Best adhesive for collage

[David Stafford]

A friend asks: What's the best adhesive for magazine collage that won't wrinkle the paper? I told him Spray Mount...anybody have any other suggestions?

[Kosmo Vinyl]

Could you tell us any more about this "liquid glue-water mix" ?

[Kosmo Vinyl]

Anyone know anything about Yasutomo Nori "paste" ? I spotted some in an Art Supply store here in NYC, but thought I'd ask IUOMA before buying any.

[Ptrzia (TICTAC)]

it's a rice based glue, slow drying and it can be mixed with water if needed. i have used it on very thin paper but it has many other uses. that particular make here is expensive(germany) but a small amount of paste goes a long way. i find it very good.

[Kosmo Vinyl]

Thanks Ptrzia you say "slow drying" - how long ?

[Kosmo Vinyl]

Thanks Mary, as mentioned earlier in this Discussion wheat and rice pastes seem to be favored by conservators (? Did I make that word up ?) 

[Kosmo Vinyl]

Not much said about it, but it was mentioned. Re "plasticky" I have a pal who says if you make it up and it's understood it's a word !

[Ptrzia (TICTAC)]

as Mary answered, it takes quite a while, yes hours, also it depends how much it's diluted. i used it as it was in the jar. it gave me time to reposition the bits and pieces to perfection. i used it with newspaper paper and it did not pucker, that was mostly my concern more than the time to dry. i know bookbinders use it too and leave the book under press 24 hours. anyways i don't use my materials as i should, i experiment a LOT. :-)

[John Gayer]

I came across this recently, which relates to a request regarding: Adhesive for butterfly wings in Nature Print Album -  some of it may apply to collage work

You might be considering the use of an adhesive like what was used in the
original installation. It seems to have survived for 100 years or so. If so,
here is a brief discussion about the adhesives available in Japan in the
early part of the 20th C. 

Pretty much every household in Japan right up to the post war period used to
keep two kinds of plant based adhesive (mucilage) around for various
household repair tasks. For heavy lifting a strong adhesive called nori was
cooked up from wheat starch into a glue like the wallpaper paste we are
familiar with in the west. It would be used for applying and repairing the
paper on shoji screens and probably for pasting photos in the family album.

Another less well known but long used Japanese mucilage is called funori.
Funori is the term for both starch bearing seaweeds that grow only in the
sea of Japan,  and for the starchy size/adhesive extracted from it. Funori
was and still is used with washi (Japanese paper) in a poultice fashion for
dry cleaning silk fabric, as a size for blocking kimonos before assembly,
and as a less strong adhesive for many delicate tasks. My guess is that 13
mm butterfly wings fall into the delicate category.

Dried seaweed of the type that produces the adhesive called funori can be
purchased from conservation supply houses like Talas.  Simply cook it up and
strain out the plant fibre and lumps to make a yellowish starchy adhesive
like the one used a hundred years ago for your wings. Another option we have
developed from the same seaweed is a more refined and crystal clear version
of this same adhesive called TRI-Funori. Filtration technology has improved
over the past hundred years and by simple filtration with no additives or
bleaches, we are able to remove all the color from the extract and retain
the polysaccharide starch that makes it adhesive. The freeze dried result of
this is a new and useful iteration of the starch. TRI-Funori is also
available from Talas or on line at www.TRI-Funori.com.

[Bradford]

Yes, and at $71 a gram it's costlier than most drugs.

[John Gayer]

Holy s***! Just a wee bit prohibitive.

[𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕨𝕚𝕤]

Spray mount is horrible, it smells too strong.

I prefer:

Glue sticks

YES! paste stickflat glue bookbinding adhesive

Rubber cement which is also smelly but not a spray at least.

[Kathleen Thoma]

Archival is better. Use clear acrylic gell medium for both the glue and finish to protect it afterwards. It is waterproof once it is dry. As a professional artist it is all I use or need for collage.