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Wood glue buying guide: class before brand

Updated: October 2026

You are about to buy one bottle for a chair rail, a dowel, a piece of MDF or a sheltered garden joint, and the amazon.co.uk search has mixed real wood glue with foam adhesive, instant glue and a hot-glue gun. A wood glue buying guide starts with the durability class and a size you will actually finish. The brand comes after those two choices. The Products Compared editorial team read the listings in the [wood glue comparison](/hub/fillers-adhesives-and-sprays/wood-glue) on 15 October 2026. Prices here are those extracts, in GBP. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. We did not run a strength test.

You are about to buy one bottle for a chair rail, a dowel, a piece of MDF or a sheltered garden joint, and the amazon.co.uk search has mixed real wood glue with foam adhesive, instant glue and a hot-glue gun.

Our top picks

Titebond Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue

Best overall

Titebond Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue
8.9/10about £14.79
View offer
Gorilla Gorilla Wood Glue 118 ml

Alternative

Gorilla Gorilla Wood Glue 118 ml
8.1/10about £3.59
View offer
Sika Everbuild 502 Wood Adhesive 1 litre

Best value

Sika Everbuild 502 Wood Adhesive 1 litre
8.7/10about £8.50
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Start with the class, not the stars
  2. 2.PVA for a close wood joint
  3. 3.Size, price and descriptions that disagree
  4. 4.What to leave in the basket
  5. 5.When a bottle is the wrong tool

Start with the class, not the stars

BS EN 204:2016 classifies non-structural thermoplastic wood adhesives as D1 to D4. It does not set temperature resistance, and it is not a standard for structural timber. Soudal UK puts D3 as frequent short-term water indoors, or exterior not exposed to the weather. A porch bracket fits that sentence. A board left in the rain does not. Gorilla Wood Glue and Everbuild 502 both print D3. Titebond II prints ANSI/HPVA Type II, a US test, and that label is not D3 or D4. Titebond III prints ANSI/HPVA Type I, the harsher US cycle, and that line is not European D4. If the joint will get wet, the finish sits on the exterior wood glue page.

PVA for a close wood joint

For wood against wood you want PVA or a cross-linking PVA. It cleans up with water and it does not foam. Gorilla Wood Glue is that PVA. Gorilla Glue Original is polyurethane, it foams as it cures, and buying it because the brand is familiar is a named mistake. These PVAs need a closed joint. If a dowel rattles in the hole, more glue will not tighten it. Do not paste one brand's minutes onto another. The sequence is on the how to use wood glue page. The Amazon fields print an indirect-food line on Titebond II only. Do not copy it onto 151, LLPT, BIGTEETH, the Gorilla 118 ml extract or Titebond III.
Titebond Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue

Testsieger

Titebond Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue
8.9/10about £14.79
View offer

Size, price and descriptions that disagree

On 15 October 2026 the kept prices were 151 at £3.40, Gorilla Wood Glue at £3.59 for 118 ml, Everbuild 502 at £8.50 for 1 litre, BIGTEETH at £9.99, Titebond II at £10.14, LLPT at £10.99 for 330 ml, and Titebond III at £14.79 for 473 ml. Everbuild is the lowest price per stated litre here. Gorilla looks cheap until you scale 118 ml to about £30 a litre. BIGTEETH lists 500 ml, but reviewers on that extract describe a smaller bottle. Titebond II's title says 16 fl oz, the unit count says 473 ml and the volume field says 237 ml. Do not treat a full cure of 15 minutes as the maker's schedule.

What to leave in the basket

LAMXIN is foam adhesive, and a reviewer states it is not standard PVA. Liravonte and T Outdoors are B7000 tubes. EZARC is a cordless hot-glue gun. Nebulith is 502 instant glue. They share a search page because the keyword is wood glue, not because the chemistry matches. 151's water-resistance field says not water resistant, so keep it indoors and dry.

When a bottle is the wrong tool

These retail PVAs are not for load-bearing timber. BS EN 15425 is the one-component polyurethane standard for that factory job, and a shop bottle of D3 does not meet it. HSE sheet SR22 is for solvent adhesives, not for ordinary water-based wood glue.

Common questions

What class of wood glue do I need for indoor furniture?
For a close indoor joint that may see the odd splash, a stated D3 or an ANSI/HPVA Type II PVA is the cover this set prints. Soudal describes D3 as frequent short-term water indoors, or exterior not exposed to the weather. Everbuild 502 and Gorilla Wood Glue print D3. Titebond II prints Type II, a US test, not a D3 label. A dry joint can use 151, whose field says not water resistant, if you accept that limit.
Is waterproof on the label the same as D4?
No. A title that only says waterproof, with no class, is not D4. LLPT says waterproof and prints no class. D4 is a BS EN 204 class, and Soudal's wording for D4 still expects a protective coating on exterior wood. None of the kept bottles prints D4. Type I on Titebond III is a US cycle, not a substitute label for D4.
How big a bottle should I buy?
Match the bottle to the work, then check the volume fields agree. Everbuild 502 is 1 litre of stated D3 at £8.50. Gorilla Wood Glue is 118 ml at £3.59, about £30 a litre if you scale it, so it suits a small repair. Do not treat BIGTEETH's 500 ml title as verified. Do not pick a single volume for Titebond II, because 237 ml and 473 ml both appear.
Which listings in this set are not wood glue at all?
LAMXIN is foam adhesive for EVA foam and sponge. Liravonte and T Outdoors are B7000 craft glues in small tubes. EZARC is a cordless hot-glue gun. Nebulith is 502 instant glue. They appear in the same amazon.co.uk search and they are different chemistries. A wood joint wants PVA or cross-linking PVA, a closed fit and a clamp, which those listings are not sold to do.
When should I stop and call a joiner?
Stop when the timber is load-bearing, when exterior joinery is rotten, when the workplace job involves isocyanate or solvent adhesive, or when the glue must touch food and the bottle does not claim that. These retail PVAs are non-structural. BS EN 204 does not make them a structural adhesive, and BS EN 15425 is a factory polyurethane standard you are not meeting with a shop bottle of D3.

Related pages

Best wood glue

Wood glue

Exterior wood glue: what a waterproof claim covers

How to use wood glue: close, clamp, then full cure

Titebond vs Gorilla wood glue: D3, Type II, Type I

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are from amazon.co.uk extracts dated 15 October 2026.

  1. BSI, BS EN 204:2016 — classification of thermoplastic wood adhesives (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  2. Soudal UK — what D stands for on wood adhesives (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  3. Sika Everbuild 502 wood adhesive data sheet (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  4. Gorilla Glue UK — wood glue (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  5. Gorilla wood glue technical data sheet (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  6. Titebond — wood glue FAQs (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  7. HSE — GB CLP classification (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 15 October 2026)