Vegan Glue: The Ultimate Guide

When I was a kid, I remember hearing that glue was made from horses. Truly, millions of kids have probably been traumatized by hearing that. But is it true? I decided to do some research on how glue is made nowadays.

Is glue vegan? Glue is usually vegan. Historically, a lot of glue was made from collagen in animal hides, bones, and fish. But today, most manufacturers have switched to synthetic adhesives made from petroleum. These synthetic, vegan glues include polyvinyl acetate (PVA), cyanoacrylates, epoxies, and more.

Below, I’ll cover every kind of glue you can think of. I committed myself to making the best vegan glue guide on the Internet. By the end, you’ll know more about glue than you ever thought possible!

The Far Majority of Glue Today Is Vegan

Let me say this clearly: Most glue does not contain animal products.

I’ve seen some people online claim that “most glue isn’t vegan.” After doing the research myself, I’ve found this to be a very misleading statement.

The far majority of glue used today is vegan:

1. Almost every kind of glue you can buy in the store is vegan. From Elmer’s glue to Gorilla Glue, and from Krazy glue to epoxy, they’re pretty much all synthetically made—free of animal products. (I’ll go into more detail below.)
   
2. Even in industry, most glue used today is vegan. When you look into what shoe companies and bookbinders are using today, it’s mostly synthetic glues made from petroleum, too—no animals involved.

There are only a few industries and applications where animal glue is still commonly used. Let’s cover that next.

Animal Products in Glue?

Animal glue was much more common in the past. Historically, it’s been used for thousands of years.

In fact, the places where I’ve found animal glue to be most common is where you’re making something “old-fashioned.” So you use the old style of glue—animal glue!

According to L.D. Davis, a company that still produces animal glue today, the following is a list of some of the things animal glue still gets used for:

“Rigid and cardboard boxes, Bookbinding, Abrasives, Match heads, Laminating, Paper crimping, Antique restoration, Woodworking, Gummed tapes, Glass chipping, Musical instruments, Stationary, Paintballs, Birdseed molds, Art canvas sizing”

Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean all cardboard boxes or all musical instruments are made with animal glue. These are just applications where it may be used.

In fact, when it comes to bookbinding, which is included on this list, I’ve found that the majority of bookbinders have switched to synthetic glue.

Similarly, in woodworking, it’s mostly specific types of woodworking where animal glue is popular—mainly furniture restoration and musical instruments. Common “wood glue” is synthetic and vegan!

Anyway, animal glue does still exist. So let’s cover some of the specific types of animal glue you might see.

Hide or Skin Glue

Hide glue is the most common animal glue that I actually see people using today. It’s made from boiling animal skins to get the collagen protein, which is sticky.

Hide glue is often recommended for woodworking, particularly with furniture restoration or musical instruments. Why? Because it can be softened and taken apart without damaging the wood. Hide glue allows for reversibility.

You might specifically see “rabbit skin glue,” too. As the name implies, this glue is not vegan.

One remaining question I have about “hide glue” pertains to Titebond’s liquid hide glue, which is called Genuine Hide Glue.

I read in a forum that Titebond’s Genuine Hide Glue is actually synthetic. But the name (“Genuine”) suggests otherwise, and I didn’t hear back from the company when I asked. More on Titebond below.

Gelatin in Glue

Apparently, one common way that animal glue gets produced today is from leftover gelatin scraps from the pharmaceutical industry.

Gelatin, if you’re not familiar, is made from boiling animal skins, joints, hooves, and the like. And the pharmaceutical industry uses a lot of it for things like pill casings.

Well, these pill factories seem to have a bunch of leftover scraps created after punching out all those pill shapes. Animal glue companies apparently buy it and make glue from it. (source)

Other Animal Glues: Bone, Fish, Casein, Albumen

Here are some other types of animal glues you might see:

Bone glue: Animal protein glue can also be made from bones. Apparently, most nineteenth-century furniture was made with bone glue. It was common until the mid-twentieth century when it became too slow and inconvenient compared to synthetic glues (source).

Fish glue and isinglass: Isinglass is some kind of fish gelatin that can show up in the wine-making process, too. I found there is “sturgeon glue” made of isinglass that is used for stuff like parchment paper restoration. Supposedly fish glue is a lighter-colored, weaker adhesive compared to hide glue.

Casein is a protein in milk, and it can also be used to make glue. In the past, it was used a lot in woodworking, furniture, and even in aviation during World War I. But since the creation of newer, synthetic glues, it doesn’t seem common anymore.

Albumen is another protein found in animals. One way to collect the albumen for glue is to dry out the blood of animals. That was the old-fashioned way—not sure if it’s done anymore. Egg albumen has also been tested for use as a medical glue, but I don’t believe it’s commonly used for that currently.

Is Glue Made from Horses?

Historically, horse hooves and other horse parts were used to make glue. Today, animal-based glue is more commonly made from cattle, pigs, and fish. And of course, synthetic glue made from petroleum is far more common yet. Most glue production doesn’t involve animals at all.

Side Note: This is the best free video introduction I’ve found on adopting a plant-based diet—the right way. You’ll learn how to lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and obesity—all with plants. Watch the free Masterclass here.

Types of Vegan Glue

So when I say “most glue is vegan,” what exactly is in those types of glue? If it’s not boiled animal protein, what is it?

Most vegan glue is synthetically produced from petroleum. Some other glues are made from plants such as corn.

Here’s a bit deeper look into each of those categories:

Synthetic Glue (Often From Petroleum)

Today, the most common and affordable way to produce adhesives is with petroleum, natural gas, and other substances like that.

Specific chemical reactions can be carried out to build complex polymers with desired properties. It’s pretty amazing from a technological perspective, although I can’t vouch for all of it being eco-friendly.

Here’s a list of common synthetic glues:

• Polyvinyl acetate (PVA). PVA glue is made from a reaction between acetylene and acetic acid. PVA is the basis for Elmer’s glue, many wood glues, and others. Very common.
  
• Cyanoacrylates, made from reacting cyanoacrylic acid with an alcohol. This type of glue is fast-acting and includes things like super glue and crazy glue.
  
• Epoxy adhesives are also made synthetically from petroleum. As described here, epoxy glues contain two parts—an epoxy resin and a curing agent. It’s a common adhesive in industrial contexts.
  
• Polyurethane glues provide another synthetic option. Reactions between isocyanates and polyols lead to these cross-linked polymers.
  
• And many more! There are so many adhesives that can be made from petroleum, all with different properties and purposes. Two more common ones: vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) and vinyl acetate acrylates (VAA).

All of these synthetic glues are vegan for practical purposes—that is, they are not made from animals.

Plant-Based Glue

There are also organic glues made from vegetable starch, resins, cellulose, and other plant materials. These are also typically vegan.

One of the most popular plant-based glues is made from gum arabic, a product of the acacia tree. My understanding is that it’s a product of the sap from that tree.

And a big category of plant-based glue would be starch or dextrin adhesives. One example of these, which I’ll cover in more depth below, is envelope glue. Starch-based glue is also common in product packaging.

Vegan Glue F.A.Q.

Now let’s cover the real, practical questions. Which of the common brands and types of glue available today are vegan?

Like I explained above, most glue is vegan. But let’s dive into each category and see if there’s anything specific to address with that type of glue.

Is Elmer’s Glue Vegan?

Elmer’s glue is vegan. The company website clearly states, “Elmer’s does not use animals or animal parts to make glue. Our products are made from synthetic materials and are not derived from processing horses, cows or any other animals.”

When answering a question about using Elmer’s with a milk allergy, the company also said this: “Our products are derived from synthetic materials, not any type of animal or milk protein.” (source)

The exact recipe for Elmer’s glue is proprietary, but their signature school glue one of many glues made from polyvinyl acetate (PVA). This is a polymer produced synthetically.

Elmer’s produces a broad array of glues and adhesive products, so others may be based on cyanoacrylates or other polymers. In any case, the original material for Elmer’s glue are petroleum, natural gas, or other materials—not animals.

Interestingly, Elmer’s glue used to contain casein, a milk protein, back when the brand was owned by Borden (a dairy producer). And this is actually the origin story behind the cow in the Elmer’s logo.

However, Elmer’s has long since dropped casein from its recipe. Today, like most glue on the market, Elmer’s is vegan.

Is Gorilla Glue Vegan?

All Gorilla Glue products are vegan. Representatives from The Gorilla Glue Company have confirmed that they do not perform any animal testing, and none of their products contain animal by-products or animal-derived ingredients.

Gorilla Glue makes a ton of different glue products that are widely loved. That’s why it’s awesome that their response to my email was one of the best of any company.

I emailed the company in December 2019 to ask if their products contain any animal products, and this was their response:

“We believe strongly in the inherent rights of animals. Therefore, The Gorilla Glue Company does not perform any kind of animal testing, and there are no animal by-products or animal-derived ingredients in any of our products.”

Personally, I like this response. Not only does it clearly and fully answer the question, but it even affirms the “inherent rights of animals.” This may just be a public relations move, but I like it.

I feel good about supporting a company that’s willing to say they believe in animal rights, rather than just informing you that their product happens to be animal-free.

So I was happy with Gorilla Glue’s response, and I will gladly support them as a vegan.

Is Weldbond Vegan?

Weldbond glue is vegan. It is a type of PVA glue (polyvinyl acetate), which is made synthetically from petroleum. The Weldbond website also states clearly that their glue is vegan-friendly, not tested on animals and with no animal ingredients.

I love how prominently Weldbond declares itself to be a vegan product. While some glue companies make you send them an email just to find out if the product contains animal products, Weldbond clearly states it on their FAQ page.

Here’s their precise wording, complete with humor and all:

“Weldbond® is not tested on animals and does not contain any animal by-products. This product is vegan-friendly. However, that doesn’t mean it makes for a great salad dressing. Don’t eat it.”

I even saw this Weldbond advertisement (below) which lists “no animal by-products” as one of the benefits of the product! Now that’s a vegan-friendly glue! Awesome company to support. Grab some here on Amazon.

Are Glue Sticks Vegan?

Glue sticks are usually vegan. As with most glue used today, the glue in glue sticks is synthetically produced from petroleum products, not animals.

We’ve already covered the fact that Elmer’s glue and Gorilla Glue products are all vegan. So this definitely includes Elmer’s glue sticks and Gorilla Kids glue sticks.

Two other popular brands of glue sticks are Pritt and UHU.

Unfortunately, when I reached out to Pritt and UHU to ask if their glue sticks are vegan, I didn’t receive any reply. But honestly, I feel pretty confident they’re vegan anyway. It’s just so uncommon to include animal products in these mass-produced adhesives today.

Are Glue Dots Vegan?

Glue Dots are vegan. The company has stated that its products are synthetic and rubber-based, not containing animal products. In addition, they’ve confirmed they do not use animals when conducting tests on their products.

Glue Dots are an interesting product that I honestly hadn’t even heard of before writing this post. But that didn’t stop me from investigating what they are made of!

I emailed the company in December 2019 to ask if Glue Dots are vegan, and this was their response:

“Our products are produced using a variety of synthetic, rubber-based adhesives. As such, these adhesives do not contain any animal by-products. Also, we do not use animals when conducting tests on its material and/or products.”

Personally, I’m satisfied with this response and would give Glue Dots a stamp of vegan approval.

Is Super Glue Vegan?

Super glue is generally considered vegan. Like most glue today, super glue consists of synthetic polymers sourced from petroleum. With super glue, those polymers are mainly cyanoacrylates. They do not include animal ingredients.

There are many brands of super glue, but if your specific brand isn’t listed anywhere on this page, I would assume your super glue is vegan.

There is no reason to include animal products in super glue, and the brands that responded did confirm that they don’t contain animal products.

(Remember from above that all Elmer’s glue and all Gorilla glue is vegan, so that applies to those brands’ super glue, too.)

Is Krazy Glue Vegan?

Krazy Glue is vegan. The glue is made from ethyl cyanoacrylate, a chemical not sourced from animals. In addition, customer service representatives from Krazy Glue have specified that their products contain no animal ingredients.

Krazy Glue is one of the biggest brands of superglue, so I wanted to send them to confirm the vegan status of their product if possible.

I sent the company an email request in December 2019 to confirm that their product does not contain animal products. Here is a quote from their response:

“Like you, we are also concerned about animal by-products/testing. Every effort is made to avoid such practices. We are happy to inform you that there is no animal content in our products.”

As you can see, their response did not explicitly say that Krazy Glue isn’t tested on animals—they just said they’re “concerned about” it. But they did confirm that the product contains no animal products.

Is Epoxy Vegan?

Epoxy is vegan. Like most types of adhesives used today, it is produced synthetically from petroleum products, not animals. The typical ingredients used for both the epoxy resin and curing agents are vegan.

Epoxies can be used as super-strong adhesives. A lot of people working with metal will make epoxies their go-to adhesive—even as an alternative to welding.

Like mentioned above, epoxies contain two parts: the epoxy resin and a hardener or curing agent. You mix them together and you have a certain amount of time before it sets—usually between 2 and 60 minutes.

The most well-known brand in a shop context is J.B. Weld. Loctite also makes some great epoxies. And of course, there are other brands, too. To my knowledge, all of these are vegan.

If you want to take a closer look at the ingredients inside of industrial epoxies like J.B. Weld, check out this article from Wired. It lists out all the ingredients. And there are no animal ingredients! It’s vegan.

Is Loctite Vegan?

Loctite adhesives appear to be vegan. The company produces many different kinds of products, from super glue to epoxies. These adhesives are made from polyurethane, synthetic latex, ethyl cyanoacrylate, and many other synthetic polymers.

When I emailed Loctite to confirm whether their products are vegan, I did not get a response. However, like most companies mentioned in this post, they seem to deal mostly if not entirely with synthetic glues made from chemical processes.

I would be surprised if many (or even any) of Loctite’s products contain animal ingredients. But some vegans may not be satisfied with this level of uncertainty.

If you really want to know whether Loctite is vegan, I encourage you to ask the company yourself. The more people who ask, the more pressure they will have to make it more clear publicly.

Is Craft Glue Vegan?

All the common kinds of craft glue are vegan. This includes e6000, Mod Podge, Elmer’s, Aleene’s Tacky Glue, Glue Dots, and all kinds of super glue. These glues are all made from synthetic polymers, not animal ingredients.

Again, the main uses of animal glue today are just specific types of woodworking and select other uses. Arts and crafts is not one of those areas.

We already know that all Elmer’s glue is vegan, so we know this applies to Elmer’s Craft Bond glue. Let’s look at some other popular glues used in the crafting context specifically.

Is e6000 Glue Vegan?

E6000 is a vegan product. It is a synthetically produced adhesive, not an animal glue. Representatives from Eclectic Products LLC, the company that produces e6000, have confirmed that it contains no animal products and it is not tested on animals.

I sent Eclectic Products LLC an email in December 2019 to confirm that e6000 does not contain animal ingredients. Here’s a quote from their response:

“Our adhesive is a synthetic product that contains no animal parts as a starting material (it is not a glue, it is an adhesive).  We manufacture our products at our Louisiana facility and do not test our products on any animals.”

To me, this is a reassuring response. They were direct and fully answered the question I asked. I feel good about using e6000 as a vegan.

Is Mod Podge Vegan?

Mod Podge is considered vegan. Representatives from Plaid, the creator of Mod Podge, have stated that all their products are made from synthetic and plant materials, with no animal by-products. Plaid has also confirmed Mod Podge is not tested on animals.

People use Mod Podge for stuff like making paper-mache projects. I’m not too familiar with it myself, but I know it’s popular with art students!

Well, here’s some feedback from another vegan who very persistent in asking the company detailed questions about the vegan status of Mod Podge.

To me, Plaid’s response is certainly adequate to consider Mod Podge to be vegan.

Is Tacky Glue Vegan?

Aleene’s Tacky Glue appears to be vegan. It is a polyvinyl acetate (PVA) based glue. Most PVA glues are vegan, being synthetically produced from petroleum.

Although representatives from Aleene’s have not responded to my inquiry yet, I have seen others online say that the company did confirm with them in the past that Tacky Glue is vegan.

Is Wood Glue Vegan?

Wood glue is usually vegan. Most wood glues are made from polyvinyl acetate (PVA), which is synthetic and vegan. Other common glues in woodworking are made from cyanoacrylate, epoxy, and resin—these are also vegan. The main non-vegan glue to be cautious of is hide glue.

As mentioned above, Gorilla glue and Elmer’s glue are vegan across the board. So this also applies to wood glue sold by Gorilla and Elmer’s.

Perhaps the most popular wood glue brand, however, is Titebond.

Titebond comes in various formulations. I emailed them to get confirmation that their glues are not made with animal products. Unfortunately, they did not respond. However, their website contains a fair amount of info about their products.

Is Titebond Wood Glue Vegan?

Most Titebond glue is vegan. The majority of their products, including their Original Wood Glue, are clearly synthetic, not made from animals. The only Titebond glue that may not be vegan is their Genuine Hide Glue, made from a natural protein solution. I was unable to confirm whether it contains animal products.

As mentioned above, I have seen forum comments online saying that Titebond’s hide glue is actually synthetic. But their website does not say, and Titebond didn’t respond to my inquiry.

Some people do use real hide glue in their woodworking, particularly in furniture restoration and for wooden instruments. The hide glue helps allow for reversibility because it can be softened back up and the joints can be taken apart.

However, be assured, most “wood glue” that you find in the store is not hide glue, and it is not made from animal ingredients. The far majority of what is known as “wood glue” is vegan.

Is Hot Glue Vegan?

Hot glue sticks are generally vegan. They are made synthetically with thermoplastic polymers such as ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyethylene. Hot glue sticks are not produced from animal hooves or any other animal by-product.

Considering this, most vegans are comfortable buying whichever brand of glue gun glue they find. It is assumed that any brand would be vegan.

However, if you want more certainty, then one hot glue stick brand we can confirm to be vegan is Gorilla. As mentioned above, Gorilla Glue has confirmed that it uses no animal by-products in their glues. You can get Gorilla hot glue sticks here (Amazon link).

Is Shoe Glue Vegan?

Most shoe glue is vegan. Historically, animal-based glues were used, but synthetic glues have become more cost-effective in the last century. It’s still difficult to confirm exactly which shoe brands use vegan glue today, but evidence suggests that synthetic glues are the standard.

An article by Sneaker Freaker explains that synthetic glues are the norm for shoes today. The article lists off a bunch of popular shoe companies that “embrace synthetic glues or offer specific vegan-friendly styles that can guarantee the glue is 100 percent animal-free.”

That wording doesn’t necessarily mean that these companies use exclusively vegan glue, but here’s that list of brands from Sneaker Freaker: “Adidas, Brooks, Globe, Mizuno, Reebok, Vans, Converse, and ASICS.”

In order to get some more solid data, however, I tried to speak with some of the actual shoe companies and figure out how they’re glue is produced.

Asking Shoe Companies If Their Glue Is Vegan

It can be hard to get the answer to whether each shoe company uses vegan glue or not. To get a sampling of answers for myself, I tried asking Converse and Nike.

The Converse rep I communicated with said, “to my knowledge, it is not animal glue” in their shoes. But then when I asked for more information, they just said it is proprietary information and can’t be shared.

The Nike rep I communicated with said, “we have no specific information regarding the glue. But, our glue was an environmental glue. That’s the only information that we have here. I apologize for this.” Not very helpful.

But I actually have some extra info on Nike’s shoe glue.

Is Nike’s Glue Vegan?

The best info I could find on whether Nike’s glue is vegan comes from this article by Vegan Norway. It’s kind of a crazy story, but the author knew someone who got hold of a particularly knowledgeable Nike rep in Germany.

That German Nike rep was able to share this (translated to English from the original German):

“Since the contents of our adhesives are a well-kept secret, it was not easy to find someone who could answer the question, but I have been told that the adhesive is manufactured from water-based materials and without animal products.“

Wow! Such a runaround to figure out whether Nike’s glue is vegan, but here we go. Translated from a German customer service email, we apparently have the best available answer online today: Nike’s glue is apparently vegan.

Shoe Glue Conclusions

Hopefully, in the future, shoe companies will be under more consumer pressure to publicly declare whether their products are vegan, so we can get better, more reliable statements.

For now, this is why I don’t personally bother with checking whether the glue in a pair of shoes is vegan. If the shoes don’t have leather, suede, or other obvious animal skin in the material, I don’t worry about the glue.

If you feel like you need a shoe with vegan glue, and you want to be 100% sure, you can choose a company that makes veganism part of its message, like Will’s Vegan Shoes. Or you can contact the companies to see if some of them will actually have a solid answer for you.

Bottom line: Most shoe glue is vegan, but it’s hard to find out for sure unless you go with a company that’s specifically dedicated to veganism and chooses to share that information publicly.

[Related post: Here Are 13 of the Best Vegan Sneakers for Men.]

Is Eyelash Glue Vegan?

Eyelash glue is generally vegan. Like super glue, they are made from cyanoacrylates, which are synthetically produced. Every lash glue company that responded to my questions was able to confirm with me that their adhesives do not contain animal products.

I’ve included answers from several of the popular lash glue options below, but another resource to check out would be this post all about cruelty-free lashes and lash glues.

Is Due Lash Glue Vegan?

Duo LashGrip adhesive is vegan. Ardell, the company that produces Duo, has confirmed that the lash glue contains no animal products and is not tested on animals.

I sent Ardell an inquiry to ask if any of their lash glues contain animal products, and I specifically mentioned Duo adhesives. This was their response:

Thank you for reaching out to us here at Ardell. Our Duo LashGrip adhesives are vegan and is not tested on animals.

So Duo lash glue should be good to go!

Is House of Lashes Glue Vegan?

House of Lashes glue is certified vegan. It is acrylic based. The company has also clarified that they do not use animal by-products in any of their offerings.

This is from the House of Lashes FAQ page:

“we can assure you we do not use any animal or animal by products…. Our lash adhesive is acrylic based and doesn’t contain any animal product and is vegan certified.”

Is Sky Glue Vegan?

Sky Glue is vegan. The company has confirmed that its eyelash extension glue contains no animal products and is never tested on animals.

I emailed Sky Glue in December 2019 to ask if its adhesives are vegan, and this is a snippet from the response I got:

None of our products contain any animal products and they are never tested on animals.

This is about as clear and concise as it gets. Sky Glue is good to go!

Is Envelope Glue Vegan?

Envelope glue is vegan. It is typically made from a starch or dextrin adhesive, usually from corn or gum arabic. Some envelopes and stamps may use petroleum-based glue instead, but these are also vegan. Envelope glue is not made from horse hooves.

I actually had some difficulty pinning down exactly what envelope glue is made of. But most sources say it’s gum arabic or corn. Either way, it’s vegan.

Years ago, there were emails circulating that told stories of cockroach eggs being in envelope glue. There was even a story of someone’s tongue being cut on an envelope, and then a live cockroach growing inside of their tongue.

But it turns out that was a hoax!

Envelope glue is also gluten-free, by the way. Although starch adhesive can be made from wheat, it’s usually made from corn or potatoes. There are a bunch of gluten-free resources that have covered this issue in more depth.

Is Book Glue Vegan?

Book glue is usually vegan. Although animal glue was historically the standard in bookbinding, binders today have mostly switched to synthetic glues such as polyurethane, polyvinyl acetate, and ethylene-vinyl acetate.

Some websites do list bookbinding among the industries that still use animal glue. But when I dug deeper, I mostly saw evidence that bookbinding, like many industries, has largely moved to using synthetic glues.

In an article from Harvard University Press (HUP), Paul Parisi of ACME Bookbinding explains:

“Most adhesive binding for perfect binding, notch-cased binding and sewn bindings would be EVA (hot-melt which is wax based—not protein), PUR (polyurethane) or PVA (polyvinyl acetate). These are all chemical formulations and I imagine have some petroleum basis rather than protein/animal.”

Some specific types of books and catalogs may be more likely than others to still use animal glue. The HUP article states that catalogs and directories may still use animal glue. But most of the time, book glue is vegan.

Is Caulk Vegan?

Caulk is generally vegan. It is usually made from synthetically produced polymers like latex or silicone. This production process does not involve animal hooves or any other animal by-products.

I’m not sure if caulk is even technically a form of adhesive or glue at all, but I figured I would include it here. And just so you know: it’s vegan—just another synthetically produced polymer.

Is Edible Glue Vegan?

Edible glue is usually vegan, but not always. There are different kinds. When it’s made from tylose powder or CMC powder, it is almost always vegan. When it’s made from fondant or gum paste, it depends on the brand or recipe used.

Edible glue, used for cake baking, is sometimes called tylose glue or gum glue because it often just contains tylose powder and water. Tylose powder is vegan, so we’re all good there.

Another recipe for edible glue is just CMC powder (carboxymethylcellulose) and water. CMC is also completely fine from a vegan perspective, so these recipes are vegan, too.

Fondant is also sometimes used as an ingredient in edible glue. Take note that Satin Ice and Wilton brands of fondant are vegan, but some other brands do contain gelatin or other animal ingredients.

Gum paste is also sometimes used as an ingredient in edible glue. Gum paste often contains eggs or gelatin, so these recipes are less likely to be vegan. However, you can find/make vegan gum paste. From what I can tell, Wilton gum paste appears to be vegan.

In Closing: Practical Glue Advice for Vegans

It might be hard to ensure that all of your shoes, furniture, car, home, and other larger items never contain animal-based glue. It’s hard to track and know because glue is so widely used.

Do you need to check with all the manufacturers of your electronics, clothes, and car about what glue they use?

No, you don’t have to do that. Many of them may not even be able to get you an accurate answer.

All vegans make decisions about how “far” to take their strict adherence to vegan buying habits. But there is always some level of compromise—and that’s okay.

As veganism has become more popular, there are more vegan products today than 12 years ago (when I personally went vegan). This means that, for example, you actually can find vegan shoe companies today that guarantee no animal-based glues were used.

But in general, our society as a whole isn’t oriented toward serving the most strict vegans. If you go into a furniture store and start asking them how the glue in their tables was made, they probably won’t even know.

So here’s what I recommend: When buying actual glue, go ahead and choose vegan options. Most glues are synthetic and vegan anyway. But don’t worry about making certain that every product in your home is made with vegan glue.

As society wakes up more to the importance of animal rights, these old unnecessary uses of animals will be completely phased out at some point.

But for the practical vegan today, just focus on getting to something like 98% vegan. Then, instead of obsessing about your own last 2%, focus on inspiring others to try with their own initial 98%.

Two More Recommendations for Your Plant-Based Journey

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