brewing wheatpaste to post your posters
Whether its show posters, political statements, or just some cool art, we all got stuff we want to show others. With this method, you can stick your posters wherever you like on the cheap. Let me show you how I make and use wheatpaste.
Brewing
Brewing wheatpaste is quick and easy - the only materials needed are water, flour, and a pot to brew it in. Recipes vary, but the one I tried and had success in was:
- In a pot, start heating 3 parts water to a boil
- In a seperate bowl, mix 3 parts water and 1 part flour
- Once your water is boiling, mix in the seperate bowl until mixture is the consistancy of elmers glue (or however you want it). Remember that as it cools, it will get thicker.
- Mix in any additives
I like this recipe as it allows you to make sure your flour is completly mixed in while waiting for the water to boil. Another recipe, this one simpler and more oriented for large batches, skips this:
- In a pot, mix 1 part flour and 4 parts water. Make sure there are no clumps.
- Heat to under a boil while mixing until you've reached a elmers glue consistancy.
- Mix in any additives
YES i know what it looks like and NO you are not allowed to say it ☜(◉▂◉)
You can use this right away (it will be hot so maybe let it cool down for a bit though). Because the wheatpaste is essentially a crappy dough, you'll want to store it as such. For any extended period refrigeration is required, but really its so easy to make I would just make it day of.
Additives
Different additives can modify your wheatpaste to different ends, like a spoonful or more of sugar to increase stickyness and strength, or salt to increase shelf life. This post from Instructables (btw instructables is so good hit that place up) does a good job at listing these, but most are not needed if you plan on applying on the same day.
Application
At this point, we've just made glue - you can use it for a bunch of things, especially regarding paper. But to post posters, all you need is a brush.
- Brush a layer of paste onto the location you want to place the poster
- Stick the poster onto the glue
- Brush paste over the poster to saturate it
You can use less here as well - just glueing the back of a small peice will allow you to throw it up like a sticker, with a much faster drying time as well.
There are some material considerations to think about here - because this is a water based glue, it will cause some streaking on any water based inks. You can prevent this by using different ink, or applying the top glue layer more evenly with a roller or something. You can also use different paper, with a popular type being newsprint (i <3 newsprint) or just printer paper.
conclusion
This whole process feels very antique to me. You brew your own glue with basic materials, carry it around in a jar or old paint bucket and slather it on a wall with a paintbrush to show the world your poster. The urges that led me to the indie internet, to craft my own voice to the world through the web, is the same one leading me post homemade posters with homeade glue around my local area, but somehow this feels more impactful? I spend so much time making things for this digital community, when maybe what I crave more is to make things for my local community.
- keeperofhoney, July 2025