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Epoxy or mitre adhesive: which two-part pack to open

Updated: 23 October 2026

Both boxes say two-part, and both promise a strong bond, so it is easy to treat them as the same glue in different packaging. They are not. A mitre adhesive is cyanoacrylate plus a spray, and it grabs in about 10 seconds with no chance to slide. An epoxy is resin and hardener that you mix, and it gives you minutes, or much longer, to place the parts. This page is that one decision. The scored packs are on the [two-part adhesive comparison](/hub/fillers-adhesives-and-sprays/two-part-adhesive). Products Compared did not run a strength test. Prices and star counts are amazon.co.uk figures from 20 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

Both boxes say two-part, and both promise a strong bond, so it is easy to treat them as the same glue in different packaging. They are not.

Our top picks

Sika Everbuild Mitre Fast 50 g, MITRE1IND

Best overall

Sika Everbuild Mitre Fast 50 g, MITRE1IND
9.2/10about £7.50
View offer
Araldite Araldite Rapid ARA-400005

Best value

Araldite Araldite Rapid ARA-400005
9.0/10about £7.85
View offer
Araldite Araldite Standard ARA-400001

Rank 3

Araldite Araldite Standard ARA-400001
7.6/10about £7.47
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Same words, opposite use
  2. 2.When the activator kit is the one
  3. 3.When the epoxy is the one
  4. 4.The recommendation with a condition

Same words, opposite use

If the two faces are already where they must stay, the activator kit is the shorter job: adhesive on one face, a light spray on the other, then hold. If you still need to wriggle a ceramic shard, a chair spindle or a metal bracket into line, mix epoxy. Stirring a mitre kit does not create that open time. Mitre Fast is about 10 seconds and a 0.2 mm gap on the Sika sheet from August 2025. Araldite Rapid’s pot life is about 5–8 minutes for a 100 g mix at 25°C, and ARA-400005’s listing says 2 hours to full cure. Araldite Standard allows about 80 minutes to reposition and about 14 hours to full strength. Those numbers are time, not a strength ranking. The sequence is on how to use two part epoxy.

When the activator kit is the one

Use it for skirting, architrave and uPVC trim when the saw cut is already true. The top pick for that job is Everbuild Mitre Fast MITRE1IND, 50 g plus 200 ml, at £7.50, with 4.7 from 4,731 reviews. The bullets say a bond within 10 seconds and a gap up to 0.2 mm. Reviewers say the joint will not slide after contact, so line the mitre up in the air. This ASIN’s water field says Not Water Resistant. Two other Mitre Fast listings say Water Resistant. EVO-STIK’s own copy can say water resistant and still exclude continuous immersion. We quote each field as printed and do not call the kit waterproof. The activator is a hydrocarbon aerosol, so you ventilate and keep it off ignition. A wide gap, a hole, or a joint you must nudge is epoxy, not a heavier spray.
Sika Everbuild Mitre Fast 50 g, MITRE1IND

Testsieger

Sika Everbuild Mitre Fast 50 g, MITRE1IND
9.2/10about £7.50
View offer

When the epoxy is the one

Use epoxy when placement is the hard part. Araldite Rapid ARA-400005, two 15 ml tubes at £7.85 with 4.6 from 4,653 reviews, is the best value epoxy for a break you can support, with a 2 hour field on that listing. Hold or tape the joint. It will not grab a sagging skirting run, and the bullets exclude a rear-view mirror. Ignore the VELCRO Brand cell. Choose Araldite Standard, ARA-400001 at £7.47, when a few minutes are not enough. The listing says sand or paint after 14 hours. The brand cell says Best Price Square, so read the tubes. A trade sheet gives about 80 minutes to reposition. Polyethylene, polypropylene and PTFE stay outside both.

The recommendation with a condition

Use the activator kit when the mitre is already cut true, the gap is within about 0.2 mm, and you can align it before the faces touch. Use epoxy when you still need time to place the parts, Rapid if that time is a few minutes, Standard if you need the longer window and an overnight clamp. Use neither as a polyethylene repair, a fuel joint, or a load-bearing fix. We do not call either side stronger. ISO 4587 on an Araldite sheet is a laboratory lap-shear method, not a British Standard approval of your repair. A grey metal-filled syringe is a third case, for metal you can leave overnight, and its cure cell is not usable as printed. If you cannot place the parts, you are still in epoxy. If the parts are already a perfect mitre, you are still in the activator kit.

Common questions

Which one lets me adjust the joint?
Epoxy. Rapid gives a few minutes at room temperature. Standard, on the trade sheet, gives on the order of 80 minutes to reposition, then a long clamp. A mitre kit grabs in about 10 seconds and will not slide afterwards. If the pieces must move after contact, mix a small equal batch and support it.
Which one is for skirting mitres?
The activator kit, when the cut is tight. Mitre Fast is specified to about 0.2 mm and about 10 seconds, and the 50 g kit at £7.50 has the large review file. Epoxy will not grab a length of skirting before gravity opens the mitre unless you can clamp it. The spray will not close a gap you left in the cut.
Is a mitre kit stronger than epoxy?
This comparison did not measure that. The mitre kit is for speed on a close joint. Epoxy is for open time and for breaks that are not a 0.2 mm mitre. ISO 4587 on a trade sheet is a lab method, not a winner on your skirting. A foamed, over-glued mitre can be weaker than a thin one.
Can either fill a hole?
Not the mitre kit. Its stated gap is 0.2 mm. Epoxy can bridge a wider joint if it stays put, but runny mixes in this set still fall out of vertical holes. A missing chunk is no longer a choice between these two systems.
Are they waterproof?
Do not treat them as immersion adhesives. On B00BDTF0PW the field says Not Water Resistant. Two other Mitre Fast ASINs say Water Resistant, and the Sika extract has no waterproof claim. Rapid ARA-400005 and Standard say water resistant on their listings. Quote the ASIN you are buying. None of those words is a soak test from this project.

Related pages

Two-part adhesive buying guide

Two-part adhesive for plastic

Two-part adhesive

Best two part adhesive for the job in front of you

How to use two part epoxy: five minutes is not full

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts were taken from the listings on 20 October 2026.

  1. Sika Mitre Fast product data sheet, August 2025 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. HSE, GB classification and labelling (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. HSE, safety data sheets (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. legislation.gov.uk, retained CLP (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK, NPIS chemicals information (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. Araldite Rapid technical data sheet (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. HSE RR79, epoxy skin sensitisation (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. NHSGGC tissue adhesives (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  9. J-B Weld PlasticBonder (retrieved 20 October 2026)