We've all heard the old saying "taking the horse to the glue factory". As glue manufacturers, this old saying drives us a little nutty. Here's why...
LD Davis Industries is one of the largest manufacturers and compounders of animal glues - also known as hide glue or jelly glues - in the world.
When people hear the term "animal glue", they typically assume that means our glue is made from ground up animal skin, tissue, and bones. Essentially, they think animals are sent off to slaughter houses where glue is made. We're here today to bust that myth.
It's almost Thanksgiving so let's think about turkey for a moment. Yum.
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Remember that pan you cooked the turkey in? It's full of juices, and jello-like "stuff". That "stuff" is actually cooked collagen - or gelatin. While our glues are not made from turkey gelatin, this example will help you visualize the process of making animal glue.
Gelatin is a protein obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and/or bones with water (PETA) just like in our Thanksgiving example.
If you go into a grocery store right now, you can find dozens of types of bone broth and stock. In our case, our animal glues are usually obtained from bovine and porcine (cows and pigs) gelatin.
After the meat is removed from a cow or pig, which is used for food production, the remaining byproducts are then used in the process of manufacturing gelatin.
Gelatin is used in many products we use and consume everyday like candies, marshmallows, vitamin capsules and many more. Since the 1970s, we have replaced the primary ingredient in our animal glues, extracted collagen from the hides of bovine and porcine, with recycled pharmaceutical gelatin in the form of soft gel netting and ground hard cap.
Yes, the capsule you see on your Vitamin E pill is the same product we use to manufacture our protein based glues.
It's a pretty interesting process which, over the years, has been streamlined to create the least amount of waste possible.
Check our article Myths vs. Facts About Animal Glue to bust more myths about hide glue.
