Gorilla Glue vs Loctite: Compared and Reviewed

Imagine a household without glue.

Well, I can’t. I’ve always made sure to have at least two types of glue/adhesives lying around at home. You never know what might happen, right?

Loctite and Gorilla Glue are my usual go-to glue brands. I’ve used their products for ceramics, plastics, light machinery stuff…

Recently, I’ve been doing some woodworking DIY in Japan. I’ve been thoroughly impressed with this wood glue:

But let’s talk about Gorilla Glue vs Loctite from a more global perspective:

How do these two compare across different applications?

I’ve worked a lot with both and here are my conclusions:

• If you need regular multipurpose glue: Gorilla Glue Original is your best choice. It’s waterproof, thus perfect for both indoor and outdoor use.

• If you need an epoxy: Generally – this Gorilla Glue as it’s easier to apply and leaves surfaces near spotless. If you need more set time, only Loctite has this 60-minute epoxy.

• If you want to lock threads/fasteners: nothing better than Loctite Threadlockers. The 243 series comes with increased oil tolerance so you don’t even need to clean your threads much.

Obviously, for dedicated wood applications, I’d recommend Gorilla Glue again. Loctite has also been great for me, but my current GG tube dries quicker. Just remember that wood glues aren’t very good with water – don’t expect much water resistance here.

Note: If you’re searching for a mounting tape, do not get the Gorilla Glue ones. They’re far weaker than any experience I’ve had with 3M tapes.

Let’s investigate each case a little bit more, shall we?

General purpose glue:
Loctite Go2 vs Gorilla Glue

So why do I prefer the GG original?

Simple. While Loctite Go2 is water-resistant, Gorilla Glue is waterproof.

Considering we’re talking about outdoor use here too, it just makes more sense. Say your shoe soles needed a little bit of glue love during rainy autumns.

You wouldn’t want to apply glue to them just to see things fall apart again after a few days.

Just remember: Gorilla Glue’s Original expands as it dries. Don’t use too much of it – as other reviews also recommend.

Also, as it’s quite sticky…remember to wipe it off your hands or better yet, wear gloves. Here are a few general tips:

Luckily, it being expandable also means that you can use a small amount of it – and it’ll be enough. One bottle will last you quite a bit!

Temperature-wise, GG goes up to 200° F. Loctite’s Go2 falls apart if things get hotter than 176°F.

Important note: Both of these are not for use on polyethylene, polypropylene, plastics (like ABS) or anything with high plasticizer content.

Loctite epoxy or Gorilla Glue epoxy?

Alright, now let’s talk about epoxies. You can do these for virtually anything – including plastic, which was left out with the previous general purpose glues I reviewed.

As I mentioned, for general epoxy use – Gorilla Glue’s Epoxy makes more sense. It’s ease of application and at the 24-hour cure point it’s a little bit stronger (3300 PSI vs Loctite’s 3200 PSI).

However, Loctite’s strong point lies in the big variety of epoxies they manufacture.

One example is the Extra Time epoxy:

Now, this really depends on the project at hand, obviously. However, sometimes the 5-minute setting time a lot of epoxies allow for is just not enough.

Loctite’s Extra Time allows for up to one hour of setting time. That’s quite the buffer if you need to re-align and tinker around with the materials you want to bond together. Definitely a lifesaver.

Epoxy guidelines:

• You can use it for anything from steel, glass or aluminum to ceramics, plastics, tile etc.

• The most versatile bonding agent you’ll ever find.

• Not waterproof – epoxies are water-resistant, but longer exposure to water will ruin them, so be careful.

Threadlockers:
Loctite’s area of expertise

Threadlockers are Loctite’s forte and Gorilla Glue doesn’t have anything that can remotely compete.

You can use these for a variety of applications – from automotive (shock absorber mounts, idler bearings, wheel bearings) to rifles/guns or other general uses that require fasteners staying tight.

Remember that there are several types of Loctite thread lockers.

For general uses, you want the Loctite Blue series – either 242 or 243. This is the brand’s product line of medium strength thread lockers.

As I pointed out earlier, Loctite 243 doesn’t require you to thoroughly clean the threads and is oil resistant. This makes it easier to apply and also ensures it holds threads tighter for longer.

Loctite Red are heavy-duty, high strength threadlockers. Use them only if you really need those threads to stay together.

Why?

Because if you want to remove these adhesives, you’ll need heat and some extra tools. These are not for usual household/maintenance use – rather, they’re targeted at heavy-duty machinery projects.

If you want to learn more, I’ve written an in-depth guide to Loctite’s various threadlockers.

Wrapping things up

So that was it from me on the topic of Loctite vs Gorilla Glue. It’s a little bit hard to encompass all of their products, as there are a lot of adhesives, glue types etc to cover.

I hope that this brief overview of their most popular products was enough anyways. The reason is…well, probably what I listed above would be more than enough for 90% of the situations where you’ll need a bonding agent.

Let me know which one you prefer – and of course, for what applications. Or if there’s some other brand you can recommend. I’m thinking of doing a comparison between Permatex and Loctite too in the near future. Just have to find the time!