Technical reference
Adhesive Base Polymers Explained
The polymer families in our range, what each one is genuinely good and bad at, how the carrier — solvent, water or none — is a separate choice, and why the highest peel strength on a datasheet is often the wrong thing to select on.
Last updated: 2026-09-15
The polymer sets the ceiling
Everything else in the tin can be adjusted. The base polymer cannot.Solids content, viscosity, open time and tackifier are all dials a formulator turns within a family — heat resistance, chemical resistance and durability are decided the moment the family is chosen.
Which is why "what is the base polymer" is the first question worth asking about any adhesive, and why a supplier who cannot answer it immediately is reading a label rather than describing a product they made.
Chloroprene rubber
CR / neoprene
A synthetic rubber polymerised from chloroprene. The chlorine in the backbone is what gives it heat and chemical resistance that hydrocarbon rubbers do not have.
Chosen for
Heat resistance — it holds to +120°C where SBS gives up around +70°C — together with good resistance to oils and solvents.
Catches people out
Costs more than SBS for the same bond on an undemanding joint, and the solvent-borne form is a Class 3 flammable liquid with everything that implies for shipping.
Right answer when: The bond will see heat, oil or weather, or the assembly has to last decades — furniture laminate, automotive interior, footwear.
Shipping status: Solvent-borne: UN 1133, Class 3
In our range: Neoprene contact adhesive · Neoprene shoe adhesive · Water-based contact adhesive (polychloroprene in water)
Styrene-butadiene-styrene
SBS
A thermoplastic block copolymer — rubbery butadiene segments anchored by rigid styrene domains, which is why it behaves like a rubber but softens with heat.
Chosen for
Price. It delivers a serviceable bond at a lower price than chloroprene, with a longer open time that helps on large panels.
Catches people out
Heat. Those styrene domains soften, so the bond loses strength well below where a chloroprene bond does. It is the wrong choice anywhere near a heat source.
Right answer when: Interior, room-temperature work where cost matters and heat does not — furniture veneer, upholstery, packaging, general assembly.
Shipping status: Solvent-borne: UN 1133, Class 3
In our range: SBS contact adhesive · Upholstery spray adhesive
Polyurethane
PU
Formed by reacting a polyol with an isocyanate. The chemistry is tunable across a very wide range, which is why PU turns up as a shoe cement, a sealant and an expanding foam.
Chosen for
Peel strength and flexibility. Our PU shoe adhesive has the highest specified peel in the range, and PU bond lines stay flexible — flex durability is still confirmed by the brand's own test.
Catches people out
Heat resistance is lower than chloroprene despite the higher peel — the two properties are not the same thing, and assuming they move together is a common and expensive error.
Right answer when: The bond flexes repeatedly, or peel is the governing property — sole attach, flexible substrates, gap filling in the foam form.
Shipping status: Solvent-borne: UN 1133, Class 3. Aerosol foam: UN 1950
In our range: PU shoe adhesive · One-component PU foam · Water-based PU shoe adhesives (assessed on request)
Silicone
PDMS
Polydimethylsiloxane — a silicon-oxygen backbone rather than a carbon one, which is the reason it behaves nothing like the organic polymers above.
Chosen for
It does not care about UV, weather or temperature. Twenty years outdoors and a −40°C to +150°C service range are ordinary for it, not exceptional.
Catches people out
It cannot be painted, has poor abrasion resistance, and nothing sticks to cured silicone — including more silicone. It seals joints; it is not a structural adhesive.
Right answer when: The joint is outside, wet, hot, or moves — glazing, façades, sanitary work, expansion joints.
Shipping status: Not dangerous goods
In our range: Neutral cure silicone sealant · Acetoxy cure silicone sealant
Polymer and carrier are separate choices
"Water-based" is not a polymer family. It describes the carrier: the same chloroprene or polyurethane can be dissolved in solvent, dispersed in water, or supplied with no carrier at all as a reactive or hot-melt product. The polymer still sets heat, chemical and flex behaviour; the carrier decides VOC content, drying, flammability and shipping.
A water carrier clears VOC content limits that solvent-borne products cannot, and is usually not a flammable liquid. It dries by evaporating water — slower than solvent, and much slower when it is cold or humid — and a dispersion that freezes breaks irreversibly.
| Polymer | Solvent-borne | Water-borne | No carrier (reactive / hot melt / sealant) | Typical uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chloroprene (CR) | Listed — contact and shoe adhesive | Listed — water-based contact adhesive | — | HPL and laminate, footwear, leather, foam |
| SBS and synthetic rubber | Listed — SBS contact, upholstery and foam spray adhesive | — | Hot melt — not in our catalogue | Cost-sensitive interior bonding, upholstery, carton sealing (hot melt) |
| Polyurethane (PU) | Listed — PU shoe adhesive | Assessed on request — footwear, textile lamination | Listed — one-component PU foam; reactive hot melt not in our catalogue | Sole attaching, lamination, gap filling |
| Acrylic | Not in our catalogue | Assessed on request — labels, tapes, protective film, flooring | — | Pressure-sensitive adhesives, resilient flooring |
| PVAc and VAE | — | Assessed on request — wood, paper and packaging | — | Wood assembly and veneering, cartons, paper converting |
| Silicone | — | — | Listed — neutral and acetoxy sealant | Glazing, façade and sanitary joints |
"Listed" is a catalogue grade. "Assessed on request" means we review the application and sourcing before quoting — see water-based options by application.
The families side by side, on our own products
Published figures from the grades we manufacture, so the comparison is between real products rather than between textbook polymers.
| Product | Base polymer | Solids | Service range | Peel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neoprene Contact Adhesive | Chloroprene Rubber (CR / Neoprene) | 20-25% | -20°C to +120°C | ≥3.0 N/mm (wood-to-laminate) |
| SBS Contact Adhesive | Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) | 18-22% | -10°C to +70°C | ≥2.0 N/mm (wood-to-laminate) |
| Water-Based Contact Adhesive | Polychloroprene dispersion / Acrylic blend | 45-55% | -10°C to +80°C | ≥2.5 N/mm (wood-to-laminate) |
| PU Shoe Adhesive | Polyurethane (PU) | 18-22% (one-component) / 70-80% (two-component) | -30°C to +60°C | ≥4.0 N/mm (rubber-to-EVA) |
| Neoprene Shoe Adhesive | Chloroprene Rubber (CR / Neoprene) | 20-25% | -20°C to +90°C | ≥2.5 N/mm (leather-to-rubber) |
| Upholstery Spray Adhesive | SBS / Synthetic rubber blend | 35-45% | -10°C to +70°C | ≥1.5 N/mm (foam-to-fabric) |
| Foam Spray Adhesive | SBS / CR blend | 30-40% | -20°C to +80°C | ≥1.2 N/mm (foam-to-foam) |
| Neutral Silicone Sealant | 100% Silicone | — | -40°C to +150°C | — |
| Acetoxy Silicone Sealant | 100% Silicone | — | — | — |
The highest number is often the wrong selection
Read the table above across two rows and the trap is visible in our own product line:
PU shoe adhesive
Peel ≥4.0 N/mm — the highest in the range
Heat +60°C — the lowest in the range
Neoprene contact adhesive
Peel ≥3.0 N/mm
Heat +120°C — twice the PU figure
A buyer comparing on peel alone picks the PU and puts it somewhere that reaches 90°C. The bond passes every test on the bench and fails in the first hot season.
Peel strength measures resistance to being pulled apart, at room temperature, on a clean substrate, when new. Select against the condition that will actually govern in service — heat, flex, chemical exposure, UV, humidity — and treat peel as one input rather than the score. Which condition governs is usually obvious once someone asks, and almost never stated in an enquiry.
What you are actually buying: solids content
Solids content is the share of the product that stays behind once the carrier has evaporated — the part that becomes the bond. The spread across the families is larger than most buyers expect:
- —Solvent-borne contact adhesive: 18-25%. Roughly three quarters of what you pay freight on evaporates.
- —Water-based: 45-55%. Higher solids, but the carrier is water — which is why shipping it long distances is poor economics.
- —Two-component PU: 70-80%.
- —Silicone sealant: effectively 100%. Nothing evaporates; the whole cartridge stays in the joint.
Two consequences worth acting on. Compare quotations on price per kilogram of solids, not per kilogram of product — a cheaper drum at 18% solids can be more expensive per bond than a dearer one at 25%. And read a high solids figure as a freight advantage as well as a coverage one, particularly on the longer routes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the base polymer in an adhesive?
Which adhesive polymer has the best heat resistance?
Is a higher peel strength always a better adhesive?
Why do solvent-based adhesives have such low solids content?
Can you change the base polymer in a product to suit my application?
Which polymers are classed as dangerous goods?
Choosing within and between families
- Chloroprene against SBS, quantified
The two most common contact adhesive polymers, compared on heat, peel and cost.
- Solvent carrier against water carrier
Same polymer families, different carrier — and what that changes about dry time and shipping.
- Contact adhesive across all three chemistries
Neoprene, SBS and water-based grades with full specification tables.
- Where silicone is the only answer
Glazing, façades and wet areas — the conditions organic polymers cannot hold.
- Polyurethane at its highest peel
≥4.0 N/mm for sole bonding — and the heat limit that comes with it.
- Storage, shelf life and what heat does to it
Why a container crossing the tropics at 60-70°C is the hardest storage condition your adhesive will see.
- Eight checks before you pick a supplier
Manufacturer or trader, grade-level test data, VOC position and dangerous-goods handling — apply them to us too.
- Browse the full technical library
Every reference page and guide, grouped by the question it answers rather than by date.
- Put your own brand on it — OEM and ODM
Custom labels, cartons and formulation adjustments from our existing lines.
- How to read the numbers on a datasheet
What each figure predicts, what it does not, and why one without its test method is not comparable.
- Look up a term and its other names
Non-acid silicone is neutral cure; liquid nails is grab adhesive. Fifty terms with their synonyms.
- What the solvent decides, and toluene-free options
Dangerous goods class, VOC, open time and foam compatibility all follow from the carrier.
- Send a specification and get a quote
Substrate, volume and destination market are enough for us to price it.
Not sure which family your job needs?
Send the substrate pair and the condition that will govern in service — heat, flex, chemical exposure or weather. That is enough to narrow it to one family, usually without a sample.
