Maybe you found an old bottle with a brush in the cap at the back of a drawer. Maybe a craft tutorial calls for it, or you’re wondering whether the “rubber cement” in a tire patch kit is the same stuff. Rubber cement is one of those glues almost everyone has heard of, but very few people can explain what it actually is.
Let’s take a look at what rubber cement is made of, how it works, what it’s good at, where it falls short, and whether you can still buy it today.
What Is Rubber Cement?
Rubber cement is an adhesive made of rubber dissolved in a fast-evaporating solvent. In the U.S., that solvent is typically n-heptane. When you brush it on, the solvent evaporates and leaves behind a thin, flexible film of rubber that holds the surfaces together.
That makes rubber cement a so-called drying adhesive. It doesn’t cure through a chemical reaction like epoxy or super glue. It simply dries.
You’ll also see it sold as rubber cement glue or rubber cement adhesive. In the UK, it’s often called cow gum. Whatever the label says, the classic version is a light-duty glue for paper, photos, and crafts. People love it for one reason above all: it glues paper flat without wrinkles, and the excess rubs right off once it’s dry.
Rubber Cement at a Glance
• Type: solvent-based drying adhesive
• Main ingredients: rubber (usually natural rubber) and a solvent such as n-heptane
• In the bottle: an opaque, milky to tan liquid, usually with a brush in the cap
• Once dry: a clear, flexible rubber film
• Bond: repositionable with one coat, stronger when both surfaces are coated
• Best for: paper, cardstock, photos, poster board, foam board, collages, and scrapbooks
• Not made for: wet or outdoor use, heat, heavy loads, tire repairs, or archival projects
• Safety: highly flammable, so use it with good ventilation and away from flames
What Is Rubber Cement Made Of?
Rubber cement has only two main ingredients: rubber and a solvent that dissolves it. A small amount of alcohol is often added as well.
Most of what’s in the bottle is solvent. Elmer’s safety data sheet for its No-Wrinkle Rubber Cement lists n-heptane at more than 85 percent. Manufacturing guides put typical formulas at roughly 70 to 90 percent heptane or hexane, plus 1 to 15 percent isopropyl or ethyl alcohol. The rubber is only a small part of the mix, but it’s the part that does the actual sticking.
Is Rubber Cement Made of Real Rubber?
Yes. Classic rubber cement is made with natural rubber, the same material that comes from the milky sap (latex) of rubber trees. Elmer’s lists natural rubber latex on its label and warns against using the product if you’re allergic to it. So if you have a latex allergy, check the label before you buy.
Some rubber cements and many related adhesives use synthetic rubber instead. Neoprene, also called polychloroprene, is the classic base for contact cement. That’s one reason the two glues are so easy to mix up.
How Is Rubber Cement Made?
The process is surprisingly simple. Large blocks of rubber are broken down in rubber mills or high-speed mixers until the pieces are roughly the size of sawdust. The rubber is then added slowly to the solvent in big paddle tanks until it’s fully dissolved.
Because the mix is highly flammable, the bottles are filled with explosion-proof equipment. Each batch is checked for solids content, viscosity, and tack. A higher rubber solids content generally means a better grade of cement.
Synthetic, Latex, Liquid, and Black Rubber Cement
Search for rubber cement and you’ll run into a few variations. Here’s what they usually mean:
•Natural vs. synthetic rubber cement: The difference is the type of rubber. Natural rubber is typical for paper and craft cements. Synthetic rubbers show up in stronger, more specialized adhesives.
•Latex rubber cement: Usually a natural rubber formula. There are also water-based latex adhesives that contain no flammable solvent, such as Copydex in the UK. They’re rubber-based too, but they’re a different product category.
•Liquid rubber cement: All rubber cement is liquid in the bottle. Don’t confuse it with “liquid rubber” coatings, which are sealants for roofs, foundations, and concrete, not glues.
•Black rubber cement: Usually a tire or rubber repair product, such as a vulcanizing cement for patches. It’s not the clear-drying craft glue you find in the office aisle.
Why Is It Called Rubber Cement?
The name has nothing to do with the cement used for sidewalks and foundations. In English, “cement” has long had a second meaning: any substance that makes objects stick together. Merriam-Webster still lists it that way, as “a substance to make objects adhere to each other.”
So rubber cement simply means glue made from rubber. The same meaning lives on in names like contact cement, PVC cement, and model cement.
How Does Rubber Cement Work?
Rubber cement works in three simple steps:
1.You brush on a thin layer of liquid cement.
2. The solvent evaporates quickly.
3. A thin film of rubber stays behind and grips the surfaces.
How strong the bond becomes depends mostly on how you apply it.
One coat on one surface gives you a light, repositionable bond. Gorilla, for example, says its rubber cement stays repositionable for up to five minutes when you brush one surface and join the pieces right away. That’s handy for layouts, collages, and templates you may want to move.
Coating both surfaces gives you a noticeably stronger bond. Rubber cement sticks best to rubber, so when both sides carry a film of cement, you’re essentially bonding rubber to rubber.
Instructions differ from brand to brand. Gorilla, for example, tells you to press both coated surfaces together while they’re still wet. Always follow the label on your bottle.
Why Doesn’t Rubber Cement Wrinkle Paper?
This is the main reason people still reach for it. Paper fibers swell when they absorb moisture. Water-based glues, like white school glue, add that moisture, so thin paper often ripples, curls, or bubbles as it dries.
Rubber cement contains no water. Its solvent evaporates without swelling the paper fibers, so photos, prints, and thin paper stay flat. That’s why you’ll see it sold as “no-wrinkle” rubber cement.
Why Does the Excess Rub Off?
Once dry, rubber cement forms a soft, rubbery film instead of a hard glue layer. Wherever it isn’t sandwiched between two surfaces, you can rub it with your finger or a crepe rubber eraser, often sold as a rubber cement pickup. The excess rolls up into little crumbs and comes right off. That makes clean edges easy, which is exactly why designers liked it so much.
What Does Rubber Cement Look and Smell Like?
In the bottle, rubber cement is an opaque liquid, usually milky to tan in color. Most bottles have a brush built into the cap. As it dries, it turns clear. If you’ve ever peeled a thin, stretchy film off your fingers after a craft project, that was most likely dried rubber cement.
It also has a distinct solvent smell. That smell comes from the evaporating solvent, and it’s your reminder to work in a well-ventilated space.
What Is Rubber Cement Used For?
Rubber cement is at its best on light, flat materials that need to stay smooth:
• Paper, cardstock, and construction paper
• Photos in scrapbooks and craft projects
• Prints, drawings, and artwork mounted on poster board or foam board
• Collages, mood boards, and presentation boards
• Templates and patterns you want to remove again later
• Light fabric and paper crafts that won’t be washed
Gorilla lists paper, fabric, foamboard, and photos for its rubber cement. Elmer’s markets its version for mounting photos, scrapbooks, and cut-and-paste projects.
Where Rubber Cement Falls Short
Rubber cement is not an all-purpose glue. Skip it for:
• Anything that gets wet or goes outdoors. Gorilla states plainly that its rubber cement is not water resistant or waterproof and is meant for indoor use.
• Heat. Bonds can soften when temperatures climb. Gorilla rates its rubber cement for 50 to 104°F, and a parked car in summer can get much hotter than that.
• Heavy loads or structural repairs. It’s a light-duty adhesive. For boxes and heavier builds, see our guide to the best glue for cardboard.
• Fabric that will be washed. A dedicated fabric glue is the better choice here. Our guide to the best glue for fabric covers washable options.
• Leather, shoe soles, and rubber repairs. These need a contact cement or another specialized adhesive. Take a look at our guides to the best glue for leather and the best glue for rubber.
• Tire repairs and heirloom photos. More on both below.
Also test it first on plastics, painted surfaces, and finished wood. Elmer’s warns on its label that rubber cement may damage some surfaces.
Is Rubber Cement Safe for Photos?
It depends on what you mean by safe. Modern rubber cements are often sold as photo-safe, and Elmer’s markets its formula as acid-free and photo-safe. For scrapbooks, cards, and everyday craft projects, that’s fine.
Labels aren’t always as clear as they look, though. Gorilla calls its rubber cement photo safe, but its spec sheet describes it as “low acid” rather than acid-free.
For irreplaceable photos and documents, it’s a different story. The Northeast Document Conservation Center recommends avoiding rubber cement on photographs. Preservation specialists at the University of Illinois explain that rubber-based adhesives oxidize over time. They can turn yellow, stain paper, become brittle, and eventually lose their hold. Some rubber adhesives also contain sulfur, which can fade silver-based photographs.
So for a family photo album or anything you want to keep for decades, use photo corners or an archival photo adhesive instead.
Can You Use Rubber Cement on Tires?
Not the craft kind. The “rubber cement” in a tire or tube patch kit is a different product, often called vulcanizing fluid or vulcanizing cement. It’s designed to work together with matching patches. Park Tool, for example, says its vulcanizing fluid and patches create a molecular bond with the inner tube.
Office or craft rubber cement isn’t made for that job, and no glue alone is a fix for a car tire. The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association says a passenger tire puncture should only be repaired in the tread area, only if it’s 1/4 inch or smaller, and only with the tire removed from the wheel, using a combined plug and patch. Sidewall damage can’t be repaired.
Rubber Cement vs. Other Common Glues
Here’s how rubber cement compares with the glues it gets confused with most often:
| Glue | What it’s made of | How the bond behaves | Water resistance | Typical use |
| Rubber cement | Rubber dissolved in solvent | Flexible, light-duty, repositionable with one coat | Not water resistant | Paper, photos, artwork, mounting |
| White school glue | PVA in water | Strong on paper and cardboard, but can wrinkle thin paper | Washable versions are not water resistant | School projects, crafts, cardboard |
| Glue stick | Solid adhesive in a twist-up stick | Light bond, very little mess | Not water resistant | Quick paper projects, kids’ crafts |
| Contact cement | Usually neoprene rubber in solvent | Strong and permanent, bonds instantly on contact | Often water resistant | Laminate, leather, rubber, shoe soles |
The mix-up with contact cement makes sense. Both are rubber dissolved in a solvent, and both work best when you coat both surfaces. The difference is the job they’re made for. Contact cement is built for strong, permanent bonds. Rubber cement is built for light, flat, often temporary ones.
Barge is a good example. The brand sells a neoprene-based All-Purpose Cement, which it lists as a waterproof contact cement. It also sells a separate rubber cement for temporary bonds. If you want to learn more about how contact cement works, see our comparison of wood glue vs. contact cement.
Do They Still Make Rubber Cement?
Yes. Rubber cement is still made and easy to buy, even if it’s less visible than it used to be. Elmer’s still makes No-Wrinkle Rubber Cement, and Gorilla sells a 4 oz Rubber Cement with a brush cap. Art supply brands like Best-Test (from Speedball) and Beacon offer rubber cements as well. Best-Test even makes a one-coat version that stays tacky on a single surface, so you can reposition pieces many times.
So why does it sometimes feel like rubber cement has disappeared?
• Lower demand. Paste-up layout, once its biggest professional use, was largely replaced by desktop publishing.
• Flammable products are harder to ship. On Amazon, for example, Elmer’s rubber cement is marked as subject to hazardous materials transport rules and is non-returnable.
• Canada is a special case. Elmer’s recalled 4 oz bottles of rubber cement sold in Canada between January and November 2023, because they lacked safety labels required by Health Canada. Elmer’s says there was no performance issue, but the product can no longer be sold in Canada.
Is Rubber Cement Safe to Use?
Used as directed, rubber cement is a normal household craft product. But it’s not a “use it anywhere” glue, mostly because of the solvent.
• It’s highly flammable. Elmer’s safety data sheet lists a flash point of about 25°F. In plain terms, the fumes can catch fire even in a cold room. The vapor is also heavier than air and can travel to an ignition source farther away. Keep the bottle away from open flames, pilot lights, candles, space heaters, and sparks.
• Ventilation matters. The fumes can cause dizziness or drowsiness. Work near an open window or in a well-ventilated room, and close the bottle between uses.
• It’s not a glue for young kids. The fumes can also be misused as an inhalant. For children’s projects, washable school glue or a glue stick is the better choice.
• Watch for latex allergies. Products made with natural rubber latex aren’t a good idea if you’re allergic to latex.
• Store it tightly closed. That keeps the fumes in and stops the solvent from evaporating. Evaporation is what turns old rubber cement thick and stringy. A rubber cement thinner can bring a thickened bottle back to life.
If You Just Need a Bottle
Since this guide is about understanding rubber cement, we’ll keep the product part short. For paper crafts, photos, and artwork, a classic 4 oz bottle with a brush cap is all most people need.
Elmer’s No-Wrinkle Rubber Cement With Brush (4 oz)
Elmer’s No-Wrinkle Rubber Cement is the classic version most people picture when they hear “rubber cement.” It’s an acid-free, photo-safe natural rubber formula that spreads easily, dries clear, and won’t wrinkle paper as it dries. Once dry, the excess rubs away cleanly, and the brush is built right into the cap.
• Great for: scrapbooks, mounting photos and artwork, and cut-and-paste projects
• Bond: allows repositioning, so you can get the placement just right
• Keep in mind: It’s highly flammable, contains natural rubber latex, and is made for light-duty indoor projects, not tires or outdoor repairs.
Conclusion
Rubber cement is rubber dissolved in a fast-evaporating solvent, usually n-heptane in the U.S. As the solvent evaporates, a thin, flexible film of rubber holds paper, photos, and other light materials together without wrinkling them, and the excess rubs off cleanly. One coat gives you a repositionable bond, while coating both surfaces gives you a stronger one.
It’s still made today, but it’s a specialist rather than an all-purpose glue. Use it for paper crafts, mounting, and layouts. Choose a different adhesive for anything wet, hot, heavy, washable, archival, or tire-related. And because it’s highly flammable, always use it with good ventilation and away from open flames.
