What is Selleys Aquadhere Durabond, and where should you use it?

Selleys Aquadhere Durabond is a solvent-free, moisture-curing polyurethane wood glue with high bond strength and water resistance, for both interior and exterior work. It bonds wood to almost anything, and it is easily sandable, paintable and stainable — the last two after sanding.

The behaviour that separates it from an ordinary PVA is that it expands and foams as it cures. That expansion is what gives it gap-filling ability, and it is also the thing you have to manage: an unclamped joint will be pushed open by its own adhesive. Clamping is not optional with this glue.

The second thing to know before choosing it is that it needs moisture to cure. It takes that moisture from the air and from the timber, which is why one surface should be porous and why use may be restricted in very dry conditions.

Technical specification

Property	Typical result
Technology	Polyurethane
Colour	Amber, dries yellow opaque
Density	1.14 @ 25°C
Application temperature	>5°C
Working time	About 10 minutes, depending on temperature and humidity
Clamp time	4 hours
Full cure	Up to 24 hours, depending on humidity and material porosity
Heat resistance	Maximum 140°C

Supplied as a 460ml bottle. Indicative data only, not intended for the preparation of specifications.

What the key numbers mean in practice

Working time about 10 minutes. You have roughly ten minutes between spreading the glue and closing the joint, and the directions ask you to assemble within that window. Dry-fit and lay out your clamps first — on anything more complicated than a single joint, the assembly takes longer than people expect and this glue does not wait.

Clamp time 4 hours. Clamp firmly until cured, approximately four hours. Because the adhesive foams as it cures, the clamping is doing two jobs: holding the alignment, and resisting the expansion that would otherwise force the joint apart. Selleys states plainly that a better bond is obtained with tighter clamping, and that high humidity and damp surfaces can result in increased foaming and a weakened joint — ensure tight clamping or weighting to reduce foaming.

Maximum strength in up to 24 hours, depending on humidity and material porosity. Four hours gets the clamps off; a day gets you full strength.

Application temperature above 5°C. This is a hard limit rather than a recommendation — the limitations state the product cannot be used if the application temperature is below 5°C. A cold shed in winter is outside the working range.

Heat resistance to a maximum of 140°C. Well beyond anything a domestic timber joint sees.

Where to use it

Aquadhere Durabond is ideal for:

• Furniture making
• Timber joinery
• Marine applications
• General repairs

It will stick various timbers, MDF, metal, ceramics, glass, masonry and most plastics.

Its stated features are: super durable and high strength; waterproof, though not for permanent water immersion; bonds all types of wood or timber to almost anything; acid and chemical resistant; versatile enough to bond surfaces other than wood; heat resistant up to 140°C; expands as it dries, so it can be used for gap filling; sandable, without clogging sandpaper or timber the way other PVA glues do; and paintable and stainable after sanding.

How to apply it

Surface preparation first. Surfaces must be close fitting, clean, and free of dust and grease. One surface should be porous, because the adhesive requires moisture to cure. Wipe very dry porous surfaces with a damp cloth for 1 minute before bonding.

1. Wear gloves. The adhesive bonds to skin.
2. Apply a thin layer to one surface only. The glue expands and foams as it cures, so a thin layer is enough — a generous one produces a large foam bead squeezing out of the joint.
3. Assemble within 10 minutes and clamp firmly until cured, approximately 4 hours.
4. Wipe the nozzle and seal the bottle tightly. Store in a dry place; the product is humidity sensitive.
5. Allow up to 24 hours for maximum strength, depending on humidity and material porosity.

Tips that change the result

• For smooth materials such as glass, plastics or metals, sand or roughen the surface first. Polyurethane needs something to key into.
• Tighter clamping gives a better bond.
• Clean surfaces with acetone or mineral turps. For old, difficult residue such as old paint, paint stripper is recommended. The product page adds that for porous surfaces, a liquid sugar soap is suitable for pre-cleaning, and for non-porous surfaces such as glass or metal, clean first with acetone.
• High humidity and damp surfaces can increase foaming and weaken the joint. Clamp or weight tightly to reduce it.

Limitations — where Durabond should not be used

• Not suitable for below waterline applications or continuous submersion. Waterproof does not mean immersible.
• Not for polyethylene or polypropylene plastics. Test other plastics first.
• Not recommended for structural applications.
• It requires atmospheric moisture to cure, so use may be restricted in dry conditions.
• It cannot be used if the application temperature is below 5°C.

Clean up and storage

Clean tools and uncured product with acetone or turps immediately after use. Cured product must be scraped, cut, chiselled or sanded to be removed — and because the glue foams, cured squeeze-out is a stiff crust along the joint rather than a thin line. Dealing with it while it is still wet takes seconds; dealing with it later takes a chisel.

Store in a cool, dry place. The product is humidity sensitive, so wipe the nozzle and seal the bottle tightly after every use, or the contents will begin curing in the container.

Hazard classification

Classified as hazardous under Safe Work Australia GHS 7, with the signal word Danger. This is by a wide margin the most heavily classified adhesive in the Aquadhere range.

• Acute toxicity, inhalation — Category 4. H332: harmful if inhaled.
• Sensitisation, respiratory — Category 1A. H334: may cause allergy or asthma symptoms or breathing difficulties if inhaled.
• Sensitisation, skin — Category 1A. H317: may cause an allergic skin reaction.
• Carcinogenicity — Category 2. H351: suspected of causing cancer.
• Specific target organ toxicity, repeated exposure — Category 2. H373: may cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure.
• Specific target organ toxicity, single exposure — Category 3, respiratory tract irritation. H335: may cause respiratory irritation.
• Skin irritation — Category 2. H315: causes skin irritation.
• Eye irritation — Category 2A. H319: causes serious eye irritation.

It is not classified as Dangerous Goods for transport — not by the Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road & Rail, not by New Zealand NZS5433, not under the IMDG Code for sea and not under the IATA regulations for air. Transport classification is about what a load does in an accident; it says nothing about what repeated use does to the person using it, and on this product the two answers are very different.

What is in it

Chemical entity	CAS number	Proportion (w/w)
2-Butanone, O,O',O"-(methylsilylidyne)trioxime	22984-54-9	1–10%
2-Butanone, O,O',O"-(ethenylsilylidyne)trioxime	2224-33-1	<1%
Methyl ethyl ketoxime	96-29-7	<1%
N-[3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ethylenediamine	1760-24-3	<0.5%
Cyclotetrasiloxane, octamethyl-	556-67-2	<1%
Non-hazardous or below reporting limits	—	Balance

The classification to take most seriously is H334, respiratory sensitisation at Category 1A — the highest sub-category. Respiratory sensitisation is not irritation and it is not a headache from fumes. It is the immune system learning to react to a substance in the airway, and once that has happened it is generally permanent. Thereafter an exposure far smaller than the one that caused it can provoke asthma symptoms or breathing difficulty, and the person affected has no way back to how they were before. Category 1A is assigned where there is evidence of a high frequency of that occurring in people.

The skin classification, H317, is the same mechanism on the skin and also at Category 1A. Sensitisation of either kind develops from repeated ordinary contact rather than from one dramatic exposure — wiping foam squeeze-out off a joint with a bare thumb, job after job, is precisely the pattern that causes it. This page already tells you to wear gloves because the adhesive bonds to skin. That instruction is correct for a better reason than the one given: the bonding is a nuisance, and the sensitisation is the part you cannot undo.

Then there is the combination of H351 (suspected of causing cancer) and H373 (may cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure). Both are classifications about accumulated exposure rather than about a single use, which puts them squarely on the person who uses this glue most: the joiner or furniture maker gluing up week after week in a workshop, not the householder who repairs one chair. Among the declared ingredients, the oxime-functional components — the ketoxime silanes and the methyl ethyl ketoxime itself — are the ones whose chemical class carries carcinogenicity classifications; the safety data sheet classifies the formulation rather than attributing the hazard to a named component, so that attribution is an inference and should be read as one.

All of this has a practical consequence for how this glue is used, and it follows from the property the page already describes: it is moisture-curing, which means it goes on cheerfully releasing its cure chemistry into the room while it sets, for the four hours it is clamped and beyond. Ventilation is not just for the ten minutes of assembly. Open the workshop up and leave it open. Where the same job can be done with Aquadhere Interior or Aquadhere Exterior — neither of which is classified as hazardous at all — the difference in exposure is not marginal, and Durabond is worth reserving for the jobs that actually need its water resistance and gap filling.

Protection

• Ventilation — use in a well-ventilated area, during application and while the joint cures.
• Eye protection — safety glasses.
• Gloves — nitrile rubber, suitable for intermittent contact. The safety data sheet notes that glove construction and local conditions vary and the final assessment is the user's. Wash your hands after taking gloves off.
• Clothing — overalls and safety shoes. Wash contaminated clothing before reuse.
• Storage — cool, dry, well ventilated, out of direct sunlight and away from heat, below 50 °C, container upright and tightly closed, away from food. The product is humidity sensitive, so dry storage protects the contents as well as satisfying the safety data sheet.
• Do not eat, drink or smoke while using it, and wash your hands before you do.

First aid

Exposure	What to do
Inhalation	Move the person out of the area without becoming a casualty yourself. Remove contaminated clothing and loosen the rest, let them settle into whichever position is most comfortable, keep them warm and at rest until fully recovered. Seek medical advice if effects persist. Breathing difficulty after exposure should be treated as a medical matter, not as something to wait out.
Skin	Remove contaminated clothing immediately and flush the skin and hair thoroughly with running water. If swelling, redness, blistering or irritation develops, seek medical assistance.
Eyes	Rinse cautiously with water for several minutes, removing contact lenses if present and easy to do, then keep rinsing. Seek medical advice in all cases of eye contamination as a sensible precaution.
Swallowed	Rinse the mouth with water. Do not induce vomiting. Give a glass of water. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person. If vomiting occurs, give more water and seek medical advice.

If poisoning occurs, contact a doctor or the Poisons Information Centre — 131 126 in Australia, 0800 764 766 in New Zealand — with the container to hand. Selleys emergency line: 1800 220 770 in Australia, 0800 220 770 in New Zealand.

Common questions about Selleys Aquadhere Durabond

How long do I need to clamp it?

Clamp firmly until cured, approximately 4 hours. Tighter clamping gives a better bond.

Do I have to clamp it at all?

Yes. The glue expands and foams as it cures, so an unclamped joint can be forced open by the adhesive itself.

When does it reach full strength?

Maximum strength is attained in up to 24 hours, depending on humidity and material porosity.

How long do I have to assemble the joint?

About 10 minutes, depending on temperature and humidity.

Do I glue both surfaces?

No. Apply a thin layer to one surface only.

Is it waterproof?

It is waterproof but not for permanent water immersion, and it is not suitable for below waterline applications or continuous submersion.

Can I use it on glass or metal?

Yes — it will stick timber, MDF, metal, ceramics, glass, masonry and most plastics. Sand or roughen smooth surfaces first, and remember one surface should be porous because the adhesive needs moisture to cure.

Will it stick to plastic?

Most plastics, but not polyethylene or polypropylene. Test other plastics first.

Can I use it for structural work?

No. It is not recommended for structural applications.

Can I paint or stain over it?

Yes, it is paintable and stainable after sanding, and it sands without clogging sandpaper or timber the way other PVA glues do.

Why is there foam squeezing out of my joint?

That is normal — the glue expands and foams as it cures. High humidity and damp surfaces increase foaming, so clamp or weight tightly to control it, and apply a thin layer rather than a thick one.

Can I use it in cold weather?

Not below 5°C. The stated application temperature is above 5°C.

My timber is bone dry. Will it still cure?

Wipe very dry porous surfaces with a damp cloth for 1 minute before bonding. Do not add water directly to the product.

What size does it come in?

A 460ml bottle.

How do I get cured glue off?

Scrape, cut, chisel or sand it. Uncured product comes off with acetone or turps.

For interior-only work a PVA is usually the simpler choice — see Aquadhere Interior and Aquadhere Exterior, or the full wood glue range.