Each of us in childhood at labor lessons in the manufacture of various crafts used a paste, which each mother cooked and poured into a small jar. And now it's time for us to make sure that the child performs applications with safe and high-quality material. for children's creativity? It is this topic that is revealed in the article. Here, readers are presented with a recipe for flour paste for applications and creating products using the papier-mâché technique. In the second part of the article, you can read the instructions for preparing such a glue mass from potato starch. Study the information and choose the paste option that suits you. Quality results for you.
Flour paste. Recipe and step by step instructions
Method number 1. wheat or rye flour(fourth of a large glass) sift through a fine sieve and mix with cold water(200 grams) in a bowl. Pour 1 liter of water into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat. Then add flour mixture here and mix well. Put the container on a low fire. Cook the mass for three to four minutes, remove from the stove and leave to cool, stirring occasionally. That's all. Then use the paste for its intended purpose.
Method number 2 - a recipe for a paste prepared in a water bath. In a bowl, mix 1 liter of water and 4 large tablespoons of flour. Place the bowl with this mass in a large saucepan with hot water thus organizing water bath. Bring the paste to a boil, pour another 200 grams of water into it and boil for about 5 minutes. Cool the glue in a cool place.
The paste recipe presented above contains only natural ingredients, so you can store it in a warm place for no more than one day, after which it deteriorates, acquiring an unpleasant odor and changing its consistency. If some of this material is left after work, try storing it in the refrigerator. But this method will help save the glue for no longer than a day or two. It is better to cook the paste in small portions at a time.
Starch paste. Recipe
Measure 10 large tablespoons of water into a glass. In a separate saucepan, dilute 1 large spoon with part of the water from a glass. The solution should have a consistency similar to sour cream. Stir until all lumps are gone. Boil the remaining water and pour in a thin stream into a bowl with a starch mass, stirring it. If this amount of liquid is not enough and the glue is thick, add a few more tablespoons of boiling water.
It is important to know that starch paste is used warm. Such material is stored for no more than five hours. Therefore, it cannot be prepared for the future. During cooling, a film forms on the surface of the adhesive. Try not to get it on the product and spoil its appearance.
Now you know the paste recipe (and more than one) that performs its function well and is absolutely harmless to the child. And it’s not scary if a little fidget gets dirty in this material during the minutes of needlework. It is easily washed off clothes and washed off the body. Let creativity be a joy for children!
Paste has long been used by our grandparents for wallpapering. And even now, after the advent of modern adhesive mixtures, many people prefer this proven tool. Let's figure out how to cook a paste from starch and flour.
Homemade paste - pros and cons
All modern adhesive compositions have a significant drawback - they are not convenient for working on surfaces primed with drying oil or covered with old paint. On such surfaces, only a paste is able to cope with its task.
The only drawback of the paste is its moisture resistance. But this problem can be dealt with by using various additives when cooking the paste.
The advantage of the paste is the ability to easily remove the wallpaper pasted with its use. It is enough just to wet the old wallpaper with hot water, and they can be easily removed.
How to cook flour paste?
In order to cook a paste according to this recipe, any flour is used, but it is better to use coarse rye or wheat flour.
The ideal dish for making paste is an enameled or galvanized bucket. Water is poured into the bucket (2/3 of the planned volume) and boiled. Then flour is poured into hot water. Fall asleep should be gradual, while mixing the solution very thoroughly. According to the flour paste recipe, about 1/3 of the volume will be required. The paste solution must be brought to a consistency of very liquid dough. The paste is cooled to 30–40 degrees, filtered through gauze, after which it is used for its intended purpose. Hot paste is not used, because the temperature will deform the pattern or paint on the wallpaper.
How to cook starch paste?
An environmentally friendly glue that is suitable for gluing paper, cardboard, light fabrics is starch paste. This starch paste is ideal for creating various masks or papier-mâché crafts.
- Starch paste can be cooked according to the same recipe as flour. If you need a better adhesion of the solution, then you can add a little PVA glue to it - for 10 liters of paste 100–200 gr. glue.
- Put starch in a saucepan and pour warm water, in proportion to 1 part starch - 4 parts water. Mix everything well and, having covered with a lid, put to swell for one hour.
- The hour has passed, you can put the pan with starch and water on the fire. Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until boiling. Without ceasing to stir the starch, reduce the heat to medium. Boil starch until it becomes thick and transparent. Don't stop interfering even for a minute.
- The finished starch paste must be cooled. Pour into prepared container. So that there are no lumps in the finished paste, it must be poured through a sieve.
- You can store the paste cooked from starch in the refrigerator. The average shelf life is a week. Starch paste should be with a pleasant food smell and texture.
The benefits of starch paste
- The advantage of starch paste over flour paste is its transparency. Therefore, starch paste is preferable for pasting the ceiling and walls with light wallpaper.
- Any paste must be used immediately after filtration, and try to work out the entire prepared solution for the paste during the day. Otherwise, after a day, the adhesive properties of the paste will decrease significantly.
- In addition to PVA glue, wood glue can be added to the paste, in the same quantities as PVA. But it should be noted that wood glue often leaves reddish spots on the wallpaper, so it is undesirable to add it to the paste when pasting with very light wallpaper.
- A paste containing wood glue is perfect for priming walls and ceilings before wallpapering. Use it for these purposes in a hot form.
It often happens that store-bought glue is not of very good quality and, therefore, its characteristics do not satisfy consumers.
The question arises about the choice, you can buy a modern and very high-quality adhesive material, but in this case, you will have to pay a certain amount of money, and often a lot.
And, of course, there is no guarantee that this option will meet its main characteristics.
It often happens that the money has already been spent, the glue has been bought, the work has begun, and the quality of this material leaves much to be desired. As a result, the wall covering deteriorates, as well as the surface itself.
If you decide to update the wallpaper at home, then you need to choose a quality option. You can buy a good wall paper in a special store or cook it yourself.
The process is simple and does not require material costs. Such glue is called a paste, it contains starch and flour. Despite the huge abundance of special mixtures for wallpaper, more preference is given to just such a product that is made at home.
It will certainly suit those who want to get good quality and an impeccable result, practically without investments, material costs.
The glue is colorless and does not leave stains on the wallpaper.
Starch glue is often used in cases such as:
- for wallpapering;
- for gluing paper bindings;
- for insulation of window frames;
- for creating different kind applications;
- for priming walls;
It is worth knowing that it is better to carry out work with a freshly brewed solution, since it is much more pleasant in consistency and has more pronounced sticky properties.
However, if you have cooked quite a lot of glue, then it can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, and for quite a long time, this is very convenient.
In addition, such an adhesive base is safe, if it gets on the skin, it is enough to wash it off with water.
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In order to, you will need materials such as:
- bucket;
- potato starch);
- warm water;
- gauze;
- whisk to stir the glue.
How to cook glue from starch
- It is necessary to prepare the paste before use, as it loses its properties during long storage.
- Before you start preparing the glue, sift the starch through a sieve. This is necessary in order to get rid of lumps and various small contaminants.
- Next, pour the starch with warm water and mix it thoroughly until the consistency of thick sour cream.
- Pour boiling water (about 80-90 degrees) into the resulting slurry with a thin continuous stream, which will brew our paste.
- Intensive movements knead it until a homogeneous mass, preferably with a whisk. As it solidifies, the solution begins to thicken, so you need to add water.
- We filter the hot glue from starch and heat it in a water bath.
- Then you need to pass it through a sieve in a colander.
- After it is cooled, but stirring occasionally, so that foam does not form on the surface. Experts recommend that the already cooled paste be passed through a sieve again so that the solution is completely homogeneous. After that it is ready to use. To make the wallpaper hold better, you can add a little carpentry or PVA glue to it.
Step by step we make glue from starch with our own hands This mixture has many advantages.
- It is absolutely harmless to children, it is easy to use.
- 100% natural and contains no chemicals.
- This adhesive base is safe for allergy sufferers and does not irritate the skin. The paste is used in children's institutions for the manufacture of applications. Also in the manufacture of papier-mâché technique. The main application is wallpapering.
- Glue can be used for any kind of wallpaper. After its application, if necessary, the wallpaper will be removed very easily and quickly. To do this, simply moisten the walls with warm water.
- They can prime the walls - the surface after drying will become even and smooth. It saves money and can be prepared in any quantity and without much effort.
Unnecessary paste can be easily removed from the wall using hot water. Very easy to use, it does not leave extra stains, has no color. It can be used when working even with very thin white paper, and not be afraid that unsightly yellow spots will then appear on the surface.
The use is still relevant today. This is not surprising, because there are a large number of advantages, which were mentioned above. This glue has excellent properties and is ideal for wallpapering. In addition, this material is very convenient to use, it is not very liquid and not very thick.
If you decide to update your interior without losing quality without investing large amounts of money, then using a home paste will help you achieve this goal. All ingredients are freely available at any hardware and grocery (starch) store, so you can make it at any time convenient for you. Moreover, it is not necessary to save it when using it, because you can always quickly weld a new one.
The adhesive composition or paste, welded on water from grain processing products, is considered one of the most proven and safe types of glue for homework. The uniquely simple method of preparing the adhesive mass is combined with good mechanical strength of the seam, therefore, even with the advent of water-soluble adhesives based on methylated cellulose, flour and starch paste remains revered among do-it-yourselfers.
High-strength paste can be prepared in three ways:
- On flour, even if the raw materials have long lost their food qualities;
- Using crushed or ground grain;
- Cook on any available grain starch.
For your information! To achieve maximum seam strength, paste can best be welded on dried and pounded grain.
True, the yield of grain paste is somewhat less than if the paste mass is cooked from flour. In addition, you will have to work hard to remove the remnants of the screenings and husks, but with due care, you can brew a paste that will even glue vinyl wallpaper tightly.
How to cook flour paste
In order to properly weld and not burn the paste, you will need an enameled or metal non-food utensil with a tight-fitting lid and a steel or cast-iron flame diffuser installed above the gas burner. A simple device allows you to safely heat the paste, cook flour grains, and at the same time avoid overcooking the glue mass into jelly.
Proportions of water and flour
In order to cook a paste, you will need three ingredients:
- Purified water, filtered or settled tap water can be used. The main thing is that rust, organics or scale do not get into the paste. To cook a liter of paste, you need 800 ml or four glasses of water;
- Corn or wheat flour, per liter of adhesive mass is calculated 250 ml of flour. It is best to cook a paste from wholemeal flour, second or third grade;
- Ethyl or formic alcohol, about a tablespoon per liter of the mixture. The additive helps to get rid of lumps and air. It is possible to cook glue without alcohol, but alcohol promotes the hydrolysis of gluten, even if the water is very hard and contains a large amount of salts.
For your information! Wallpaper makers advise adding a small amount of soda ash solution, aluminum alum or stationery glue.
Before the advent of specialized brands of glue for wallpapering during mass construction, it was necessary to boil the paste in tens of liters. Additives helped to weld the glue quickly and at the same time ensure storage for several days. At home, you can add alum, this will help to cook a paste that is resistant to fungus and cockroaches. The use of any other additives requires some experience in handling the paste solution.
Cooking and adjusting consistency
You can cook the paste in 10-15 minutes. Slightly warm water is poured into a clean container, about 1/3 of the calculated amount, and flour is added in small portions, approximately in the same volume. The mixture is intensively stirred until a homogeneous mass is formed. The rest of the water is brought to a boil and, continuing to stir the mass, is added to the paste.
Further, in order to weld the glue, the container is transferred to a tile with a divider and heated for ten minutes over high heat. As soon as the paste acquires the texture of a thick milk jelly, the tank with glue is transferred from the fire and cooled in water.
It is not difficult to weld the paste, but you need to carefully monitor the consistency of the glue. In the process of cooking, the paste mass seems too liquid, and when cooled, it thickens strongly. If not calculated with proportions and quantity hot water, the glue most often turns out to be too thick and viscous.
In order to adjust the composition, you need to weld a new portion of a thicker or liquid glue and mix it hot with the first paste. The viscosity of the adhesive mass depends on the content of gluten and proteins in the flour, the quality of the water and the precise proportions.
Storage
You can change the consistency of a too thick paste that has stood in the cold for a couple of days with a small amount of not too hot water. If a sour smell appears, the adhesive mass must be boiled over low heat, then add a spoonful of alcohol and mix thoroughly until smooth.
Masters advise to cook the paste a couple of hours before using it and try not to store it for more than one day. You can store the paste without additives and preservatives for one or two days in the refrigerator, in a carefully sealed container. If you need to cook and store a large amount of starch glue for some time, then at the stage of final boiling, the hot mass is divided into several containers, cooled in a water bath and pour half a teaspoon of alcohol or vodka into each jar. Using this technology, you can weld, store and use glue for a week.
How to cook starch paste
In order to cook glue from corn or wheat starch, you need to make a batch: add 1 part of dry starch to 4 parts of slightly warm water. The batch must stand for one and a half hours to swell the starch grain. Next, the mixture should be boiled for 10-15 minutes over high heat, stirring with a spoon or spatula. Even before half an hour, the paste is boiled on a small or medium flame until the glue becomes transparent. Cool in a water bath.
It is easier to weld glue from starch than from flour, but its strength is clearly inferior to flour and, especially, grain adhesive material.
Application of paste
One of the advantages of starch paste is its good penetration into the pores of the walls. For example, a solution of 100 g of alcohol and 200 g of a starch solution can be primed on painted walls or plaster, on which damp spots regularly appear. In the latter case, the paste must be welded with the addition of 10% PVA glue or aluminum alum at the final stage.
It is believed that if you prepare an adhesive mass with the addition of 40 g of calcium chloride per liter of glue, then the pasted wallpaper will not fall off even if the base is strongly moistened.
For light wallpaper
The best option for light wallpaper is a slightly more liquid starch paste than usual. Glue can be cooked from potato starch with the addition of a small amount of PVA. The polyvinyl acetate emulsion is introduced into the almost cooled adhesive and mixed thoroughly. Such glue does not stain, practically does not show through a thin wallpaper, but it is best to use it within a day, or cook it and store it in the refrigerator in preservation mode.
For heavy wallpaper
Non-woven or vinyl wallpaper, even experienced craftsmen prefer to glue on expensive branded Methylan, although under heavy wallpaper you can weld very strong glue from cornmeal or starch. If the texture and pattern are light, then the same PVA is added to the paste; for darkened shades, you can cook a starch mixture with the addition of liquid casein glue. It is clear that in any case, the starch must be prepared, cooled, allowed to stand, and only then the additive should be added.
For fabric crafts
Gluing all kinds of toys and fabric crafts requires a large amount of glue, which you can successfully weld yourself. Moreover, if you choose the right additive, you can weld several liters of glue at once, and it will not disappear and will not lose its characteristics, even if it is stored at room temperature.
For strong gluing of the fabric, you need to weld the grain paste. Wheat or oat grain is smashed in an electric coffee grinder to a state ground coffee. The mass must be cooked without sifting. After swelling, the mixture is pressed through a gauze napkin, a small amount of alcohol and PVA are added, and the glue is ready. For heavy fabrics, instead of PVA and wheat, rye grain can be brewed in a water bath with the addition of wood glue and alum.
For papier-mâché
As a working adhesive composition for forming a shell from thin sheets of paper, a base of cornstarch with the addition of 10% alcohol and ready-made wood glue. Such a composition quickly impregnates the paper and dries well in thick layers of cellulose fiber 3-4 mm thick. If the paper has a laminated coating, then for papier-mâché, an adhesive composition with the addition of PVA, acrylic or bustilate is used.
Conclusion
Paste has always been a very convenient material, knowing the recipe, you can weld glue for almost any cellulose materials and cotton fabrics. Grain adhesive can be used to fasten plastic and even fiberboard. The only significant drawback is the edibility of dextrin fibers, starch and flour are easily damaged by fungus and insects, so additives based on vitriol or other metal salts have to be used.
But, oddly enough, I missed how to make a paste of their starch. It seems that the topic is quite well known to almost everyone, but it has its own subtleties.
True, now, with the development of chemistry and huge amount a variety of synthetic adhesives, this adhesive has already lost its relevance (in my opinion). Nevertheless, I don’t want to leave the “starch” topic unclosed, so I propose to take an excursion into the very recent past (some 20-30 years ago), when this type of glue was quite popular.
For example, we prepared such glue at school at labor lessons and used it to seal windows for the winter with wide paper strips. There is something to remember, it was a fun time
Who else will be interested in this article? I think for lovers of "life without chemistry", who strive to use the safest materials possible. I respect your desire, although I do not always support it.
Well, let's start.
What is it and what are its benefits
Paste has been used for wallpapering since time immemorial, it was boiled at school to create a variety of crafts at labor lessons, as well as sticking wooden windows on winter period. Oh yeah! Just remember those sweet moments when you were among those chosen ones who were sent to glue windows during the lessons.
Now, those who are under twenty (or even thirty?), Probably, only vaguely heard about what kind of miracle this is, and are even less likely to know how to cook a paste from starch. Let's try everything in order.
In addition, according to various sources, homemade glue has other advantages:
- The material is environmentally friendly, which means it is safe for health.
- It is a fairly cheap alternative to industrial glue.
- According to some nugget experts, it reliably holds heavy wallpaper (I personally do not believe in this).
- Suitable for wallpapering on any surface, including those that have been treated with oil paint or drying oil (also hard to believe).
- If necessary, you can easily remove the wallpaper. It is enough to moisten the walls with hot water and the wallpaper will fall behind (but this is true!).
The last advantage can also turn into a disadvantage if, say, you were flooded by neighbors from above or your pipe burst. But do not worry, so that in such situations the wallpaper does not come off the walls, special ingredients are added to the composition.
flour recipe
To make glue at home, you need to follow a few simple steps.
- Pour water into an enameled or galvanized container, put on fire and wait until it boils.
- Now add flour in small portions. Do not forget that flour likes to roll into lumps, so we are not distracted for a second and constantly stir the glue. Flour should be taken in a proportion of about 1/3 to the total volume of glue, but for the most part it will have to be measured by eye.
- Cook until mixture thickens.
- Remove from fire and cool.
- After that, we pass the mixture through cheesecloth or through a sieve. Thus, we will free the glue from lumps.
For these purposes, the most common Wheat flour which must first be screened. If you find coarse flour, this will be generally ideal, its adhesive properties are quite impressive.
Flour paste is best suited for sealing cracks in wooden frames.
Starch and PVA
Starch paste, unlike flour paste, has no color at all and does not leave any marks on the surface of the wallpaper, although it has slightly less outstanding adhesive properties. It is for this reason that this type of paste is most often used for wallpapering light shades.
Making it with your own hands is as easy as making flour paste.
- We just repeat the same steps as when preparing flour glue, only we use sifted starch.
- When the consistency of the glue resembles batter, you can add PVA to it (it will increase the adhesive characteristics and give the paste moisture resistance). It is usually added “by eye” according to the principle “no matter how much it is a pity”.
- Bring the mixture to a boil again and strain it through cheesecloth while still hot.
- Cooled glue is ready to use.
Paste for papier-mâché
For joint creativity with a child and making papier-mâché, potato starch paste is best suited:
Cooking according to the following recipe.
- We lay out the potato starch on a baking sheet, put it in the oven and heat it to a temperature of 400 degrees.
- You need to get it when it turns into translucent brown balls (lumps).
- Cool and wait for these lumps to harden.
- After that, grind them to a powder state. To do this, you can use a mixer or blender.
- 25 ml water
- 10 grams of powder
- 3 grams of sugar.
It is quite logical to ask the question, how to properly store the resulting paste? And you need to store it in the refrigerator under tightly closed lid or under polyethylene. It will be usable within 10 days.
If you are preparing a starch paste, when cooling, a film may form on the surface of the mixture, which must be removed.
The thickened mixture is successfully reanimated with a couple of tablespoons of hot water. True, this rule does not apply to very old mixtures, it is better to throw it away and cook again.
Why do you need all this when you can buy it in a store? To be honest, I also had the same question. I do not like to do something just like that, to waste my energy on meaningless activities.
Well, firstly, this “invention” will help out if you suddenly run out of ordinary glue, and you “oh, how you need to finish work today,” or your child needs to prepare crafts for school tomorrow, and there is nothing adhesive at home.
I personally find this situation difficult, I always have a bottle of PVA in my closet, since my son and I often make applications. But all people are different, situations in life are also different.
It is possible that someone is allergic to factory adhesives. Why not use a homemade one then?
As an option - joint work with children of different ages.
For a small child, it’s just to show how sweetish white powder can eventually glue paper together.
For older children - to show that store-bought adhesives did not always exist, so people invented them from improvised means.
For high school students, this is a great demonstration. chemical properties starch.
good luck and Have a good mood everyone!
Natalia Bryantseva
