Using felt for projects makes the most incredible crafts. But using the right felt glue will make sure you don’t end up with a huge sticky mess instead of your beautifully crafted felt project. Finding the best wood felt glue, cardboard felt glue, shed felt adhesive, and felt to felt adhesive is easy and you can get the right glue for the project for cheap.
This article discusses the best ways to glue felt to different materials. Tacky glue, low temperature hot glue, fabric glue, and permanent adhesives work great with felt and you can decide which is best for what you need.
What Is The Best Felt Glue?
When it comes to felt glue there are only a few options that actually work as a good adhesive: tacky glue, hot glue, fabric glue, and permanent adhesives.
The best felt glue for most projects is tacky glue. Other good felt glues are low temperature hot glue, fabric glue, and permanent glue. These adhesives hold felt better than other types of glue, are relatively easy to clean, last over time, and look good when they are dry.
The biggest differences in felt glue are how easy they are to apply, how long they take to dry, and how well the glue holds over time. See our Tips below to get a handle on some common pitfalls when using felt glue.
There is one type of glue that we tend to avoid using: Elmer’s glue. Yes, we know that some crafters like it for certain projects, but we tend to think it just makes a mess!
Felt Glue to Avoid
Most importantly, don’t use white craft glue, which is Elmer’s glue, on felt. It makes a mess! It soaks through the layers of felt so the adhesive properties don’t work very well, and it’s so watery it’s hard to control.
Top 5 Best Adhesive for Felt
iCraft Fabric Fuse dries clear, makes a permanent bond with felt, is non-toxic, and stays flexible once it dries. It won’t ripple or make a mess when you’re using it. The easy to aim nozzle makes working with even small felt projects really easy. It does stick to skin, so either wear gloves or just be careful when working with it.
- Fabric Fuse is a no-sew adhesive for all your fabric crafting projects
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Beacon Gem-Tac dries clear, permanent, light odor, non-toxic, and flexible. It doesn’t dry super fast so you have some time to get your felt in just the right place before it sets. Just be sure your project is in a safe place where it won’t get accidentally knocked around so it can dry permanently. It comes out of the bottle pretty quick, so it’s better to put it on a paper place and dab with a toothpick or the back of a paintbrush to apply it to felt.
- Secure gems and rhinestones with Gem-Tac, a premium quality adhesive that won't warp or alter their appearance.
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Felt needs a low temperature hot glue or it will melt. The Surebonder Ultra has 2 temperature settings, a stable stand, replacement nozzles, and uses standard glue sticks but is a mini glue gun. It has an auto shut-off after 30 minutes but wakes up again when you squeeze the handle.
- This Ultra Series 60-watt tool creates 1.5X the power of average full size glue guns to continually power glue for lengthy projects
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The best thing about this Aleen’s Original Tacky Glue is the nozzle. It’s designed so that when you set it down the glue just falls back into the nozzle instead of to the bottom of the bottle. It doesn’t dry so fast that you can’t manipulate the felt and let it set, but once it sets it holds permanently. It’s thick and doesn’t run.
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
How to Glue Felt To Felt
The best glue for felt to felt projects is tacky glue. It’s thick enough to stay where you put it and not get absorbed by the felt and dries slow enough that you can manipulate your pieces before they set.
But if you don’t like working with tacky glue, then try low temperature hot glue, permanent glue, or fabric glue. These will still hold felt to felt well.
Just get the felt pieces ready, apply the glue of your choice in small amounts, fix it how you want it, and allow it to dry completely.
Best Wood Felt Glue For Felt To Wood Projects
Wet cement is the best wood felt glue adhesive to glue felt to wood. It sticks well to both materials and is easy to work with. It’s neoprene-based making it high quality and waterproof, plus it dries fast. Apply a thin layer of glue to both the felt and the wood with a foam brush, then press together and hold for 1 minute. Allow it to dry for at least 15 minutes.
- DAP weld wood original contact cement premium quality, neoprene-based contact cement that meets the stringent requirements of the professional user
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
How To Glue Garden Shed Felt Roofing
The best shed felt adhesive is designed to glue watertight shed felt to a wooden shed roof. This protects the roof from moisture which leads to rot. Bituminous felt adhesive is the best choice for shed felt to wood. It’s professional grade, bonds quickly, is waterproof, and can be applied easily.
How To Glue Felt To Cardboard
The best glue for felt to cardboard projects is tacky glue or adhesive spray. If you’re creating a large project then spray is much easier to use than tacky glue because you can cover large areas and it dries in 30-60 seconds.
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Tips for Working with Glue and Adhesives
- If you’re trying to glue small areas or get into tight corners, squeeze some glue out onto a paper plate and apply to your project with a skewer or toothpick. This will allow you to dab the felt glue into small spaces, instead of trying to aim it there with the nozzle of a glue bottle
- Use clips or clothes pins to secure crafts while they dry
- Using a hot glue gun on low temperature setting works well for felt. But, if you keep experiencing leakage, it might be the glue sticks. Glue gun manufacturers specify which type of glue stick should go with which type of gun. If you have the wrong type of glue stick in the gun it will be runny and can leak. This is because the heat capacity of the gun is dependent on the thermal mass of the glue stick. So the more mass, which is the glue stick, the more energy it stores for a longer period of time. If you’re constantly pushing down globs of glue, this might be the problem.
- Use a damp pipe cleaner to clean out the nozzle of a glue bottle
Choose the Best Felt For Quality Projects
Cheap craft felt is made of plastic fibers. This makes it, well, cheap. It doesn’t stretch as well, melts easily with the heat of a hot glue gun, cuts unevenly, and can make your project look ugly. This is fine for small projects or for kids to play around with, but if you’re making a good quality item, then you may need to level up your felt.
Using a high quality felt might make all the difference in how your project turns out. There are a couple popular choices.
Billiard Felt For Projects
Billiard felt tends to resist soaking up glue which makes adhesion easier.
- Precut Accuplay 20 ounce Medium fast speed pool table felt
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
100% Merino Wool Felt For Projects
I like working with 100% merino wool felt for felting projects. Not only is it a renewable resource but it cuts, feels, and looks better than regular craft felt. It is stretchy so it will offer some give when working with it. For quality projects, it’s better than using blends.
- 100% Merino Wool Felt
Last update on 2024-04-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
