Spackling paste#Polyfilla

Spackling paste is comparable and contrastable with joint compound as both look similar and serve the similar purpose of filling in low spots in walls and ceilings.{{Cite web |author=Ethan Daniel James |title=Spackle vs. Drywall Mud/Joint Compound (What's the Difference? When Should You Use Them?) YouTube video on The Honest Carpenter channel. |date=2021-11-20 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAh2Re76e1A |access-date=2022-02-02}} The chief differences are that spackling paste typically dries faster, shrinks less during drying, and is meant for smaller repairs, and not for a whole room or house. It is not uncommon for the general public to call any of these products "spackle", but tradespersons usually specify joint compound (drywall mud) when that is specifically meant.

Spackle is an abandoned trademark of the Muralo Company, located in Bayonne, New Jersey.{{cite web |title=SYNKOLOID'S - Trademark Details |url=https://trademarks.justia.com/720/17/synkoloid-72017131.html |publisher=Justia Trademarks |access-date=15 May 2025}}{{Cite web |title=Trademark Search: 'spackle' |url=https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76148822&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch |access-date=15 May 2025 |publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office}} Muralo's product is dry powder, to be mixed with water by the user to form putty or paste brought to market in 1927, then patented and trademarked in 1928.{{Cite book |title=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office [microform] |url=http://archive.org/details/officialgazette648unit |date=1951 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Patent Office |via=the Internet Archive}} The term spackle has since become a genericized trademark applied in the United States to a variety of household hole-filling products.

The first written appearance of the generic use of the word spackle was around 1940.{{cite encyclopedia |dictionary=Merriam-Webster Online |title=spackle |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spackle |accessdate=2015-11-21}} The product name was likely derived from the German word {{lang|de|Spachtel}}, meaning "putty knife" or "filler." Other possible origins include Russian {{lang|ru|шпаклевать}} (tr. {{Transliteration|ru|shpaklevat}}; to fill holes with putty or caulk), Polish {{lang|pl|szpachla}} (spatula or putty knife), and Yiddish {{lang|yi|spaklieven}} (to fill in small holes in plaster), all of which are likely derived from German.

In the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and Canada, the brand "Polyfilla", multipurpose filler, is used as a generic term for spackling paste,{{cite book|last1=Hitchcock|first1=Karen|title=Little white slips|date=2013|publisher=Picador Australia|location=[Sydney]|isbn=9781742620299|page=19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mu-ubtJholAC&pg=PA19|accessdate=24 January 2017|language=en|quote=A nice Polyfilla kind of lady}}{{cite book|author=Treasury Committee |title=Counting the population: written evidence|date=2008|publisher=TSO|location=London|isbn=9780215038036|page=184|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxqoeqmEhYMC&pg=PA184|language=en|quote=sources patched up with statistical Polyfilla}} even though it differs from spackle in being cellulose based. The manufacturers claim that it has an advantage over spackle in that it does not shrink or crack.[http://www.poly.com.au/ Poly Website Australia][http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/fillers.jsp Polycell UK]

• Caulking
• Home repair
• Joint compound
• Plastering
• Putty
• Wood putty

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.muralo.com/products/spackle_patch_repair.php Official Website]

Category:Building materials

Category:Home improvement

Category:Plastering

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