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Which Grab Adhesives

The huge growth in demand for grab adhesives and the technological advancements in the chemistry behind them, have resulted in an explosion of differing products many of which can appear to be the same at first glance.

To give a better understanding of the products now available they can effectively be broken down into three key types:

Which Grab Adhesives

Polymer Based

These are the traditional trade user products manufactured using a blend of solvents with rubber, they can be used on most conventional building materials inside and outside. Limitations are that the surfaces must be dry, they will not work on polystyrene or newer plastics like ABS, they contain solvents and "open" time is fairly short. Solvent based grab adhesives do offer exceptional early grab characteristics and a very strong bond when cured.

Water Based

These are effectively a spin off from the traditional solvent based grab adhesives and were originally to cater for the DIY market where both retailers and DIY users preferred a solvent free product. Advancements in water based polymer technology have significantly improved these products over recent years and they now offer a viable alternative to solvent based products, but only on internal applications. Initial grab can be almost as good as solvent based products, and they are of course easy to clean up. A significant limitation is that one surface must be porous (the water needs to evaporate into something) and the longer term adhesive strength is not as good.

Hybrid Polymer Based

Within the last few years a new type of grab adhesive has emerged based on a hybrid of silicone and polyurethane polymer to produce a product with unrivalled application benefits that overcomes all the limitations of both solvent and water based grab adhesives. These hybrid polymer adhesives, when formulated properly, offer superior grab characteristics, are totally solvent free and non-hazardous, are suitable for both external and internal use, will adhere to usually any surface (including granite and marble), can be overpainted, are totally waterproof when cured and can even be applied onto damp surfaces. They can also be made in a clear version, opening up entirely new application areas such as glass, Perspex and acrylic sheet bonding.

Pricing

As a guide water based products are approximately 10-20% cheaper than solvent based products whereas hybrid products are approximately twice the price of solvent based products.