Material guide
Gluing PET
Clear packaging plastic used for drinks bottles, food trays and thin film.
Also called drinks bottle plastic, polyester film, recycling code 1.
How PET behaves when you bond it
Thin, glossy and often coated for release, so bonded joints are usually limited by the surface layer rather than the plastic. It is also very thin in most consumer applications, which limits how much bonded area is available.
PET is a semi-rigid polyester used in bottles, films and mouldings. Thin parts may be oriented, coated or contaminated with release additives, and untreated PET can be difficult for many ordinary adhesives despite its moderate nominal surface energy.
Material properties
- Surface energy
- Medium
- Porosity
- Non-porous
- Rigidity
- Semi-rigid
- Maximum service temperature
- 65C
- Normally needs abrading
- No
- Normally needs a primer
- Yes
- Surface energy
- 44.0000 mJ/m2 (Permabond guide value for PET; filled, coated and treated grades can differ.) Manufacturer verified
Surface preparation
Clean, dry and identify coatings. Use a named adhesive that directly covers untreated PET, a product-specific primer/cyanoacrylate system, or a validated flame, corona or plasma process. Do not abrade thin film aggressively, and test peel plus environmental ageing on the actual grade.
Which adhesives work on PET
Excellent
Structural acrylic
Structural acrylic is rated excellent for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. A named primer, LSE formulation or controlled surface treatment may be essential. Suitability still depends on the other substrate, joint design and service environment.
Conditional
Cyanoacrylate
Cyanoacrylate is rated conditional for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. A named primer, LSE formulation or controlled surface treatment may be essential. Use only after a product-specific test on the actual grade and joint.
A primer or activator is needed.
Conditional
UV cure adhesive
UV cure adhesive is rated conditional for this material as an application-level assessment, not as a blanket manufacturer claim. A named primer, LSE formulation or controlled surface treatment may be essential. Use only after a product-specific test on the actual grade and joint.
Last reviewed 8 October 2026.