Gorilla Glue, as a branded product, was first sold in 1994.

Quick Scoop

  • The original polyurethane adhesive that became Gorilla Glue was discovered by woodworker Mark Singer in Indonesia in the early 1990s.
  • He secured the North American rights and began selling it under the Gorilla Glue name, with the brand on the market by 1994, mainly to woodworkers and furniture makers at first.
  • The company behind it was later bought by Lutz Tool Company, which eventually renamed itself The Gorilla Glue Company as the glue’s popularity took off.

Simple timeline

  1. Early 1990s: Polyurethane glue used in teak furniture factories in Indonesia is noticed by Mark Singer.
  1. 1994: Gorilla Glue brand is launched and the glue is first sold in the U.S. market, especially among woodworkers.
  1. Late 1990s: Lutz Tool Company acquires the brand and grows it into a mainstream consumer product.

So when you ask “when was Gorilla Glue invented,” the practical answer is that the branded Gorilla Glue people know today dates back to 1994, even though the underlying polyurethane formula existed slightly earlier in industrial use.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.