Why Super Glue Is Perfect For Gluing Skin

A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Allison Christy and Dr. John Bobo for their invaluable expertise, fresh perspectives, and explanations.
Thank you to Emily Von Stein and Chris Masahiro at Aron Alpha, Dr. Chantelle Champagne, and Dr. Rohit Gupta for their time and contributions to the initial research that laid the groundwork for this project.

Try Snatoms! A molecular modelling kit I invented where the atoms snap together.

ANIMATION CORRECTION:
At 4:52, the negative charge should be drawn on the carbon at the end of the chain, not on the second to last carbon. This also holds during the polymerization process (5:15), where the negative charge should move right to the end of the chain.

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0:00 The Invention of Super Glue
2:43 How Does Super Glue Work?
5:38 How To Get Superglue Off Your Skin
8:33 Why Is Super Glue So Strong?
12:00 Why Doesn’t Super Glue Work on plastic?
13:45 Mixing Super Glue and Baking Soda
15:30 Using Super Glue Underwater
15:59 Super Glue On Wounds
19:47 A Solution To Microplastics?

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References and Credits:

Image and Video Credits

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Special thanks to our patrons for sticking around!

Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Autodidactic Studios, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Farbod Mansorian, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, Greg Scopel, I. H., Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Spilmann Reed, TTST, Tj Steyn, Ubiquity Ventures, wolfee

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Directed by Sulli Yost
Written by Sulli Yost and Derek Muller
Edited by Peter Nelson
Assistant Editor - James Stuart
Illustrated by Jakub Misiek and Caine Esperanza
Animated by Emma Wright, Andrew Neet and Fabio Albertelli
Filmed and demos done by Sulli Yost, Derek Muller and Wylie Overstreet
Additional research by Geeta Thakur
Produced by Sulli Yost, Derek Muller, Rob Beasley Spence and Tori Brittain
Thumbnail contributions by Ren Hurley, Peter Sheppard, Ben Powell
Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks
Music from Epidemic Sound and Jonny Hyman

[squidikka]

I used to work at lowes. Our forklift forks were often dragged on concrete in outside garden such that the ends of them become razor sharp over the years. One time somebody left the fork up, and as I walked around an isle corner, my arm brushed along it. I didn't even realize until I had blood everywhere, because the cut was so clean. Immediately went to the adhesives isle, grabbed some super glue, and glued the wound shut instead of getting stitches. It healed perfectly.

[MrRedalertcc]

Eye doctor here. I've taken care of a few dozen people who have done exactly what Derek shows at 8:20. I still see between 1 and 3 patients a year who do this. As he talks about, though, the glue polymerizes from water, so what I tend to see happen is that the glue that comes into contact with the surface of the eyes doesn't actually stick - the water makes it polymerize to itself without sticking to the tissues of the eye well. BUT! It does stick really well to the eyelids and eyelashes, and what tends to happen is that all of your eyelashes get glued together, sealing your eye shut pretty well. Honestly, the worst one was a lady who was wearing a contact lens at the time, so the glue not only glued her eyelashes together, but also formed a continuous sheet of glue encompassing the contact lens and the eyelashes. Also when the glue polymerizes rapidly, the edges of it tend to be pretty rough, so she had this rough patch of glue rubbing against her eyeball until I could get the whole thing unstuck. Very unpleasant!

In addition to loving Dermabond (try scrubbing for surgery or using hand sanitizer between patients with a little cut on the skin - there's a reason someone taped a label "Paper Cut Finder" a bottle of hand sanitizer in our office) for little scrapes, we also use it to intentionally glue the eye, specifically the cornea. If someone has a really bad infection and the cornea becomes thin or perforates, you can slap a tiny dab of superglue on the wound, and it'll usually seal quite well. Then, put a drop of sterile saline or antibiotic drops on the surface to polymerize all the glue, and put a contact lens over the eye so the rough surface of the glue doesn't cause pain when the back of the eyelid rubs against it, and it's a really effective way to possibly avoid surgery, or prevent an infection from spreading until you can get a patient into the OR.

Edit: since so many people asked and it's cumbersome to respond to everyone - For everyone asking how you remove the glue: it really depends on what’s stuck. I haven’t, but I do know other docs who have used very small dabs of acetone or very dilute acetone (just make sure you don't get any in the eye itself) to loosen things up a bit. Another way to remove it is to cut the eyelashes at the base (basically, right where the eyelashes come out of the eyelid skin). It looks funny for a few weeks before the lashes grow back, but it’s basically harmless. Once the eyelashes are cut, it’s pretty easy to open the lids. If there’s not much glue, you can sometimes use a fairly beefy pair of forceps (fancy tweezers) and crush small amounts of the glue between the tines, and as it fractures, you can slide it off the lashes. It just depends on the situation. The lady with the contact lens glued in, I forget exactly but I couldn’t get the glue all out the first day. I think I cut some of her lashes and freed things up as best I could, then had to wait a day or two for the glue to loosen up before I could get out the big plaque that had some of her lashes and the contact lens encased. She had some gnarly scratches on her cornea which where exceedingly uncomfortable, but fortunately healed quickly and completely and she had no issues the last time I saw her (which was at least 5 years ago, if memory serves).

[LarixusSnydes]

9:01 Honesty goes a long way to build trust. I love how he admits that the discovery was accidental rather than researched.

[tedecker]

In the early 70s we were given a new adhesive called super glue. I worked for a business machine company as a repairman. The new glue found many uses. Being young, I used it to glue a quarter to the metal corner of a pool table at our local hangout. A year later it was still there, edges rounded from removal attempts. I swear the glue was stronger than what is on sale to the public today.

[brettneale]

1:28 Of course "Fred Joyner" was involved in developing an adhesive for joining things!

[OmkarBhatkar]

As a polymer scientist, I was super glued to the screen for 26 mins straight!! What a great video about the discovery and uses of this incredible Cyano-Acrylate polymer !! The scientist lady was so cool too.. thanks derek for this video..

[Famous_From_Commenting]

Just from that thumbnail, I can already feel the pain of trying to remove super glue from your fingers

[cactsai]

now I understand why connecting two different rocks with a cotton patch and super glue in a terrarium to bond them together makes the cotton smoke for a couple of seconds. Amazing video!

[Solanaar]

I absolutely love how this super-knowledgable scientist you interviewed has a spongebob gamer chair (11:05)!

[JosiahZulu-sr]

23:23 I love how the person representing the team of researchers who are trying to solve the one of the greatest modern problems (the plastic problem) has a SpongeBob gaming chair

[NathanExplosion]

I learned the water acting as a catalyst thing decades ago working as an electrical engineer. The LocTite rep was in the plant and handing out samples and stuff (that was always great, he'd give us bags of goodies with adhesives I'd never even heard of) and held a presentation in the break room for whoever wanted to attend. Which was pretty much everybody. Someone asked him a question why they were having issues with a certain adhesive they were using in the clean room. He said "What's the relative humidity in there?" They said "Oh, we keep that place dry as a bone." He laughed and said "You didn't read the data sheet, for dry environments you need to lightly wet the surfaces with a fine mist sprayer. We sell one just for this purpose." And I said "You mean that superglue needs water to cure?" He said "Yes, absolutely. It's critical. Just not too much."

[fitzcharles]

8:24 thanks for the new super glue in eyes phobia 💀

[Pronwan]

Fun Fact: While in most languages, the glues aspect of being super strong is emphasized (Super Glue), some other languages such as Dutch or German emphasize it's short bonding time by calling it "Sekundenkleber" / "Secondelijm" (Glue of Seconds / Instant Glue).

[JesseManess-he]

That explains why I couldn't dilute superglue with water! As someone whose skull has been superglued back together (not as bad as it sounds), I can confirm it's a very strong bond. One of the coolest videos I've seen in a long time!

[SuripatPatsuri-li]

It was not before some five years ago (2020?), despite the Medical Super Glue exiting since 1964, that I learned I could use regular super glue to close small wounds in places that do not flex much. It saves me a lot of pain in the workshop. You know that little pain that follows you up for 3-4 days because you cut your finger in the shop? Superglue it. It also kills any bacteria and it heals without any infection. Great stuff! Veritasium is top notch in content, thanks Derek!

[Eliam]

This video was in my auto playlist and the moment you explained how brittle is superglue against shear forces happened at the EXACT MOMENT I found two tools glued together by a leaky superglue bottle in my toolbox. So I can confirm it worked like a charm to separate them.

[trevorpom]

I've always kept super glue in the workshop medical kit and have glued up many cuts over the years. It's quick, only slightly painful and the cuts heal quickly without scars. My sister, a nurse, once saw me doing this and told me I should see a doctor instead of just gluing it up. I said "ok" and went and saw the doctor while she waited outside. The doctor took one look. asked me how I sealed it, I told him, he asked me to bend my finger, which I did, and just said "ok all good". That was it, in and out in 5 minutes. My sister couldn't believe it until she went to work and asked a surgeon if superglue was good for sealing cuts and if it was dangerous to do so. His answer, as long as the cut was clean and didn't interfere with any tendons or arteries then it was absolutely ok to seal a cut with superglue. I like it when I get something right, it doesn't happen often, so I celebrate a win when I do.

[darkJohnSmith]

In woodworking, we exploit the weak shear strength of super glue.

It is often used to temporarily attach objects, then remove them with the quick tap of a mallet perpendicular to the direction of the polymer chain.

That combined with its ability to be easily catalyzed to rapidly speed up the bond make super glue a versatile and valuable tool in any woodworking shop.

[ChrisHudsonMusic]

23:31 the SpongeBob chair was a jumpscare

[_kenothia]

I took an interview recently, and was asked the question, "pick a topic that you have good understanding of and write a two paragraph explanation of it citing links".
Derek takes these in his sleep, as he mumbles and turns. Never thought I'd enjoy a video about super glue.
Be blessed Veritasium!