How to Remove Wood Glue from Your Skin

applying wood glue to small strip of wood
  • 0.5-1
  • Beginner
  • 25-35
What You'll Need
Lacquer thinner
MEK
Soap
Water
Moisturizer
What You'll Need
Lacquer thinner
MEK
Soap
Water
Moisturizer

If you have wood glue on your skin, you’ll find that scrubbing with soap and water won’t remove it. You’ll simply end up with raw, painful skin and the wood glue still in place. Here are some options that might help with your dilemma.

Step 1 - Polyurethane Adhesive

With polyurethane wood glue, try using lacquer thinner for the glue that’s on your skin. It will loosen some of the glue, but probably won’t take of all of it. In this instance, the only real solution here is time. You’ll need to rely on the natural oils released by your skin to take off all the glue. The good news is that it generally only takes a couple of days before the wood glues wears off.

Step 2 - Latex-Based Adhesive

You can use acetone to help remove latex-based wood glue. You’ll find this in nail polish remover. An even better option is methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). This is sold in paint stores as a solvent and works very effectively on wood glue.

Step 3 - Finishing

Whichever kind of solvent you use, you need to wash your hands thoroughly in soap and water after using it. Do it twice to be certain you’ve removed all the solvent and to make sure no irritants remain on your skin. After that, put moisturizer on your hands.