Temporary Adhesives

I'm frequently indecisive, I think. Well, maybe I.. oh I don't know! Actually I do know, and until I discovered temporary or removable adhesives it was frustrating to be me. My mother calls me a "futzer." I have to "futz" with my layout until it's just right, adding and moving things frequently until it looks the way I want. The results were often less than desirable, with small bits of adhesive left on the background, or torn edges on my layouts. Occasionally I would have to toss out the whole thing and start over.

Temporary adhesives serve an important job in your arsenal of scrapbook tools. They offer you the option of moving things around until you are satisfied with the balance and placement of your page elements. If you have not had a chance to try using a temporary type of adhesive I suggest picking one up on your next trip to the scrapbook store. A few brands I would suggest are Dotto Dots, Xyron, Tombow, Wacky Tac, and 3L.

Dotto Dots repositionable dots are manufactured by EK Success. They are readily available at scrapbook stores, online retailers, and most big chain stores as well. While they are not the least expensive of the removable adhesives they are certainly competitively priced. What I like best about this brand of temporary adhesive is that it is refillable. You make a larger investment on your first purchase to get the dispenser, and after that you can simply purchase refills. This unit comes in lots of fun colors and is quite easy to reload. I would say that this adhesive has a medium-strength bond. It is strong enough that it has been mistaken for a permanent adhesive, but light enough that the small dots of adhesive are in fact temporary and they can easily be rubbed away to remove any trace from your project.

Tombow manufactures a quality adhesive that is temporary as well. Tombow comes in a refillable dispenser, but rather than dots it is more like a solid strip of adhesive. Much the same as their permanent variety, you don't need much of this strong bonding adhesive to do the job. The one drawback to this type of adhesive is that it doesn't come off your project quite as well as the dots mentioned above. To remove the temporary strip I prefer to use a gum-style adhesive remover. It removes stubborn adhesive residue that simply rubbing with your finger may leave behind. Tombow adhesives are one of the most popular and widely available ones on the market. You should have no trouble finding these in your local or online scrapbooking stores. I have noticed however that price seems to vary quite a bit from one location to another, so shop around and get your best deal. Some retailers, such as Scrapbook.com, sell these in bulk. I suggest buying in bulk when you can; you get pay much less per refill. By purchasing in a set of six you'll save approximately $4.00 to $5.00 which is like getting one refill for free!

Xyron has created two different varieties of temporary adhesive. The first is for use in their adhesive and laminating units. Each unit, from their small "X" machine to their twelve-inch-wide industrial model, can be equipped with a repositionable adhesive cartridge. This is the perfect solution for vellum die cuts, punched or die-cut letters, or large-sized accents that you would like to be tacky, but not sticky enough for a permanent bond. I've found this adhesive to be quite light, and items are very easy to move around. Changing cartridges back and forth from the permanent to the temporary varieties is a bit of a pain, but it's worth it if you would like full-coverage adhesive.

The other style of temporary adhesive that Xyron came out with doesn't require any kind of machine. It is sold in an ergonomically designed dispenser that contains a very stretchy lightweight tape designed for adhering very lightweight items, such as vellum. It is removable as well with an adhesive-removal square. This dispenser is not refillable, but it is quite reasonably priced which is nice. This is a great option if you only need temporary adhesive every now and then, or if you use a lot of vellum on your projects. I do find this style of adhesive to be harder to find in my local retail stores. I've had great luck finding it online however.

3L, a leader in adhesive manufacturing for many years, also has a top-quality temporary adhesive. As with all of their products you cannot refill this dispenser. These dispensers come with 34 feet of repositionable dots, which really goes a long way. They are more expensive than some of their counterparts, but the ease of use can't be beat. There are no tricky refills or messy mistakes with this type of adhesive. The style of the dispenser gives you a lot of control. 3L products are easy to find as well, which is always a bonus.

The last style and manufacturer I would like to tell you about are WackyTac Adhesive Sheets. I love this product! These are double-sided sheets, 4.5" x 5.5" in size, that are sold in a stack. You can cut strips, use punches, or place items onto the sheet and cut around the edges for full coverage. You get ten sheets in a stack for around $6.00, and each sheet goes a really long way. All you have to do is remove the waxy backing from one side, adhere your element, cut it out, and then remove the waxy backing from the other side.

Please note that this is a repositionable adhesive, not a removable adhesive. There is a distinct difference. Full-coverage adhesives such as the Xyron and WackyTac put adhesive all over the item and it can then be moved around until it loses stickiness. You cannot rub this type of adhesive off or use an adhesive-remover square. Once the item is no longer tacky there is a light film left behind. If you are going to be placing this item onto your project with permanent adhesive you'll never see the film, so it's not much of a worry.

I'm sure there are other repositionable adhesives on the market that I've missed. These are the types I've had the most exposure to, and the ones I feel I can confidently recommend. If you too are a "futzer" and have a tried-and-true adhesive that I've failed to mention please let me know! I'm always looking for new products and I love hearing from fellow scrappers, especially my Scrapjazz buddies online!