Acrylic Pouring Recipe With Elmer'S Glue

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These days there are many kinds of paints, surfaces, pouring mediums, and additives that acrylic pouring artists use to create with.  Each of these items has its strengths, weaknesses, and associated monetary costs.  With this in mind, we are exploring one of the more inexpensive, but highly effective, pouring mediums commonly available to most artists; PVA glue.

PVA, or polyvinyl acetate, glue works quite well as a pouring medium.  The texture and composition mix nicely with acrylic paints and dries into a sturdy, slightly flexible, solid that adheres to many different painting surfaces.  PVA glue is also relatively inexpensive and easy to find in most countries.

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Read on for more information about the composition of PVA glue and a few of the advantages and disadvantages of using PVA glue in your fluid acrylic pouring project.

PVA glue is a multi-purpose glue made from polyvinyl acetate.  This glue is most commonly used as an adhesive to porous materials like wood, cloth, paper, and cardboard.   

Vinyl and acrylic resins are similar in composition with vinyl being a much cheaper alternative, hence its use in things like house paint and glue.   The vinyl resin is both a hardener and a binder which makes it an ideal candidate for extending acrylic paint without compromising its strength and composition.

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One major factor in favor of using PVA glue for your acrylic paint pour is the price.    All-purpose glue like Elmer’s Glue-All can be found any almost any hardware, grocery, or convenient store.  This glue costs a fraction of the price of most name brand acrylic paint pouring mediums.

When used in an acrylic paint pour, glue tends to have fewer cells form naturally when compared to other pouring mediums like Floetrol or Liquitex Pouring Medium.  This is especially beneficial when you are looking to get more solid colors in your paint pour techniques like a ring pour.

Cells are a tricky business with fluid art and we recommend you read our article specifically dedicated to cells here. Strength and Drying Times

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PVA glues were created to improve the strength of the glue and to minimize their drying times.   PVA glues are made of binders/resins, water, and ethanol or acetone.

The binders/resins create the bonding connection between surfaces.  The water gives the mixtures it’s fluidity and contributes to how long the material takes to dry.  The ethanol or acetone is used to control how quickly the glue dries.

Acrylic pour artists expect their paintings to take a day or two to dry and a few weeks to fully cure.  

Acrylic Paint Crackle Effect

Since many acrylic paints are more matte, when combined with a pouring medium made of semi-gloss glue and water you get a shinier result when dried. 

Another plus for using PVA glue as your pouring medium is that it is non-toxic.  These glues are made from synthetic materials that do not create very much outgassing.  No special equipment like masks or gloves is required when using PVA glue.

Many acrylic paint pouring artists us PVA glue as the base of their pouring medium.  Here are a few of the most common ratios we have seen for a pouring medium.  PVA glues are usually quite thick so water or another liquid is added to give the medium a less viscous consistency.

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For craft paints, we mix a 1:1 ratio of paint to glue-based medium.  For student quality acrylic paints the ratio is 1:2 parts paint to pouring medium.  Heavy body acrylics and professional paints the ratio goes up to 1:3 or 4 depending on how vibrant you want the colors to look.

Most glue looks slightly opaque (or misty white).  When added to acrylic paints the colors will look lighter.  When the glue dries, it will dry clear and your colors will show brighter than they looked in the original liquid mixture.  Keep that in mind when mixing your acrylic pour paints with a glue-based medium.

Don’t forget to read our Best Acrylic Paints for Pouring article to get insight into some of the great acrylic paint brands we use. Additives for PVA Glue based Pours

Understanding The Techniques Of Pouring Acrylics

There are a few different types of PVA glue that you can use.   Here I a list of the most common ones, at least the United States. 

Archival refers to the lifespan of a material and how well said materials keeps its original color, texture, and form.  Because the composition of PVA glues varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, every glue is going to have a different archival quality.

Most PVA glues, like School Glue, Clear Glue, and Elmer’s Glue-All are slightly acidic.  These glues will last years but will break down over time in part because of the acid.   However, based on what we’ve seen from other artists, this time tends to be in the decades for acrylic pour art.

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Many fine artists prefer book binder’s glue or other similar acid-free or PH neutral glues as they will last much longer than traditional glues.  Bookbinders and acid-free glues are also more expensive than more common PVA glues.

Hello, I’m David. I am a Computer Technologist by trade and I have always envied artistic people. For years I have been enchanted with all the amazing acrylic paint pours I see on social media. Come to find out, even a left-brained nerd like myself can create beautiful artwork with fluid acrylic pouring. I created this website to chronicle all the things I’ve learned on my pouring journey.Floetrol for acrylic pouring is now a very trending medium and the amount of questions constantly increases. Is it the best way even if it is not a real pouring medium?

Why can not just use water? I can relate to all your worries so let’s just follow official guidelines and practical knowledge that I will share below.

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How much floetrol to add to acrylic paint? An excellent way is to follow official instructions and mix 1 part of Floetrol to 2 parts of acrylic paint. The best ratio for your needs depends on the paint you use, the paint consistency you want, and your experience. There are also some recipes with silicone and water.

You can be very excited about acrylic pouring. The only BUT is the price of professional mediums. You can absolutely use floetrol for acrylic pouring and there are at least 10 reasons why you should try it right now. I will cover them below as 9 Best Floetrol substitutes too.

But Floetrol pouring medium became a very affordable and effective pouring medium due to its properties: floetrol improves paint flow and adhesion, creates larger cells without damaging paint quality, and also never causes cracking.

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Floetrol for acrylic paint is the best option for beginners who are learning pouring techniques and not ready to buy expensive artist-grade mediums.

This medium is great for acrylic pouring because it makes painting dry slower, which means you don’t have to be in a rush and can enjoy the process and create a real masterpiece.

Australian Floetrol has different ingredients than American Floetrol and it is not available on Amazon (you can still buy it on eBay/Etsy).

Acrylic Paint Pouring For Beginners

It is very easy to differentiate them: US floetrol has an orange and white label, while Australian floetrol has a red and white label.

Basically, Australian Floetrol is a thinner, acrylic-based medium that has a stain conditioner in its composition, and a milky white texture it was made for acrylic paints and stain.

It is also known that Aussie floetrol creates much more cells by itself than the US option (US floetrol almost created no cells without silicone additives).

Amazon.com: Elmer's Glue All Multi Purpose Liquid Glue, Extra Strong, Great For Making Slime, 1 Gallon, 1 Count

The downside is that Australian floetrol is more expensive, especially if you will order it in the US through eBay or Etsy. The official manufacturer claims that there is no difference between them, while practice and crafters reports state otherwise!

US Floetrol is produced by Flood brand while Floetrol sold in Europe is produced by the company Owatrol which was initially owned by Flood.

US Floetrol sold in US is called Floetrol, Owatrol’s Floetrol sold in US is called Easy Flow and it is the same product.

Mixing Acrylic Paint With Pva Glue As A Pouring Medium (recipe)

Floetrol is used for water-based paint with brushes, HVLP spray guns, or airless paint sprayers depending on your needs. In this article, we only talk about using floetrol for acrylic paint pouring.

In acrylic pouring, we use Floetrol as a pouring medium, but to start pouring we also need other supplies. Before we move