EVA hot melt adhesives are generally the first generation of the hot melt range of adhesives. The base of EVA hot melt adhesive is:
- EVA polymer
- A tackifier resin
- A wax
Typically applications for EVA hot melt adhesives are:
- Paper converting
- (Food) packaging
- Bookbinding
- Woodworking
- Edgebanding
- Laminating
- Product assembly
- Whitegoods
- Automotive
- Matresses
- Labelling
EVA hot melt adhesives are:
- easy to handle
- enabling machine stops and easy restarts
- fast: short compression times of approximately 1 second (packaging)
In the range of packaging, paper converting and some woodworking applications EVA hot melt adhesives are often replaced by Polyolefine these have the following advantages:
- Transparant, colourless
- Odourless
- More thermostable
- Bond to a wider range of substrates
- Increased freeze- and heat resistance
- Can be more economic
For woodworking and product assembly applications, EVA hot melt adhesives may be replaced by Polyurethane hot melt adhesives, the advantages of polyurethane (PUR) Hotmelt adhesives are:
- Better (chemical) bond to surfaces
- Better resistant to water and chemicals
- Better heat and cold resistant
- Can be applied at lower temperatures, approximately 120 degrees celcius.
But still, the advantages of EVA hot melt adhesives last, against solvent based adhesives HMA’s are more evironmental friendly, against waterbased adhesives EVA is faster, and aboven Polyolefin and PUR hotmelt, in general EVA based hot melt adhesives are cheaper.