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This is a great question; there are so many glues to use, and so few of them actually do the job.

My preferred glue is hot glue; it's very good with joining seams, it's strong, and it's durable. However, most puppet builders will tell you that there are inherent problems with using hot glue: it's gluggy, which means that using it to glue down fleece or cloth over the foam can be tricky (I hot glue fleece by using it sparingly on the corners of the foam); the seams can be highly visible, even when covered with material; it can be re-melted by the hot sun if not careful; and it adds extra weight to the puppet (personally I think this one is a bit of a farce. Yes, it adds a little weight, but even on my moppets, it was not considerable enough for the puppeteer to notice). Do read my update on finding a good glue here.

Other puppet builders prefer to use a spray-on glue, as it's lightweight, just as durable, and works on a range of materials. I don't know whether it's just the spray-on glues you can buy in Australia, but I find them very weak, and don't stick for very long. However, when building a foam puppet, I tend to combine the two glues: hot glue on seams, and spray-on glue for laying over fleece or material onto the foam. I also tend to hem the edges of the material - on the inside of the puppet - with hot glue, just for added strength. Whatever you use, be sure to smooth out any bubbles of air between the foam and the covering materials.

Back in '03, when my company was doing our first show, we used wood glue on our foam puppets. Big mistake! The wood glue was very aromatic, and had to be used in a well-ventilated area, lest we faint from the fumes (of course, not all wood glues are like this), but it was also very much like a liquid, rather than a glue... it also made the foam discoloured after a while. Not recommended! Some puppet builders use contact cement (on retrospect, perhaps we used a contact cement, and not a wood glue), but it can be tricky getting the right stuff. Here's a good discussion on what to use.

But you can also do one other thing: you can sew the foam together! By sewing the foam, you give it more flexibility to move, which means a wider range of expressions, gestures, and emotions. But remember: foam will rip if you sew it, which means you MUST attach some material/cloth to it first, before sewing. You can sew the materials together, and slip it onto the foam like a pillow cover. Here's an explanation.

A nice thread at PuppetsandStuff.com that I started has some good suggestions on what glues to use, and whether or not to sew or glue. And the above is quite clearly one person's opinion: other professional puppet builders seem to have a variety of techniques and points of views. Experiment on some scrap materials, and see what you like best. Over time, you'll hone your techniques, and discover new ways of doing things. Remember: there's no such thing as the right way to make a puppet. So if you screw up, just start again, and use what you did as a learning experience!

Did you know? You can now buy moppet eyes from my online store! Click here to check it out!

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