The inventor behind the world's first mouldable glue, Sugru, has today launched a brand new Family-Safe, Skin-Friendly Formula expected to double the brand's presence in retail by the end of 2018.

Sugru's new Family-Safe formula will be available alongside Original Sugru mouldable glue - the major difference being that children as young as eight years old can use it to fix and redesign their things without the need for adult supervision.

Currently more than 6,000 retail outlets stock Original Sugru, most of them operating within the DIY market including retail giants Adeo and Kingfisher Groups. The new Family-Safe Skin-Friendly formula is set to double this, opening up opportunities with new craft, stationery and mass market retailers as well as increasing presence in existing retailers such as Hobbycraft and Rymans in the UK and Target and The Container Store in the US.

Inventor and Sugru CEO, Jane ni Dhulchaointigh comments: "When I first had the idea for Sugru, I imagined this space age rubber that could fix and improve almost anything. I wanted to build a product that was useful in people's day to day lives and would in some way help tackle today's throwaway culture.

"The first step was to make something strong and durable and the second step was to make something everybody could use. The new family-safe formula truly allows us to realise this dream and extending our reach into retail is the only way we can achieve our biggest ambition - to get the next generation fixing and making again."

The new product is a direct result of regular investment in the company's future-focused research and development projects, in part made possible with the support of the public via two very successful crowdfunding campaigns. Since 2015 Sugru has raised over £5 million from over 4,600 investors breaking two crowdfunding records and winning several awards along the way.