old wooden windows.
To cook flour paste at home, you only need a sufficient amount of water and the flour itself. In most cases, wheat is used, as the most affordable and available in every home, but professionals advise taking coarse rye to enhance the binding effect. True, a rye flour paste will have a dark tint and may be noticeable when working with light materials.
To cook the paste, you need an enamel bowl, a saucepan or even a bucket (depending on the volume you need). Cold water is poured into the container, and as soon as it boils, flour is introduced into it in a thin stream. As soon as the grains of flour touched the water, it is necessary to start stirring the liquid, otherwise the flour will simply accumulate on the surface, and then it will settle in a dense lump. Despite the fact that the paste is a "fighter of the invisible front", and his appearance does not catch the eye, the consistency should be made as homogeneous as possible. Therefore, the flour is poured very carefully, and the mass is stirred continuously.
The amount of flour is rarely calculated in advance: it is added by eye, until the mass begins to resemble batter. When it cools, it will thicken, so it’s better not to add flour than to overdo it: then you will have to heat the paste again, add warm (!) Water, boil it again a little. The approximate ratio of flour and water for paste is 1:3 or 1:4. It also varies depending on the orientation of the product: if you want to paste the wallpaper to fit it on the wall, a ratio of 1:2.5 is also possible (for vinyl wallpaper), and 1:3 (for thin).
It is worth noting that if you are preparing a paste for paper wallpaper, before it starts to cool, it is recommended to introduce a little ordinary wood glue (for dark wallpapers) or PVA glue (for light ones) into the finished mass. It is advisable to cook the paste itself after boiling the paste in a water bath in order to reduce the likelihood of bubbles appearing on the surface of the composition.
Starch paste at home
The paste, cooked not on flour, but on starch, has both undeniable advantages and some drawbacks. The latter are in bad smell from the finished product, which appears after 5-6 hours, so the starch paste is boiled in a very small portion and for immediate use. But its advantages depend on the chosen starch: corn starch is recognized as the best, since the mass turns out to be the most pleasant in consistency, the paste quickly impregnates the material, dries no less quickly, and fixes it perfectly. Rice and potato starch proved to be a little worse. And any starch allows you to make the fact of using a paste unnoticed, since the liquid will not leave stains.
PVA glue is sometimes added to the starch paste, all with the same purpose of strengthening the fixation of parts, as well as changing the shade of the finished product - the paste will become almost completely transparent. It happens like this:
- 1 part of flour is poured into a small container, after which 1 part of hot water (boiling water) is carefully poured into it. The mass should immediately begin to beat while you pour in the water.
- At the same time, water is brought to a boil on the stove in the amount of 3 parts. As soon as the water boils, and all starch lumps disperse in a small bowl, the contents of the latter are poured into boiling water, and the mixture is gently whisked with a whisk.
- Immediately after this, the container is removed from the stove, the paste is continued to be mixed, giving it uniformity. Once it cools down to room temperature, PVA glue is introduced into it. The amount of glue per 1 liter of paste is approximately 100 ml.
In some cases, starch is calcined on a baking sheet in the oven before it is cooked so that its lumps darken to Brown. Then it is ground and passed through a sieve, and after that it is mixed with water. Occasionally, 1-2 tablespoons are added to starch. sugar to enhance the adhesive power.
Professionals advise cooking the paste in a small volume, since it is unlikely to stay in the refrigerator for more than a day. Suitable for storage only glass containers or plastic, necessarily having a lid. And the greatest efficiency from the use of paste can be obtained if you use it when the mass has a temperature of 40 degrees.
For pasting walls with wallpaper, you definitely need glue. IN construction stores there is a wide variety of them, but the cost of quality is quite high. It is quite possible to save on glue, because many people cook the composition with their own hands at home. It is best to figure out how to make a paste - it is he who perfectly attaches the wallpaper and connects some other products.
Application, advantages and disadvantages of paste
A paste is understood as an adhesive composition, which should be cooked on the basis of starch, flour with the addition of water. All components are available, are cheap, and natural. They are not harmful to children and adults, do not pose a danger to allergy sufferers - even after tasting the glue, the baby will not be poisoned. The paste is suitable not only for wallpaper, it is also widely used for crafts:
- papier mache;
- piñatas (a kind of papier-mâché);
- cotton toys;
- children's applications;
- other works with paper, cotton wool, natural material;
- scrapbooking;
- decoupage;
- products from threads, fabrics;
- artificial flowers.
With the help of a paste, librarians glue book bindings. In gardening, they are smeared with strips of paper, which are sprinkled with seeds, and then laid in the ground. IN repair work the tool is used for sticking windows, sealing cracks in the tree. If you dilute thick glue with water, it will make an excellent primer. As for the wallpaper, the solution will perfectly hold even the heaviest coating.
What are the other benefits of gelatinization? Here are the benefits of using homemade glue:
- fitness for different surfaces in the house, even painted, impregnated with drying oil;
- no marks on wallpaper correct technique application;
- easy removal of glue stains with inaccurate use;
- fast setting and fast drying of paintings on the walls;
- long service life - no less than store adhesives;
- simple removal of wallpaper if necessary to replace it - you just need to sprinkle the wall with water.
The tool has few drawbacks. Only water instability can be named, although the addition of some components corrects this problem. Also, due to the edible composition, insect pests can settle in the glue, but proper storage eliminates trouble.
Types of pastes and recipes
Glue should be made on the day of use - so the quality of the mixture will be ideal. Nevertheless, it is permissible to store the product, but not for long, otherwise its properties are lost. The density of the material can be adjusted independently, the recipe is based on non-strict proportions. If you add flour or starch powder, the paste will become thicker, the introduction of water will make the product more liquid. Only a completely cooled solution is used, the film is first removed from its surface. Below are the main paste recipes.
From flour
The easiest way to cook such glue is from flour, because everyone has it at home. There are many options for how to make a paste, but in any case, the base will be flour and water. Here is the basic recipe for wallpaper without cooking:
- take a sieve, carefully sift the flour to eliminate the presence of lumps;
- measure out 250 g (glass) of flour, a liter of water;
- add hot water, previously brought to a boil, to wheat flour in small portions;
- the consistency of the finished product resembles liquid sour cream;
- in a solution that is too thick, you can add more hot water, dilute it carefully so as not to make it watery.
Typically, this glue is used for thin paper wallpaper or light non-woven. Heavy material is better to glue with a more reliable means. It must also be made, but after cooling, add 0.5 cups of PVA. Stir preferably with a wooden spatula.
For heavy vinyl wallpaper, there are other ways to prepare a paste:
- Prepare 400 g of wheat flour, a liter of cold water. Place the composition in a saucepan, cook in a water bath for a while - until small bubbles are released. The mixture is removed from heat, filtered, removing lumps. The finished mass is even, smooth, thicker, reliable. It is suitable even for gluing small ceramic tiles. Whitewashing with such a tool will help remove dirt, give a beautiful glossy look.
- Heat a liter of water, add 200 g of wheat flour (pre-dilute it with a small amount of the total volume). Remove from heat after boiling, cool, add 200 ml of 10% wood glue.
- Boil the paste in the same way as the previous method, but take 350 g of flour, 20 ml of wood glue, and pour 3 g of copper sulfate as an antiseptic additive.
What is liquid wood glue? The preparation formula is simple, dry powder is purchased in the store, 140 g of dry glue is injected per liter of water at a temperature of 50 degrees. Usually wood glue is used to work with dark wallpaper, PVA - with light ones.
For papier-mache, you can prepare glue based on rye flour, it is more viscous. Pour a tablespoon of the product into the bottom of the pan, brew with a glass of boiling water, mix well with a mixer. Add another glass of water, bring the mass to a boil. Cooking lasts no more than 20-30 seconds. The composition is cooled, used for crafts within 48 hours.
Another recipe for papier-mâché, it allows you to cook a thicker composition:
- pour a glass of sifted flour with the same amount of cold water;
- stir until smooth;
- pour half a teaspoon of salt;
- separately boil 2 cups of water, pour glue;
- cook for 5 minutes, cool.
For fabric crafts, additional components are used - sugar, vanillin. Cook them in the following proportions: 2 cups of cold water, 2 tablespoons of flour, a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of vanilla. Combine dry substances and a little water, beat, pour boiling water (the rest of the portion), cook for 2 minutes until thick. To make the strongest paste, the recipe is as follows:
- 5 g of gelatin pour 200 ml of water, stand for a day;
- pour 850 ml of water into a saucepan, put in a water bath, add gelatin;
- Dilute 150 g of flour with 150 ml of water, eliminate lumps;
- pour into the general solution, let it boil, cook until smooth;
- after cooling, add 20 ml of alcohol, 4 ml of glycerin.
Such a tool will make crafts very durable, they will serve long term.
From starch
Properly making glue from potato starch is not difficult at all. It is used when full transparency is required, for example, when gluing light, thin wallpapers. The strength of the adhesive layer is lower than that of flour paste; it makes no sense to starch thick, heavy wallpapers.
The recipe for the preparation is as follows:
- dilute in hot water starch 10:1;
- stir so that there are no lumps, the composition should become like sour cream;
- thick solution can be diluted with boiling water.
To improve the quality of gluing, a little PVA is introduced into the cooled product. For dark wallpapers, carpentry glue is suitable, the composition will immediately darken.
Dextrin glue
Under dextrin understand the usual paste based on starch from potatoes, corn. It is ideal for gluing paper, fabric wallpaper. In order for the starch polysaccharide dextrin to fully show its properties, it is calcined on a baking sheet in the oven before being introduced into the solution. "Baking" is carried out at maximum temperature until starch turns brown. Then it is cooled, ground to a powder, diluted with water (100 g of powder per 250 ml of water), 30 g of sugar are added.
Paste storage
Any solution is stored in the refrigerator under a tight lid. But if mold has appeared, it's time to throw it away. Such glue can be harmful to health. It is easier to cook fresh in small portions, then you do not need to store it.
Many still remember the times when their parents for various household needs made their own paste at home in the kitchen.
wall pasting
In what cases do professionals use paste?
At present, employees of children's institutions, workers of cultural centers, theaters and libraries, as well as landscape designers and agronomists know how to cook flour paste.
Librarians sometimes use this glue in bookbinding.
Gardeners and gardeners use natural glue when planting very small seeds. A strip of paper is moistened with a paste, seeds are poured on it, dried and laid out on a garden bed or flower bed in the intended order. Having verified the drawing, the paper with seeds is covered with earth.
Educators and school teachers often use a natural and harmless paste for children's creativity in classes aimed at developing fine motor skills, spatial thinking and concentration in toddlers. If a child accidentally licks the paste with his tongue or rubs his eyes with a soiled hand, no trouble will happen, because the paste is made from flour and water.
When creating scenery for theatrical productions, directors and artists widely use papier-mâché objects. The essence of this technique is that craftsmen create light and durable objects from paste and paper. Since it is not difficult to make a flour paste, and the paper necessary for papier-mâché is an easily accessible material, anyone can learn this art.
Technological process of making paste
For papier-mâché, you need the ability to cook flour paste. The recipe for its manufacture is similar to how ordinary jelly is brewed:
Pour the sifted flour with cool water and mix thoroughly. This must be done in metal utensils, since then it will have to be put on fire;
Boil water separately;
Boiling water is poured into the flour mash with constant stirring and brought to a boil on the stove;
After the mixture boils, it is removed from the heat and cooled under the lid so that a film does not form on top;
If it was not possible to avoid the formation of lumps and films, then simply strain the paste through a sieve or gauze.
The paste can be used warm. As soon as you decide on the amount of work to be done, brew and test the resulting flour paste. Specify the recipe and fix it in the memo so that you always cook such a volume of glue that you use up in one to three days. Thus, you can avoid unnecessary consumption of flour, as well as properly plan your time.
How to find the right recipe
If you have scheduled work for several days, then do not make a large supply of glue for a long time, as this is a perishable product. The proportion of ingredients must be adjusted for each individual case. Natural flour paste has no recipe as such. It all depends on the gluten in the flour. In addition, over time, the paste changes density. However, it can be diluted with water to the desired consistency. To begin with, count as follows: for one liter of water - two tablespoons of flour. In old books on home economics, in the section "how to cook flour paste", units of weight are not given precisely because of the difference in adhesives and other features. different types flour. If the paste is made from potato or corn flour, that is, starch, then its shelf life in the refrigerator is possible up to seven days. Potato paste is always thicker than corn paste. positive quality starch paste - it does not leave stains. A product made from wheat or rye flour spoils faster, but it is more sticky compared to starch. Each craftsman gets his own, unique flour paste, the recipe is always refined and customized for each work individually.
Papier-mache in the technique of sheet layers, or mashing
In this technique, you can create a variety of utensils, ethnic and carnival masks, boxes, toys, jewelry, sculptures, and so on.
You will need paper - this can be old newspapers, magazines, notebooks, napkins, or thin wrapping paper. The thinner the paper, the smoother it is smoothed out, but then more layers will have to be done. Next, a base is taken, which is initially pasted over with paper dipped in ordinary clean water. The next layer is glued to this layer, but already moistened in a paste. There should be at least five such layers, sometimes up to a hundred are glued. It all depends on the thickness of the paper and how thick and strong you want the thing to be. Only the outer surface of the layout is pasted over with paper. When all layers are properly dry and hardened, they must be cut through with a blade or cutter. Since the first layer was glued with pure water, then it will easily fall behind the workpiece along with the layers of paper smeared with paste glued on it. The removed halves must be folded together and connected at the junction with a strip of paper smeared with paste. Then you can apply a few more layers if you want the craft to become thicker and the connection of the parts to be stronger. When applying sheets, they must be carefully smoothed with a sponge or soft cloth to make the product as smooth as possible. Make the last layer of white or other beautiful decorative paper. When all the layers are glued and dry, you can start painting, decorating jewelry and other elements. The finished item is varnished.
Papier-mâché made of paper as a mass for sculptural work
Those who have figured out how to cook flour paste can try to master another version of the papier-mâché technique. The paste mixes with cellulose and turns into a thick mass resembling clay, plasticine or dough. To do this, it is very good to use soft paper, such as toilet paper or napkins. The paper is shredded and mixed with the paste. In some cases, it is required that the glue be more elastic, then glycerin is added to it. After the paper swells, you can sculpt figures from it. Products made of papier-mâché dry out for quite a long time, since in order to avoid deformation they are supposed to be dried in a warm place away from heating equipment. Long drying time is the only disadvantage of this craft. The resulting irregularities are easily sanded sandpaper. Dried and polished crafts are painted with paints, decorated, and then varnished.
Cotton papier mache
Very entertaining crafts can be made from cotton balls and discs soaked in paste. It can be volumetric decorations on photo frames, albums, boxes, flower pots and many many others. The decoration made of cellulose and paste is characterized by lightness and strength of articulation. This is its advantageous difference from clay or other inflexible and heavy in weight.
Good afternoon dear friends!
Today I have an unusual topic, I want to tell you how to make wallpaper paste. I recently completed a home renovation. When the turn came to the kitchen, the shop glue was over, and it didn’t make sense to buy a new pack, since the area covered with wallpaper in the kitchen is very small and you need a little glue.
So I decided to make wallpaper paste from flour and starch myself.
Making wallpaper paste at home is very easy. Its people have been doing since ancient times.
I learned how to cook glue from my mother, from her to me, and the love for wallpaper stickers passed. I like this activity, as well as knitting. Moreover, I always glue the wallpaper alone.
In the old days, we always cooked the glue ourselves. And one day I decided to use glue bought in a store. I remember that at that time there was a fashion for marble wallpapers, which were pasted not in a whole strip, but in pieces the size of a printed sheet of paper.
I pasted over the whole wall in the kitchen, and at night ... I heard a terrible crack: all my wallpaper fell off completely! So sorry for the hard work.
Since then, I have stopped trusting store-bought glue. And at that time I welded wallpaper glue myself and my marble wallpaper successfully existed until the next repair.
Now, of course, they have learned how to make good factory glue. Yes, there is a wide range of them for sale. But in some cases, like mine, you can make your own wallpaper paste at home.
To do this, you only need water, flour and starch, we have all this at home.
Advantages of flour and starch glue
- Glue made from flour and starch is environmentally friendly, it is made only from natural products. By the way, antifungal components, various antibacterial additives and other chemicals are often added to modern factory glue. And after the repair, we breathe it all. Here it is worth considering which glue is better to use.
- Flour glue is economical, since its components are not expensive, and you can not buy them on purpose, and the consumption is very small.
- Glue is suitable for any kind of paper wallpaper.
- It adheres well to any surface, even painted or varnished.
- Does not lead to soaking of thin paper and damage to the wallpaper.
- Has no unpleasant smell.
- Leaves no stains behind.
Glue is not stored for a long time, but we don’t need it. You can keep it in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, then it can turn sour.
How to make wallpaper paste
I looked at what they write on the Internet about this, and I want to note that I do not agree with much. Some sources claim that the glue can only be used in a warm form. It is not true. Often they write some completely unrealistic proportions of flour and water.
I will tell you my recipe, proven over the years.
Wallpaper glue can, in principle, be made only from flour or only from starch. But I use both of these ingredients. Although flour has good adhesive properties, starch complements them and makes the glue better and more reliable.
You don't need to cook glue for a long time! You just need to brew it, as in the preparation of jelly.
For a three-liter pot of water, you need to take one full (but without a large slide) glass of flour and two tablespoons of starch (also full with a small slide). Any flour will do, its grade is not important.
The proportion is not for three liters of water, but for a 3-liter pan, since it must not be filled with water to the top, but leave room for a mixture of flour and starch.
We put a pot of water on the fire.
Pour flour and starch into a bowl.
When the water begins to boil, pour a little into the bowl with flour and starch cold water(not from the refrigerator, but just from the tap) and stir thoroughly to get a homogeneous liquid mass without lumps.
Pour the resulting mixture in a thin stream into boiling water, stirring constantly, and literally turn off the fire in a minute.
When the wallpaper paste has cooled, I strain it through a colander, getting rid of the lumps that form during the cooking process.
