The Avid Scrapper: Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive

Friday, January 9, 2009

Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive

I get asked all the time what I adhere all of my die cuts and paper piecings with. This is it!

I found that some of the pieces I cut with my Cricut are so tiny, it is almost impossible to get them adhered down and so I was on the hunt for the product that would save me. I knew I needed something with a small and pointed nozzle on it and that is what I first noticed about this product. Truthfully, it was the only reason I bought it and decided to give it try. Don't get me wrong, I was really skeptical! Anyone who knows me, knows how much I hate glue because it ripples. Guess what? This never has for me! No, really. I have found that the secret to using this, is dots. Small dots running along the area you would like to adhere down. But, use it sparingly, at little goes a long way! Use about half what you think you would really need and that will get the job done. Now, the big thing about this adhesive is that it drys SUPER fast, so be sure you are putting everything you want down exactly the way you want it. It only takes seconds for a permanent bond and ripping up is not an option! It also drys clear, so if you get a bit too much and it squishes out, just run your finger along and clean it up. The best thing of all is that it is cost effective. Runs $4-$7 for a 2 oz or 4 oz bottle. I only went through two 2 oz bottles last year! Amazing.

Why I love this adhesive:

Inexpensive
A little goes a long way
Quick drying... let's me get more done and faster
NO Ripples!
Acid free
Non-toxic
Photo safe
Small nozzle tip, perfect for the tiny pieces and letters
Works with any paper
Can sew right over it
Permanent bond
Cleans up with warm water
One bottle lasts for months!
Can find it just about anywhere paper is sold

This post would not be complete with out the following information. °Ü°

Clogged Tip: It does happen and when it does, it is very important that you DO NOT squeeze and try to force the glue to come out. Why? You ask... well, I know from personal experience that the force of all the glue in the bottle will actually push the entire purple or red tip off the bottle and it will EXPLODE all over you and everything you are working on. It was even on my walls! And when I say explode, I mean it. The sound is awful.

Anyways, here is what you do. Take a pin, a straight or sewing pin and push in down into the nozzle. The skinnier the better. You don't want to stretch out the nozzle. If that doesn't seem to get the glue flowing like you would like it to, go to your sink and take the entire purple nozzle off. Run it under HOT water until your clog backs out and the water runs through the nozzle completely. DRY it really good and put it back on the bottle and you are back in business.

Where to get it: I have seen it at WalMart, Target, Michaels, JoAnn Etc, even Office Depot! FYI, Michaels and JoAnn Etc carry the larger, 4 oz bottles. I have seen it online and in a few of the scrapbook stores. The cost varies from $4-$7 depending on where you purchase and the size you want.

Now, 3M Scotch also makes a Quick Dry Tacky Adhesive. That one I have never tried. If you have, let me know how you like it and if there is any difference between the two products.

10 comments:

Stampn' Scrapin' Mom of Seven said...: You are so 100% right about this product. I love it. I wish I would have wrote this blog. I am always promoting this product with the classes I teach and you hit the nail on the head. Superbly done!; January 12, 2009 at 6:06 PM
Anonymous said...: Thanks for the information. I will give it a try! Also, your work is amazing!!!!!!!!!; January 13, 2009 at 7:38 AM
GW said...: I came across your blog when I searched Google for this product. I used the Quick Dry Tacky Adhesive for almost two years and loved it. My second bottle finally ran out and I had the LSS where I shop order me another. What came in was the Quick Dry Adhesive. They are quite different!

The Tacky adhesive, when you get it on your fingers, will pill and roll off of them if you rub them together; the adhesive you use just feels slick when dry and stays on the fingers.

The Tacky adhesive dries clear, but not glossy. The one you reviewed has a sheen to it which really shows up on layouts.

I much prefer the Tacky adhesive for these two reasons. The problem is, I don't see it in stores. All I see is the one you picture and review here. An e-mail to 3M/Scott regarding the formula(s) has gone unanswered, so I don't know if they just changed formulations or if they discontinued the Tacky version. I guess I'll have to break down and call them.

Great review, by the way!; January 22, 2009 at 10:15 PM
The Avid Scrapper said...: GW, thanks so much for the heads up on the tacky adhesive! I am going to have to try it sometime. I like the fact that it drys mat and not glossy. I have gotten so good an eyeing how much to put on that I don't get an excess on anything, so I don't worry about the gloss because you never see it! If I can find it anywhere, I will let you know... Now that you mention it, I do see it for sale on online quite a bit, and have never seen it in the stores. I will have to look into that. Again, thanks. You've been a big help. I always wondered what the difference really was...; January 22, 2009 at 10:25 PM
GW said...: Let me know if you find my beloved Tacky. :) It has a red nozzle, I believe.; January 22, 2009 at 10:37 PM
GW said...: Well, I wrote 3M again last night and today received an answer. Unfortunately, it's no the answer I wanted to hear!

Thank you for contacting 3M regarding our Scotch(R) Quick Dry Adhesive.

The formulation was changed in 2006. The product that your local craft store is able to order for you, Scotch(R) Quick Dry Adhesive, is the only formulation of the product that is currently available.

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards,

Tina
3M Stationery Products Division
1-800-328-6276
www.scotchbrand.com

I'm devastated. :( I mean, it's not life altering, but when you find a product you truly love, use and recommend to everyone, it stinks when the company yanks it from the market.

If I had the time, I'd spearhead a movement to get the product re-introduced in the US.; January 23, 2009 at 9:53 AM
The Avid Scrapper said...: Thanks for posting the info, GW. I hate it when they do that- pull a product you love. It never fails. If I find any, I will get it for you and send it to you, k?Anyone who loves the product should contact 3M and let them know. Maybe they will bring it back. I know I would love to still try it. I hope I can find some...; January 24, 2009 at 8:08 AM
GW said...: You're a doll, Carla. Let me know and I will PayPal you reimbursement plus shipping! If you don't see any, maybe one of your readers will see some at an Odd Lots or something. Feel free to drop me an e-mail.

I'm waiting on word back from 3M regarding whether their overseas plants changed the formula as well. I see the Quick Dry Tacky product still up on websites in the UK. I've written some of those vendors, too, asking if someone can verify whether the product they're selling has that wording on its label.; January 24, 2009 at 8:22 AM
The Avid Scrapper said...: Ok. I have done a bit of online research this morning. These are the places I have found the Quick Dry Tacky Adhesive still for sale:

http://www.misterart.com/store/view.cfm?group_id=4554&store=001

http://www.texasart.com/store/view.cfm?group_id=4554&store=001

http://www.shoptheartstore.com/product_detail_multiple.cfm?groupID=A02BB12E-4C25-450F-83A1EDBDF0337888&parentCat=879D85D3-5A92-4040-8CB84FFE59AF40EE&topCat=ca10dc26-fef2-42b5-bc5a5d7afbdd7051

And there are some shops on Ebay that sell it. The very first link I posted has it for the least amount! Hope that helps!; January 24, 2009 at 8:47 AM
GW said...: Carla, thanks so much for taking time to look up those sources! May I have a drumroll, please?

Today, my husband and I stopped by Office Depot in our town. The store is closing, so they have a lot of office supplies marked down.

Well, can you guess what I found, right here in my town, right under my nose?

They rang up at $2.67 each, so I bought a dozen bottles. I'm thinking about going back and getting the rest, but that would be crazy. Right? LOL

I guess that, in the process of clearing out their warehouse area, the folks found a lot of old product they didn't even know they had. Perhaps these bottles of my precious Tacky were in that back room mishmash.

Yes, I squealed with delight when I saw the word "tacky". :D And I will undoubtably post a blog entry, complete with the photo of my surprise blessing as it sat piled on the counter at the register. ;); February 2, 2009 at 9:03 PM

A Little About Me

Hello! My name is Carla. I am a wife to a wonderful man and mother to two beautiful daughters and two adorable fur babies. I have always loved taking photos and creating a special place for them to be cherished and shared. In my childhood and teen years, it was my journals that played host to my early scrapbooks. I really started to work on my craft in 1999 and there has been no slowing down since then. Scrapbooking is very therapeutic for me and gives me a chance to express "Carla" in ways I couldn't do otherwise. This blog is where you can see a little of what I create. I hope that you are inspired by all that you see here. I welcome questions and comments, so please feel free to drop me a note on my posts, or you can contact me via email. I ♥ hearing from you! °Ü°

Understanding the Cost of Custom Work:

I get emails for custom work all the time. I would say, that on a weekly basis, I get at least 8-10 emails requesting specific themes. I love hearing from everyone and truthfully, I am honored that there are so many of you who love my designs, style of scrap booking and work so much that you would love to make it apart of their memory albums. The part I find frustrating and sometimes hurtful, is that when I reply to these emails and give pricing, one of three things happens: 1) I never hear back from the person 2) I get an email back arguing price and saying they won't pay it unless I drop the price 3) A sweet apology that they can't do it right now (this would be the rarest of the emails, however, it is the most appreciated!)

I understand that in today's economy, that scrap booking pages and albums are truly a luxury purchase. I also understand that everyone is trying to get the most for their money. Aren't we all?

Here is the side I would like you to try to understand.

I am a crafter by trade. I scrapbook for fun and I scrapbook for a living. I need to be home with my family taking care of them and our home, and this is the working relationship that works best for us and our family's needs. Although I get to be home with them, I still spend 30-40 hours a week designing, planning, cutting, hand-cutting at times, and piecing together pages, albums and projects. Pretty much a full time job. Sometimes, ALL of that time is spent on just one album. Sometimes all of that time is spent on just 4-6 pages.

When it comes to my work, I do not cut corners! I only buy the best papers, metal embellishments, adhesives and so on. I take my work seriously, I go over every detail and I know I am not the only crafter who does this. I am simply just one of many who are in this "crafter's boat", if you will. What is minimum wage these days? I honestly do not know. From what I see and know, is it about $7 per hour. Maybe I should look it up... okay, according to US Dept of Labor, the minimum wage is $6.55 hour. The average person making M.W. makes $262 for a 40 hour work week BEFORE taxes, etc. Wow. that doesn't leave a lot for the bring home amount, does it? The average spread, (2) 12X12 pages together, takes me 8-12 hours to design and put together. {There have been a handful that have taken me closer to 16. I keep track for how long it takes to make each.} So let's say I am in "The Zone" and get one done in just 8 hours and I charge $6.55 per hour. That is $52.40. That doesn't even include the materials cost for that spread, that is just my time. Keep that in mind. I actually charge a set fee of $45 for a custom spread. There is extra time and steps that go into each project, like custom names, dates and details. Now, divide $45 by 8. I am making about $5.63 an hour, and then, not even that much because that doesn't include the cost I have already paid for the materials! That is JUST my time. At the end of each custom spread, I am only making about $2-$3 per hour. (REMEMBER, that is only if it took me just the 8 hours, any longer than that and it brings my hourly wage down even more.) That is not a lot for my time, for my design and hard work when it is spelled out that way. What do you think?

Please keep these things in mind when shopping sites like Etsy.com, Ebay.com and personal websites. We crafters put our all into our craft. Each design, every piece is a part our personality and we take a lot of time to put it all together.

I think that everyone, no matter who you are and what you do, wants to have their work appreciated and they don't want others to make them feel that what they are paid for their time and talent isn't worth it. I think my time and talent is worth what little I ask for it. Remember that when you see hand crafted items, time, talent and effort was put into each project. Think about how much time it would take you to do something like that if you were to personally make it, think of professional crafting as some one's career and think about how truly little, the time making it is actually charged for.

Thank you. °Ü°

Friday, January 9, 2009

Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive

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