Day Four! I’m having an “Adhesive Week†here at Craft Test Dummies! We need all kinds of adhesives for all kinds of crafting, and I’m so glad to be able to share some new favorites with you.
So the genesis of this review came from an unlikely place- Twitter! Once of my followers asked me if I knew of a non-toxic glue to use with kids that would adhere as well as E-6000 for sticking pin backs onto ceramic pieces. After a lively back-and-forth, I set out to see what I could find- and there at JoAnn’s, there I found Kids Choice Glue by Beacon Adhesives.
I read the fine print on the back of the packaging- it reads as follows:
| • | Winner of the 2000 Crafts/Craftrends Award of Excellent for Best Adhesive of the Year. | |
| • | Great for paper, wood, felt, leather, shells, beads, sand, fabric, cork, glitter, papier mache, cardboard, and much more. | |
| • | Super thick and never runny for instant grab. | |
| • | Great for paper, wood, felt, leather, shells, beads, sand, fabric, cork, glitter, papier mache | |
| • | Non-toxic formula; no unpleasant odor. | |
| • | Easy clean-up with just soap and water. | |
Sounds like just the thing!
So of course I buy it, take it home , and crack it open.
I was surprised at first that it was white glue- for some reason I thought (like E-6000) it might be clear. I also took a good whiff- and the package is right. There is almost NO odor. Really! It’s amazing, considering other wet-adhesive odors. Certainly a plus.
Just a word about viscosity- while this is a white glue, it is NOT what you are used to! This is a SUPER thick glue. It’s so thick that I made a puddle of it on my work table and was able to pick up a large bead of glue using a toothpick. It’s thicker than honey but not as thick as say, toothpaste. When you put this glue on, it stays put. You could easily use a palette knife to apply it!
I made a quick swatch sheet adhering different surfaces to cardstock:
The Kid’s Choice glue held them all snugly- especially the foamies! This was a surprise, because usually a regular white glue doesn’t adhere to foamies. I even tugged at the little heart, and it held fast!
Because our main concern was adhering a non-porous surfaces, I went straight for my ultimate test: stacking buttons to make rings.
I applied a liberal dollop to the ring base, then pressed it to the button stack. I also tried gluing a polymer clay piece to a magnet to see how it worked for that:
Score the back of the polymer clay piece to encourage adhesion.
After letting the glue set dry for 24 hours, I checked the button rings first. Out of the 3 I glued, two held fast even when applying moderate pressure. However, the third one came loose. I think that there was an air pocket in between the ring base and the button stack, so I think the trick is to make sure that all the surfaces are well-covered with glue AND have the most surface contact they can.
Now, as for the polymer clay piece, it held marvelously. I totally would use it for this application again.
Now, my only real ding to the product is because of the packaging. It’s packaged in a foil-type tube, so once you apply some pressure, that glue is going to glob out. There’s no way of applying it from the tube, either, because there’s no tip- just the 3/8″ opening. Lastly, you can’t even stand it up to try and save the product from spilling onto your table. My advice? Keep a sheet of freezer paper or a paper plate handy to slide underneath to keep your table clean!
Sadly, this glue will not replace E-6000- it just doesn’t have the same sticking power as a solvent-based glue. HOWEVER, if you work in an institution (ike a hospital, nursing home, or daycare) and making sure that your products are non-toxic, Kid’s Choice glue is a must. It’s definatly thicker and has more staying power than, say, Tacky Glue, and is odor-free, too.
So why is it called Kid’s Choice? I dunno. Maybe “Crafter’s Choice” was already taken!
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These are my two absolute FAVORITE adhesives. The Zip is awesome for scrapbooking, and I use the 3-in-1 for all of my other craft projects involving fabric, felt, or whatever else. Sometime I sneak it in for scrapbooking, too.
Beacon gives out tips about their adhesives on their Facebook page and one of them recently was how to prevent the tip from bubbling up glue. Apparently you are not suppose to turn the bottle upside down; keep it at an angle. I’ve been doing that and it seems to help.
Great post!