Cloth/Leather Adhesive

[NSBrown]

What is the best adhesive to bond cloth to leather? And cloth to cloth? I am working on a bag and would like to bond the material before I cut the pattern.

[LRB]

  Walmart, Joannes Fabrics, and probably any fabric shop sells a waterproof adhesive good for either. My only problem with it is that it dries  very fast. You don't have a lot of time to re-think something, or re-adjust, but it seems to be very strong. It is acetone based, and can be thinned.

[longcruise]

NSBrown, not sure exactly what type of joint you are after but what I did when making a pouch with a ticking liner was to cut the ticking oversize and spray it with 3M spray adhesive and then place the leather pieces onto the glued ticking.  Did not spray the leather cause I did not want overspray or glue on the edges.  Trimmed the edges after it dried.  Seemed to allow adequate working time and needed a good 24 hours to cure so there was no stickiness left.  All held nicely while the project was sewn.  Since it was soft leather to begin with, I did not wet it to turn it.  Not sure what would happen if it were wetted and turned as in vegtan.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

3M 77 spray adhesive.

[TPH]

Barge Cement, used by harness makers and leatherworkers everywhere. And yes, it is a rubber cement but it remains flexible, in my experience, nearly forever, it does not let go after time. Google "Barge Cement" and you will find it for sale if no one carries it locally.

[PINYONE]

Question- if 18th and 19th century hunting pouches were lined- what did they do before all of the 21st century adhesives were made. Anyone know?

[TPH]

Question- if 18th and 19th century hunting pouches were lined- what did they do before all of the 21st century adhesives were made. Anyone know?

Actually, the rubber cements are 19th Century technology, but before that vegetable and animal based adhesives were used. They work okay but were mostly used to hold things together and keep them in alignment until sewing was done, they didn't depend on the adhesives to do all of the work, just as craftsmen today don't.

[RobertS]

It seems to me that I've read before on this forum that very few original pouches were lined, for what it's worth.

[Randy Hedden]

I don't think I have ever seen an old bag that was actually lined.  I have seen a very few, a couple maybe,  that had the front flap lined, but that is the extent of the lining.  Lining bags is definitely a 20th century thing.

I have never used glue or any adhesive when making lined bags. 

Randy Hedden

[David Rase]

I use white glue that has been thinned with water and brush it on.  Once I am done sewing and I wet the bag to turn it inside out the white glue will disolve and go away.  With watersoluable white glue I have no additional stiffness in the finished bag.
DMR

[PINYONE]

I have seen a good number of pouches with lined interiors and flaps- some flaps are so stiff you literally need to beat them with a hammer to soften them up- my personal view is all of these fancy lined pouches are like Hollywood Movie items, things that were glamorized to sell tickets. I believe if people are going for period items make them like the original ones. I just don't believe that in the Good Ole days those guys put all that time into linings when the main idea was survival.

[Dennis Glazener]

I use white glue that has been thinned with water and brush it on.  Once I am done sewing and I wet the bag to turn it inside out the white glue will disolve and go away.  With watersoluable white glue I have no additional stiffness in the finished bag.
DMR

Great idea David, Thanks
Dennis

[T.C.Albert]

Traditional old time bookbinders used a paste of flour and water just like the stuff we made back in grade school I think....it can be thinned quite a bit too I think if the flour is sifted fine. Flour paste however will not stay flexible.
TCA

[TPH]

T.C., you are right. 1/4 cub wheat paste, a pinch of salt (or alum) all combined and stirred, then add to 1 cup of water. Stir while bringing the water to a boil (boil for a minute) and continue stirring as it boils, if it thickens too much, add more water until you have the consistency that you want - on the thick side for tacking leather to leather, thin for cloth to leather. Like the Elmer's glue mentioned above by David, it will let go if you wet it but that is not necessarily a bad thing, it is just there to hold things together while you are cutting and sewing. But be aware that if too much is used to affix cloth to leather, it will bleed through the cloth and be visible even after it dries and lets go, that's why I first recommended the Barge Cement.

[PINYONE]

does anyone know why you need mattress covers in a pouch when if you use good leather it will last a long time, Fabric frays and gets dirty- I just don't see why it is needed.

[BrownBear]

My biggest reason for using it (glued to the back of the leather) is for stiffness.  I like a very soft bag so it won't scratch and scrape in the brush, but the softer leathers don't hold their shape with a load.  Back deer or elk, or Tandy Deertand for that matter, with ticking or mattress cover and it comes out to the stiffness of a heavier leather, but still very soft and quiet on the outside.  Noisy bags are non-negotiable with me for hunting, PC or not.  I just work too danged hard to be quiet in the woods to allow brush scraping on stiff leather to give it all up.

[longcruise]

Traditional old time bookbinders used a paste of flour and water just like the stuff we made back in grade school I think....it can be thinned quite a bit too I think if the flour is sifted fine. Flour paste however will not stay flexible.
TCA

Wasn't there at least one very old pouch illustrated in your book that had a lining??

[Dphariss]

What is the best adhesive to bond cloth to leather? And cloth to cloth? I am working on a bag and would like to bond the material before I cut the pattern.

Barge contact cement. Most leather shops. The old flammable formula.

Dan