Seren
One of my biggest peeves about mail artists is we are seemingly afraid of adhesive because most of us don’t use nearly enough to keep our artwork from falling apart!
I wrote an article in the issue of the Postal Press and I am reprinting it here because I have recently received some great work that is damn near falling apart because the adhesive of choice was less than stellar. For those of you who don’t know…I owe a small, online art supply store…www.serendipity-art.com.
If you can’t get some of these products in your area…or would like to buy in bulk and are looking for a deal…please come and look around my site – to which I am adding stuff everyday – or just drop me an email of what you want and I will respond with pricing. But no mail artist should have to make due with crappy adhesive!
Soooo…here’s my adhesive article again:
No single adhesive will fit all of your art needs so don’t be surprised if you end up with several different kinds.
Solvent Based Adhesives like rubber cement and E6000 are not archival, tend to be toxic and will yellow or stain over time. Shellac also falls into this category. It creates a stain look, but the color and texture is often desired therefore its other faults are forgiven…just not forgotten. Use Solvent based adhesives in well-ventilated areas. Remember, over time these products will not remain stable, they will change everything that comes into contact with them.
Liquid Glues, like White School Glue, have a high water content; which means they may cause your paper to warp…especially thin, machine made paper. However, some liquid glue has been specially formulated for paper art.
Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA) by US ArtQuest is an ‘enhanced acrylic adhesive, coating and medium”. It does not cause paper warping like most liquid glues and is UV resistant, archival, dries transparent and is available in matte or glossy finishes. Glues sticks are called moist adhesives. They too have significant water content, but tend to warp thin paper a bit less. But they also tend to release their bond over time. The repositionable sticks are nice for “tacking” items down temporarily, but an overcoat of stronger adhesive is strongly recommended.
Dry Adhesives are especially appealing because most paper artists do not like the effects of wet products on paper (warping, rippling, ripping, release). There are a lot of good dry adhesives on the market right now. Some are permanent, some are repositionable, some are heat set, and some are pressure set. No matter the format, a dry adhesive of some sort should be included in your altered paper art supply kit.
Xyron produces a line of dry adhesives that are popular with rubber stamp and scrapbook artists. Fabric artists use heat set adhesives like Heat Bond and Stitch Witchery. These are “activated” with a hot iron and usually give a smooth, flexible finish. Cold Mount adhesives were created for graphic design artists and are typically temporary until burnished. Cold mount, dry adhesives are great for vellum, acetate or any other see-through or transparent papers. The dry adhesive category also includes double-sided and single sided tape.
In the goodie pocket at the back of this issue you’ll find a 1/8’ roll of red line tape for you to play with…This stuff is strong enough to hold beads – just lay the tape, pull off the protective coating, sprinkle beads on top and press firmly into the tape. Then heat slightly with a heat gun and press down on the beads again. They will stay in place perfectly!
A bad glue decision will have a negative impact on your art…so choose wisely and know what works best for you.
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