Patent ID: 6861099

Claim:
A method comprising: combining a phenol-formaldehyde resole resin and an ammonia-based formaldehyde scavenger to form a mixture, wherein the resin has a free formaldehyde content of 1.5 to 14%, by weight, based on a total weight of the resin, wherein the mixture contains 5% urea, by weight, or less, based on a total weight of the mixture, and wherein the resin and the scavenger are combined in amounts such that a molar ratio of the free formaldehyde to ammonia from the ammonia-based formaldehyde scavenger is in a range of 0.1 to 5; and reacting the free formaldehyde and the scavenger to thereby form a formaldehyde-scavenged product, wherein the formaldehyde-scavenged product has a free formaldehyde content of 1% or less, by weight, based on a total weight of the formaldehyde-scavenged product, and wherein the formaldehyde-scavenged product has a water dilutability of 50:1 or higher.