The research indicates that in comparison with other solvents, such as ethanol, propanol, butyl alcohol and acetone, which are usually selected as the solvent in phenolic solution, methanol can increase curing rate and enhance crosslinking density of phenolic resins. Therefore, the chain conformations of resole dissolved in different solvents are investigated by using viscosity method. It shows that the chain conformation of resoles changes from loose coil to compact ball, as the strength of hydrogen bond between resole and solvent drops along with the decrease of polarity of solvents. The transition of the chain conformation causes the decrease of reaction probability and reaction rate between functional groups of resoles. The number of unreacted molecules increases, and the crosslinking density of cured resins decreases. The differential scanning calorimetric analysis shows that compared with the resins in methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butyl alcohol, exothermic peak of resole in acetone is obviously wider, and its peak exothermic temperature is lower. Both optical microscope pictures and atomic force microscope pictures demonstrate that the crosslinking density of resins in methanol is higher than those in other solvents. The research concludes that the type of solvent has a great influence on the curing rate and curing degree of resoles. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.