Super glue may seem simple, but there is more to it than one tiny tube and that familiar smell. Most “super glues” are built around cyanoacrylate chemistry, yet brands vary in viscosity, additives, applicator design, shelf stability, and how well they handle impact, moisture, or tricky materials.
In other words, this is one of those product categories where the active chemical may be common, but the real-world performance is not always the same. Some brands are engineered for cleaner application, stronger bonds, or tougher conditions, while others feel more like generic commodity glue in a tube.
That’s a big reason country of origin matters. When you are buying an adhesive you may trust for repairs, hobbies, or household fixes, quality control and formulation matter.
I made the mistake of getting cheap super glue from China years ago. It was the same story as always—on paper their product looked just the same as the name brands with the same chemical names and bottle shapes, but priced a pennies on the dollar. I would quickly find after one or two uses that the bond wouldn’t stick and the glue would solidify in the tube.
That’s why many shoppers are wary of super glues coming out of China. The brands below are the ones I’ve personally found to be exceptional.
The Best Super Glue not Made in China
1. Bob Smith Industries Maxi-Cure
Bob Smith Industries may not be a household name, but they’ve been making modeling cement for hobbyists for 40 years, as well as glues for multiple industrial uses. Their Bob Smith Industries Maxi-Cure™ Thick Super Glue is their best-selling general consumer product, and it’s a home run.
Most of their modeling glue is made in this USA. This one is made in Taiwan, but if you haven’t been paying attention, Taiwan has become one of the places where top-quality, high-end manufacturing takes place—in a free country with workers in fair conditions.
It’s everything you want in a super glue: a nice, thick gel that’s easy to work with and that seeps into uneven crevices for a solid hold, fast curing, strong bond, and made by an American company in a free country whose manufacturing equals or exceeds anywhere else in the world.
2. Krazy Glue
Krazy Glue was developed by Toagosei, who says its chemist Kaoru Kimura helped turn cyanoacrylate into a practical consumer product by improving stability, packaging, and usability, helping move super glue from a niche chemical into a true household category.
The brand arrived in the United States in 1973 and became one of the names that helped define the instant-adhesive market for American consumers.
It’s owned today by Newell, which has a mixed history of selling out to China: some of its brands like Calphalon, Oster, and Mr. Coffee have long since abandoned their US manufacturing roots, while other brands like Elmer’s and Rubbermaid Commercial have done a better job of keeping their US manufacturing intact.
Happily, Krazy Glue is manufactured and distributed in the United States and Canada, and this Krazy Glue All Purpose Precision Control Superglue Pen—their best selling product on Amazon—is indeed made in the USA.
3. Loctite Super Glue Gel Control
Loctite is one of my favorite super glue brands primarily because of one thing: its bottle design. Unlike tubes and pens, their bottles have a unique “squeeze” mechanism that dispenses the glue cleanly and, importantly, keeps glue dry between uses. Loctite is the only brand of super glue I’ve used where I’ve actually used the entire bottle to the last drop. This Super Glue Gel Control comes in 3 packs and 6 packs at Amazon, and you’ll happily be able to use all of the bottles.
When I wrote this blog post in 2025, they were outsourcing their glue to China, but happily it looks like they’ve reshored their manufacturing to Ireland, likely due to tariffs. Let’s hope it sticks.
4. Gorilla Super Glue
Gorilla Glue has an interesting “origin story” for its regular glue. It says it was originally “discovered” in Indonesia when their founder Mark Singer saw it being used on teak furniture; he bottled it, sold it to woodworkers, and eventually sold it to the public.
Gorilla Super Glue of course is related to the original Gorilla Glue in name only, but they’ve got an impressive number of positive reviews for their cyanoacrylate formulation.
Others
Since I started this blog post, I realized I already wrote a forum post on this very topic in 2025. I’ve copied some of those finds here, as well as new ones.
- Woldoclean Super Glue – Made in Germany. When’s the last time you had anything bad made in Germany?
- Scotch Super Glue Gel – Made in Taiwan. Single-use tubes, which make a lot of sense considering that I usually buy a $8 bottle and get one use out of it before it dries up anyway
- Y’allCanDiy Super Glue – Made in Turkey. Has some decent reviews.
- Gluemasters 100% cyanoacrylate – Made in USA. The irony is that this American company sells the same 100% cyanoacrylate solution as China sellers, but Amazon buries them.
- Starbond Super Fast Thin CA Glue – Made in Japan. Extremely popular among hobbyists, woodworkers, and makers.
- Mercury Adhesives – Made in the USA. Comes in a large amount of formulations for any use. More niche, but highly respected in specialty adhesive circles.
- Zap (Pacer) Adhesives – Made in the USA. Very familiar in hobby and RC spaces.
- MITREAPEL CA Glue – Made in Turkey. Very popular in repair and woodworking jobs.
As you can see, there’s an embarrassment of riches of non-China manufacturers to super glue. How did this happen?
Tariffs are a part of it, of course. When I created this list just two years ago, there were multiple manufacturers making their products in China. This allowed China to start to take over supply chains and mass produce their own counterfeit and generic products.
This is an industry that clearly fought back. Super glue from China lacked the formulations that could be produced domestically and in free nations like Taiwan and Ireland, and even the most foolish of consumers could see their product was subpar. On top of this, the shipment and handling time increased their failure rate. As such, as have an embarrassment of riches of NMIC products to buy.
Hopefully we can repeat this model across other industries. In the meantime, buy any of the brands above, as long as they continue to not be made in China.
Do you know of other brands of super glue that have avoided the China trap? Let us know in the comments!
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