How To Use Tacky Glue

I accept a drawer but for adhesives in my storage unit at home. There are so many varieties of mucilage in the globe! Combined, they can solve merely about any household snafu or help finish off whatsoever DIY project.

All the glues you need. Photograph by James Ransom

Below, my favorite types, brands, and how to employ them all:

Craft Gum

Brand I like: Aleene's Original Tacky Glue
Uses: For minor arts and crafts and hobby projects, including paper projects. It'southward great for gluing newspaper to just about anything and is my go-to for smaller, bitsy craft projects that don't entail heavy-duty materials similar metal. It's also corking for pocket-sized, odd objects: shells, buttons, etc. Aleene'southward is water-based and non-toxic, and comes in varying sizes (I recommend the largest one available as I use it and so often). The only downside here is that information technology's a little thick and therefore takes some fourth dimension to dry—but at that place'south a quick-dry version if you're in a hurry!

Wood Mucilage

Brand I similar: I've always reached for Elmer's!
Uses: For arts and crafts projects involving woods-to-forest adhesion (particularly larger wood objects, where craft gum just won't do the trick). Wood glue is corking for projects effectually the firm, too—that loose knob or chipped piece forest furniture in need of a quick repair.

Cloth Gum

Brand I similar: Magna Tac
Uses: For gluing fabric to fabric (lace, leather, denim, etc!) and non-fabric materials to fabric (beads, trim, metal embellishments). This bail takes a bit longer to ready (24 hours), but it'southward worth it: That patch for your jean jacket isn't going anywhere.

Decoupage

Make I like: Modern Podge
Uses: Decoupage glue doubles as an agglutinative and a sealant. It's miraculous and dries clear—perfect for adhering specialty paper, photos, fabric, or well-nigh pocket-sized objects to multiple surfaces, especially forest. I similar to recall of it as some other version of a laminator! Whatever you're adhering truly stays put under a magic blanket of clear, adhesive coating.

Liquid Stitch

Brand I like: Dritz
Uses: This non-toxic, permanent fabric agglutinative is all-time when used on porous fabrics (not to be used on heavier denim, sail, linen, etc). It's perfect for mending rips or tears as information technology literally stalls the damage. Hence the name. I use Liquid Run up to stop cut fabric from fraying.

Spray Mount

Brand I like: 3M Spray Mount Adhesive
Uses: Spray mount is so cool. This adhesive is merely the ticket for more than serious paper projects when you actually want to get a perfect, make clean (and potent!) adhesion—it leaves little room for imperfections (like when the ends of a slice of newspaper want to stick up). Spray mountain is also the best option when adhering paper to any surface (or, paper to paper like this contempo envelope lining project). Besides, it's re-positionable! Once you spray, you lot have a few moments to move any yous are glueing around. Best to employ this glue near an open window and be sure to embrace any surface y'all are spraying on (or y'all may exist sticking to that surface for weeks to come).

High-Performance Permanent Glue

Make I like: E6000
Uses: This is a real-bargain, permanent glue—for those heavy-duty projects entailing wood, metal, concrete, drinking glass, you lot name it. I've used it to set up the handle of cleaved ceramic mug at abode and a chipped planter. I prefer this agglutinative for projects that adhere two stiff substances: a copper end-cap and wood (this project), metal to metal (this project), or glass and just about anything!

Hot Glue Gun

Brand I like: Any! Y'all cannot go incorrect.
Uses: Great for all arts and crafts projects that are relatively pocket-size-scaled (glueing plastic to plastic, plastic to metal, odd objects to annihilation! (I once covered an entire headband blank with 200 mini acorns using a glue gun). It's probably the glue I utilize most, equally it's hands-down the quickest fashion to go one relatively simple fabric to stick to another—though I wouldn't use information technology for heavier objects. Retrieve, it's HOT. Like, really hot, and not advisable to employ around or with kids unless you're the merely 1 in control of it.