How to Prepare and Use Hot Hide Glue

I frequently get questions about hot hide glue. Contrary to what some would have us believe, hot hide glue is not complicated to use. In fact, it is actually very forgiving. You also don’t need an expensive, thermostatically controlled electric glue pot to use hot hide glue. You can of course buy one if you would like (they are quite convenient), and they do work wonderfully well, but they are not required to use hot hide glue. In fact, you can get started with little more expense than the glue itself. An empty jelly jar heated in a sauce pan of water on the stove top will work just fine. You can also use an inexpensive electric hot pot and an empty glass jar, an old cast iron glue pot like I use (about $10 on ebay), or any number of other creative solutions to heat the glue. Whatever you choose to use to heat it, here’s how to go about it.