As a part of abating the formaldehyde emission of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin adhesive by lowering formaldehyde to urea (F/U) mole ratio, this study was conducted to investigate properties of UF resin adhesive with different F/U mole ratios. UF resin adhesives were synthesized at different F/U mole ratios of 1.6, 1.4, 1.2, and 1.0. Properties of UF resin adhesives measured were non-volatile solids content, pH level, viscosity, water tolerance, specific gravity, gel time and free formaldehyde content. In addition, a linear relationship between non-volatile solids content and sucrose concentration measured by a refractometer was established for a faster determination of the non-volatile solids content of UF resin. As F/U mole ratio was lowered, non-volatile solids content, pH, specific gravity, water tolerance, and gel time increased while free formaldehyde content and viscosity were decreased. These results suggested that the amount of free formaldehyde strongly affected the reactivity of UF resin. Lowering F/U mole ratio of UF resin as a way of abating formaldehyde emission consequently requires improving its reactivity.