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I started out with SU, so I have been using snail. I love the small applicator but I know it does not have the greatest holding power. I am finding that when I adhere over emboss-resist backgrounds, for instance, it really is not reliable. The other glue I use is the tombow mono multi. Good for small stuff, but otherwise not cost effective. I have score tape, but I find it is kind of a bother to use. No applicator. It also smells weird. (Maybe it's just me.)
I need to step up my adhesives. I know many say that the ATG gun is the only way to go. But it's so big! It looks heavy and hard to maneuver. Also people have said that the tape for it smells weird. (Yeah, me again with the odor issues, what can you do).
Suggestions/advice/the voices of experience - all would be appreciated.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
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I find the tombow multi to be VERY cost effective! I stamp a LOT and use it almost exclusively! It takes so very little that a bottle lasts me for weeks! And again, I stamp a LOT!
I started out with SU, so I have been using snail. I love the small applicator but I know it does not have the greatest holding power. I am finding that when I adhere over emboss-resist backgrounds, for instance, it really is not reliable.
I need to step up my adhesives. I know many say that the ATG gun is the only way to go. But it's so big! It looks heavy and hard to maneuver. Also people have said that the tape for it smells weird. (Yeah, me again with the odor issues, what can you do).
Suggestions/advice/the voices of experience - all would be appreciated.
I am crazy for the embossing folders too, and was having similar troubles with the snail. I still use it for small details, but for the larger / heavier things, I now use the pink scotch tape glider. I have wrist issues and it hasn't bothered them a bit. I'm also smell sensitive and haven't noticed anything so far, but I'm only on my second roll It's very cost effective too, especially if you use the 40% off coupons from HL or similar store.
I have heard wonderful things about the Tombow adhesive, but just haven't had a chance to try it yet!
What's the difference between the pink one and the ATG 714, which everyone seems to really like?
I do love the Tombow, but I do so much in the way of full size card backgrounds and layers, I think it would become costly for me.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
Sook wang is the same as scor-tape. I have it, and I agree it is very good as an adhesive, but I don't like having to cut the pieces and then stick them on and them pull off the backing. For small things, I use it, but when I am glueing layers upon layers, I want something that is easier to use.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
When I am glueing lots of layers I use an ATG gun. It's faster than tape and holds very well. I bought my gun on sale and Michaels and AC Moore routinely carry the refills.
__________________ Denise
"If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron.�
― Spider Robinson
What's the difference between the pink one and the ATG 714, which everyone seems to really like?
I do love the Tombow, but I do so much in the way of full size card backgrounds and layers, I think it would become costly for me.
There is absolutely no difference between the two - just that the pink one is....pink. And for some reason, you can generally find it on sale cheaper than the other one.
I highly recommend the ATG. I use mine on every card I make.
I think if you gave it a chance you would love the ATG....slowly all my stamping friends have gotten them and they are not sorry they did. The paper you use this on will never fall apart...I also like the Tombow Mono Multi in the green capped bottle.
blessings.
I'm another one for the atg...you will get used to the size. I do however buy my refills from thetapedepot. all my stamp girls buy from here as well. I threw out all the tape that came with their pink atg guns from scotch as it was smelly, and very gooey- not worth the hassle. I have had some form of the atg gun for years and would use nothing else. It holds super strong and at $2.00 for 36 yards of adhesive- you can't go wrong.
The "gold" acid free tape seems to be the one that stinks. I have regular tape and I don't find it stinky.
Love my ATG and couldn't function without it. I am considering getting another for my daughter because she keeps stealing mine and the glue sticks aren't working for her any more.
Love my ATG 714's. I have two. Bought the red on first, then couldn't resist the pink when I found it at a really great price. Use them both. It depends on which one is closest and has tape in it.
craftsrib, which tape do you get from the tape depot? I looked and there are several listed under ATG tape.
Lorlen, so you use non acid free? Or is there an acid free other than the gold? I thought I was supposed to be using an acid free tape or, I don't know, terrible things would happen.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
I use the tombow pernament mono adhesive (same as snail, I think) for all layers that are not dry embossed (a la Big Kick) or have some other reason to need extra hold (embellishments, ribbon, etc). When I need the extra hold I use a type of "red tape" that I get at Michaels and the rolls are reasonably priced, sometimes on sale, or I can use a coupon. The mono works great for me cause I use enough to make sure the edges don't come up - not ridiculous coverage, but not skimpy either (all sides and a couple swipes through the middle). I've had cards that were still holding just fine a year or more later.
I get my tombow mono refills from DiscountOfficeSupplies online and just ordered a bunch at $1.76 each which I think is way reasonable! Since I ordered for myself and several other people, I got the free shipping. Their delivery is great - only takes about a week to get to me.
__________________ Dana You can never have too many stamping toys.
I love my ATG and I am left-handed and also have carpal tunnel. I also use the tombow mono multi in the green capped bottle. I've tried the scor tape (Sook wang) and like that one as well even
I think I might be an adhesive junkie. I use different adhesives depending on the situation. I absolutely love my ATG - I have the pink one. I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money on the red one, but when I could get a pink one with a coupon I was all over it like a cheap suit. I don't love the acid free tape as much as the non-acid free tape. I've had problems with it -- and did have a roll that was kinda stinky.
I also love 3M Quick dry tacky glue - awesome stuff. The bottle tends to clog but I keep a paper clip nearby and it unclogs quickly and easily.
For stuff that really needs super hold - I love sook wang.
For scrapbooking, I still love my Creative Memories tape runner - and I know it's safe in my books.
Another vote for the pink ATG. It's not expensive when you use a 40% off coupon, and I find it a little easier and lighter to use then the standard red ATG. My SU demo has a red one; and I just couldn't spend the money, but the pink with a coupon was right in my budget.
I also had problems with the acid free rolls of tape, they do smell a little and actually don't hold as well as the standard rolls. I haven't gotten organized enough to buy in bulk from tapedepot.com; but that is on my "to do" list. In a hurry; I've grabbed a coupon and run over to Michael's and picked up another two rolls for the pink gun when I've run out.
Also, I have the sook wang ( ScorTape ) for when I want super strong sticky power for anything bulky, or heavier than a standard card layer.
There are times when I miss having a nice small tape runner to grab up and use, so I have purchased the blue dot tape runner by 3M...also with a coupon.
I will never go back to SNAIL again, it just doesn't hold the layers for long. I also have the liquid Tombow Multi in the white and green tube that everyone talks about. I just can't bring myself to use liquid glue on paper to paper layers. I tend to save it for buttons or other bulky embellishments where it's too small to fuss with tape.
Seriously....grab up a pink ATG with a coupon, use the regular not acid free rolls to get started and you will be happy. It does not take long to get use to using at all.
Real ATG tape does smell. Don't think your weird. I have a sensitivity to smells too.
I have an ATG. I use the Scotch tape from Michael's. It doesn't smell. The gun is bulky but light. There is a learning curve. Some people pick it right up and others need tutorials.
I am pretty good with mine and I am leftie. There are a lot of leftie problems. I use the gun with my right hand. The tape that comes with the gun sucks. Get new tape from Michaels if you go the ATG route. I learned my lesson the hard way. I really struggled with my gun until I bought a new roll of tape and now I really like my ATG.
You can also use the ATG tape without the gun. Roll the tape down the length of your project, give it a quick burnish and peel off the wrapper. The gun is great for large projects. I use both methods all the time now.
I also like Glue Glider Pro but don't like Glue Glider's pricey refills.
I also use double sided tape you can buy at the hardware store or at WalMart in the hardware department. You want to look for the double sided tape used for carpet or insulating windows. I am pretty sure that is not acid free in case your using it for heirloom projects.
Another vote for the ATG gun. I have both the red and the pink. I get my refills at framing supplies.com. I always order at least a dozen if I order by myself since it keeps the cost down.
craftsrib, which tape do you get from the tape depot? I looked and there are several listed under ATG tape.
Lorlen, so you use non acid free? Or is there an acid free other than the gold? I thought I was supposed to be using an acid free tape or, I don't know, terrible things would happen.
If you are scrapbooking you probably want to use the acid free. I have some at home waiting for a rainy day when I might work on my scrapbooks, but for cards the non-acid free is fine. It would take a long time to have an effect on them, and I figure they will be in the garbage way before then. :rolleyes:
OK everyone has given you ATG advice (full disclosure I have a yellow AND pink one great for when I have a huge project on the go AND don't want to stop to refill) so here is my secondary bit of advice. I run some projects back through my cuttlebug to press it. Sometimes this can affect the dry embossing so maybe a test piece if you are going to try but sometimes any adhesive needs a little help from pressure (or good heavy book and gravity).
I still use my snail for lighter things, but the Glue Glider Pro is great for embossed layers and anything that really needs more sticking power. It's smaller than the ATG, which is great for me. My friends and I all have one and we swear by it.
Running the card back through my die cut machine (I have a Big Shot) is a clever idea, Kristen.
I do think an ATG gun is in my future, though. Dee Ann and Mary - can you give me the actual name of the tape you get at Michaels to use? I can't go to a Michaels, I have to whatever I get online - there's actually no craft store within hours of me. If it were not for the internet (and my sister in law, who is an SU demo), I would have no supplies.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
I haven't tried the much-lauded ATG gun (the size freaks me out a bit!) but I have had great success with the sookwang tape (scor-tape). Yes, it smells a bit weird when I first open it but after a while I don't notice it, and I am a bit smell-sensitive too. Recently I used it to stick a spiderman sticker back onto my son's toothbrush cover, and later had to put it through the dishwasher for a cleaning, and IT STILL STUCK!!! I knew it was strong, but had no idea it was that good! BTW, you don't have to cut it in pieces with scissors- tearing by hand will do (found that out the hard way!)
I can't remember the EXACT name of the tape; but it is the tape packaged and displayed with the pink ATG at Michael's. I just make sure to grab the regular rolls now. They come two to a box, the box has pink on it as well, and with a coupon it's not a bad deal until I get my act together and order online. I've never looked for a "generic" ATG gun tape at Michael's; but that doesn't mean there isn't one.
When I'm in a hurry and really wanting to avoid wandering the aisles accumulating purchases;I just gravitate to the Pink ATG gun display and the boxes of refill tape are right there. It's a Scotch brand product, pink and red box with a picture of the Pink ATG on the front. Red plaid ( not gold ) cover tape over the sticky tape.
I also started off using the SU snail (or Tombow - same thing) and everything was falling apart. I went back to all the scrapbook pages I made in the beginning and had to re-do everything because the adhesive let go. The last straw was a card I made for a challenge. I had it on sitting up on my desk for just a couple days and when I picked it up to move it, it fell apart. Yup, crappy Tombow tape adhesive. I started using different adhesives, but then I finally just went and bought an ATG. I had tried a yellow one before and found it really heavy and hard to use because I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists. But the pink one isn't heavy at all and I've had no problem using it whatsoever (other than user error loading the tape). You can get the refills a lot cheaper on line at Tape Depot. I've used the red liner tape and sookwang, but I find them a little on the pricey side in my opinion. Plus I don't like having to cut the tape - my scissors keep going missing in the clutter on my desk when I'm working . I say just get the ATG. You won't be disappointed.
It's a liquid - kind of looks like Elmers - and it comes in a white bottle with two green ends; one is a "pen tip" and the other is a "broad tip". It dries pretty fast, but not instantly, which is a good thing about it because you have a moment to adjust something if it didn't land in the exact right place. Unlike snail, where once it's down, it's down (until the snail reaches its statute of holding limitation sometime in the future and the piece falls off).
Tombow in the bottle is actually a very good adhesive. I just think I'd go through it very fast if it was all I used.
The Tombow Mono Adhesive that comes in the Snail-like applicator is actually Snail. Tombow just repackaged it for SU and SU calls it Snail ('cause the applicator looks like a snail or because it leaves a sticky trail like a snail?). The refills are interchangable, so I've heard.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
Thanks for your reply. I've heard good things about the mono multi glue, but wondered if it would stick well and if it dried fast. Some of the things I would use it for, I would like it to dry quicker than elmers might...I have beacons three in one glue, which is fast, but it is also strong smelling. Does the multi smell?
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Actually the tombow multi glue in the white bottle with green cap can be permanent OR re positionable. If you glue right away then it is permanent...very much so. You do however have a few seconds of "wiggle room" which I like so that I can get my layers just straight! But, it you put it down and don't glue anything to it, it will dry tacky much like a post it note. Very helpful if you make envelopes....for the seal.
And I have to say again that a bottle lasts me a very long time and I stamp a LOT. A little goes a long way and I still run it along all of my edges. I LOVE it and don't use much other adhesive. And it doesn't smell.
Gee, all of this is making me think about using my Tombow multi more often.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
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I got my pink ATG with a 40% off coupon from Michael's too. I might be one of very few who do not LOVE their ATG. I like it okay but it is so huge and doesn't go into tight spaces.
I have Ad-Tech snails that hold almost as well as the ATG, so I use them too.
I saw the Pro-glider after I got the ATG. I would like that better, I think.
Glue would drive me crazy, so don't use that!
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
Minders, you should DEFINITELY make it one of your videos - people need to be educated on the "proper use" of the Tombow Mono Multi glue, aka "green glue", as I call it! :-) Michelle Zindorf had a picture on her blog awhile back of a card layer with the green glue on it, to show how little it takes to do the job. She uses just the skinniest possible line around the edges and none in the middle. I put a thin line in the middle too, but it's probably not necessary. Kay Kalthoff is another fan of the green glue. She uses it for all her card assembly except for white or vanilla cardstock, since the line of glue can show through. She uses snail for those layers.
It does take a little time to get used to applying the thin lines, but now it's my go-to adhesive! I probably wouldn't use it at a Stamp Camp, though. I have one gal who HATES the feel of it on her fingers (I rarely get it on my fingers), and I think they'd tend to use way too much, or have trouble controlling how much is coming out of the bottle.
And I saw a YouTube video on another use for the Tombow Mono Multi glue - it was an SU demo, but I can't remember who it was, but she had cut a stack of regular copy paper and put it together to make a pad of paper that is adhered at the top. She used the "other" end of the Tombow Mono Multi glue bottle to carefully apply a thin layer over the cut edges of the paper (she used binder clips to hold the paper stack tightly together), then let it dry. She made it a gifty thing by putting a belly band around it and she showed how it worked just like any paper pad you'd buy! Interesting, I thought! :-)
Oh, by the way, Alli, if you think the glue would drive you crazy, well I thought that too! You might just want to give the Tombow Mono Multi a try! :-)
__________________ ~ Susan - Celebrating 19 years as an SU demo! Grammy to Anna 15, Elizabeth 14, Nora 12, Abigail 12, Kendall 10 , Isaac 10, Evan 7, and Hudson 3 with me in my avatar Proud to be SCS Fan Club Member since the beginning!
Gotta throw my hat in the Sookwang tape ring. This tape really sticks. I have heated it, wet it, you name it! I buy it from 7 kids, since its sometimes on sale It also puts up a bit of a fight on my non stick craft mat also come in s plethora of sizes ( aka scor tape)
I have all of the above. I like the Scotch 1/2 for larger layering(get that at Office Depot and use the $10 off $50 dollar purchase which they send nearly every week thru e-mail ). My glue glider (use the 40% off coupon for HL for the 3 pack refills) for smaller and depending on really just the situation use the red tape, scor tape or Tombow liquid(just got the green and love it). Ok maybe too much but like to have what ever tickles my fancy at the time on hand.
Running the card back through my die cut machine (I have a Big Shot) is a clever idea, Kristen.
I do think an ATG gun is in my future, though. Dee Ann and Mary - can you give me the actual name of the tape you get at Michaels to use? I can't go to a Michaels, I have to whatever I get online - there's actually no craft store within hours of me. If it were not for the internet (and my sister in law, who is an SU demo), I would have no supplies.
I paid less than $20 for my gun so Amazon does not have a good price. I pay less than $4 for my tape and it lasts me forever because I do use other tapes in my work.
If you do buy one watch a lot of videos. I did not like mine when I got it. I didn't hate it but I wasn't happy with it. I did know how to use it so that was not the problem. I got a bad batch of tape. Opening the gun was a nightmare. If you are a leftie you have to look at the gun at an angle to get perfect placement. This is a definitely right handed gun. I am ambidextrous so that helped me a lot.
Once I got better tape the gun hugely improved for me. It's still hard to open though but I am getting better. I blinged mine out because it was too pink generic and that improved the gun too for me.
Better Adhesives? Snail is not doing it for me.
