When people compare adhesives, they usually look at strength, cure time, or temperature resistance. But many real-world application issues—drips, sagging on vertical surfaces, poor wicking into tight gaps, and inconsistent dispensing—are driven by one practical property: viscosity. An adhesive viscosity chart helps you translate a datasheet number into a “feel,” so you can pick a product that matches your joint design and your dispensing process.To compare options faster, browse adhesives by category.
What is viscosity?
Viscosity is a material’s resistance to flow. Low-viscosity products move easily, wet surfaces quickly, and can penetrate small clearances. High-viscosity products are thicker, hold shape better, and are often preferred for beads, fillets, and gap filling.
Most adhesive technical data sheets list viscosity in centipoise (cP). For tight gaps and capillary flow, start with low-viscosity adhesives for wicking.A common shortcut is to anchor your understanding to the viscosity of water. Near room temperature, the viscosity of water is often treated as roughly 1 cP, which makes it a simple baseline for “how thin” a liquid is. Using that baseline, you can interpret adhesive viscosity ranges quickly: numbers close to the viscosity of water behave very runny, while values thousands of times higher feel syrup-like, gel-like, or paste-like.
What Is Thixotropy?
Not all adhesives behave like simple liquids. Many sealants and pastes are 변성성. In practice, thixotropy means the material can look thick at rest, become easier to flow when squeezed through a nozzle or valve, and then recover so it stays put after placement. If your application needs vertical bead stability, explore non-sag sealants and gasketing options.This is why a non-sag adhesive can be applied in a vertical bead without sliding down the part—even if the product still dispenses without extreme force.
How to Use an Adhesive Viscosity Chart (3-Step Selection)
- Define your goal. Do you need wicking into a tight gap, clean dots/lines, a stable bead on a vertical surface, or true gap filling?
- Pick a viscosity band. For tight gaps and capillary action, lower viscosities closer to the viscosity of water are often better. For controlled dots and short lines, low-to-medium viscosities usually work well. For vertical/overhead stability, look for higher viscosity and/or thixotropy. For larger clearances, gap-filling epoxy adhesives are often the best fit.For larger gaps and sealing beads, high-viscosity pastes are typically the right direction.
- Validate in the TDS. Check the temperature and method used to report viscosity, and look for labels like “thixotropic,” “non-sag,” or “shear-thinning.” Two products can list similar viscosity but dispense differently if their flow behavior under shear is not the same.
Viscosity Chart
| 재료 | Approximate Viscosity (in centipoise) |
| Water @ 70 °F | 1 to 5 |
| Blood or Kerosene | 10 |
| Anti-Freeze or Ethylene Glycol | 15 |
| Motor Oil SAE10 or Mazola Corn Oil | 50 to 100 |
| Motor Oil SAE30 or Maple Syrup | 150 to 200 |
| Motor Oil SAE40 or Castor Oil | 250 to 500 |
| Motor Oil SAE60 or Glycerin | 1,000 to 2,000 |
| Karo Corn Syrup or Honey | 2,000 to 3,000 |
| Blackstrap Molasses | 5,000 to 10,000 |
| Hershey Chocolate Syrup | 10,000 to 25,000 |
| Heinz Ketchup or French’s Mustard | 50,000 to 70,000 |
| Tomato Paste or Peanut Butter | 150,000 to 250,000 |
| Crisco Shortening or Lard | 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 |
| Caulking Compound | 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 |
| Window Putty | 100,000,000 |
Common Viscosity Mistakes
- Treating viscosity as a fixed number (temperature and shear change flow behavior)
- Comparing values tested under different conditions
- Assuming “thicker is always better” (too thick can reduce wetting and complicate dispensing)
Not sure which viscosity range fits your joint? Contact our team to request a recommendation.
자주 묻는 질문
- What does cP mean? It’s a common viscosity unit used for adhesives.
- Why reference the viscosity of water? It gives an easy baseline (about 1 cP near room temperature) to understand how thin or thick an adhesive is.
- Why do gels flow during dispensing but stay put afterward? Thixotropy.