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What Is The Best Glue For Magazine Collage?

Today we are going to look at 10 different kinds of glue that you could use for collage! I know my favorite, but I wanted to see if there was some other kind of collage glue that could make me swoon as a collage artist!

What Is The Best Glue For Magazine Collage?

Picking The Best Glue For Magazine Collage Tests

I feel like there are four main things that I care about in regard to my collage glue…

Edge Holding – How well the edges of the magazine collage stick down with the glue?

Middle Marks – If you put squiggles of glue around the inside of the picture, do these show through when they are dry?

Wrinkles – Does the glue make the magazine image wrinkle? (Because magazine images are so light-weight sometimes glue that has a lot of moisture can make them wrinkle!)

Cost – What is the price per ounce of each type of glue?

That said, there is a 5th wild-card category that means a lot to me… does the glue still work if you leave the cap off? I have had the best luck with Nuvo glue! They get extra bonus points from me right off the bat!

Walkthrough Video Of The Best Collage Glue Challenge

Best Collage Glues (Worst To Best)

I used a systematic approach to figuring out the best glue! I made a matrix chart of each of of the criteria and then ranked the best to worst…

10. Aleens

  • Edge Holding – okay
  • Middle Marks – bad
  • Wrinkles – bad
  • Cost – $.75 / ounce

Aleens is CHEAP, it tied with Mod Podge for the lowest cost per ounce and is available at craft stores! That said it made wrinkles and there were visible middle marks in the paper. The edges were just okay. I wouldn't use this one for magazine collage. If you are looking for cheap go with Mod Podge instead.

Get Aleens on Amazon

9. Scrapbook.com Smart Glue

  • Edge Holding – good
  • Middle Marks – good
  • Wrinkles – bad
  • Cost – $6.25 / ounce

My main problem with Smart Glue is that it is super tacky when it is dry. Because I do so many layers in my magazine collage, having random sticky bits laying around doesn't work for me. Oh and it squirts out all the time on me… not great for collage either. There were wrinkles too… I wouldn't use this one for magazine collage.

Get Smart Glue at Scrapbook.com

8. Distress Collage Medium

  • Edge Holding – good
  • Middle Marks – good
  • Wrinkles – okay
  • Cost – $6.40 / ounce

So first off let me say that I don't think collage gel medium is specifically made for magazine collage… it is more for sticking bigger things than lightweight papers. This glue did make the paper wrinkle and for the price isn't a great option. This is a matte medium rather than a glossy medium like Glossy Accents.

Get Distress Collage Medium at Scrapbook.com

7. Fabri Tac

  • Edge Holding – good
  • Middle Marks – good
  • Wrinkles – okay
  • Cost $1.75 / ounce

This one also wrinkled the papers and was SUPER stinky! It won out over collage glue because of the price.

Get Fabri Tac at Amazon

6. Lawn Fawn Glue Tube

  • Edge Holding – good
  • Middle Marks – good
  • Wrinkles – good
  • Cost $8.98 / ounce

I use this glue tube A LOT on my collage pieces and it is really good (and handy to keep around because of the tube). The only reason it is lower on the list is that is the most expensive by far!

Get Lawn Fawn Glue Tubes on Amazon

5. Glossy Accents

  • Edge Holding – good
  • Middle Marks – good
  • Wrinkles – good
  • Cost $3.49 / ounce

This is the one that I was most surprised about! Glossy Accents is super for magazine collage AND is fun to use to make hard coatings on other elements!

Get Glossy Accents at Scrapbook.com

4. Mod Podge

  • Edge Holding – okay
  • Middle Marks – good
  • Wrinkles – bad
  • Cost $.75 / ounce

Okay, let's call a spade a spade, Mod Podge is a water based glue known for collage! That said it does make your magazine pages wrinkly and sometimes has a bit of a hard time holding down the edges if you aren't careful. That said, it is super cheap and great for large projects.

Get Mod Podge on Amazon

3. Nuvo Glue Pen

  • Edge Holding
  • Middle Marks
  • Wrinkles
  • Cost $8.00 / ounce

This is the second highest cost one, but it is GREAT for sticking magazine images down and is super handy. I truly love Nuvo glue and this is just so darn convenient!

Get the Nuvo Glue Pen On Amazon

2. Art Glitter Glue

  • Edge Holding – good
  • Middle Marks – good
  • Wrinkles – bad
  • Cost $1.87 / ounce

Okay, you might think that having number two make wrinkles is crazy with magazine collage but hear me out… this glue is perfect for gluing edges and sweeps around the middle. It really isn't made to be an all over glue so that is not a bother! For the cost, this is an AMAZING option and if you are good at keeping your glue closed I would pick this one!

Get Art Glitter Glue on Amazon

1. Nuvo

  • Edge Holding – good
  • Middle Marks – good
  • Wrinkles – good
  • Cost $4.49 / ounce

This was my favorite glue before the test and it is still my favorite now! It is super “holdy”, no wrinkles and isn't that expensive (right down the middle of all the glues). The fact that it can manage itself without clogging is such a big deal to me! I don't have to throw it out or spend time de-stick-ifying the nozzle!

Get Nuvo Glue on Scrapbook.com

Best Collage Glue FAQs

I had a bunch of questions about which glue to use for magazine collage and wanted try to answer what you might wanna know about!

Best Magazine Collage Glue

What Is The Best Glue For Magazine Collage

I like Nuvo glue the best! It is kind of a liquid-y glue that doesn't get stuck on the tube if you forget to close it!

What Is The Most Important Thing For Collage Glue?

I think there are a couple of things that I care about…. is it good for small images and if it is good for big images.

So if I want to put down a super small image I need a kind of fine tip … Nuvo and Art Glitter Glue are great for this!

If I am doing a big image I want to make sure it won't be all wrinkly and that it won't have lines in the middle of it when it dries… both Nuvo and Art Glitter glue are good for this!

Why Do I Like Nuvo Better Than Art Glitter Glue?

I think I like the properties of both of these glues the same, it is just that you HAVE to put the pin back in the Art Glitter Glue or it gums up that trips me up! I am not good at closing my glue so I have to have to have something that can manage itself if I leave it open and Nuvo works great for that!

Is Mod Podge A Good Magazine Collage Glue?

Mod Podge is a matte or gloss medium that is great for decoupage! I have used it for a bunch of projects including mixed media envelopes and decorative boxes.

I think it IS good for collage materials, but may not be as good to stick a piece of paper down when it is super thin like magazine images because it makes them wrinkle.

What Is The Difference Between A Collage Adhesive and Magazine Collage Glue?

Collage can be anything… metal, paper, plastic. Magazine collage is just putting super thin pieces of paper and adhering them to other pieces of paper.

In one way that is super easy (you could even use a glue stick to do this) and in another way, when you adhere paper it could mess up if you add moisture to it (like Mod Podge is water based!)