April 8, 2024 • 35 mins
Dive into the sticky and fascinating world of hot glue with our latest podcast episode, featuring insights straight from the adhesive aficionados at Surebonder—pioneers who've been making our crafting dreams hold together for decades.
In this episode, we trace the stringy trails of hot glue all the way back to its inception, appreciating the leaps and bounds made in glue technology. For crafters and makers at every level, this is your chance to understand not just the 'how,' but the 'why' behind the glue that keeps our creations together.
But we don't stop at history. Prepare to have your glue guns at the ready as we explore a treasure trove of applications, from embellishing paper crafts with the perfect bead of glue to stringing together stunning jewelry pieces. We're sharing pro tips on selecting the ideal glue gun and glue type, considering the materials and scale of your projects. Plus, we delve into the world of cordless glue guns and glue skillets, revealing how these tools can turbocharge your efficiency and spark a burst of creativity.
We're all about the nitty-gritty—expect to scribble down notes on Surebonder's specialty glues and how they promise to change your fabric-affixing game. And for those delicate tasks? We've got you covered with techniques that promise a smooth glide over thin papers, eliminating the crinkles and blobs that haunt your crafting dreams.
Whether you're a seasoned crafter or just starting to dip your toes into the glittery pool of DIY, this episode is your invitation to broaden your horizons. Surebonder's commitment to innovation suggests that the glue revolution is just getting started, and we're here to give you a front-row seat.
So, roll up your sleeves and get ready to stick with us as we bond over hot glue. By the end of this podcast, you'll be bubbling over with sticky inspirations to elevate your crafting game to dazzling new heights!
Here are some of the highlights:
2:56 - 3:34 We learn the story of Surebonder's origins unfolds as Brad Kamins, the founder’s grandson, reminisces about its 1968 inception, detailing the company's evolution into a hot glue manufacturing powerhouse.
6:25 - 6:38 We meet Stephanie Daniel, SureBonder’s marketing guru, she shares a personal anecdote revealing her journey from hobbyist to team member, driven by her passion for their hot glue products.
8:09 - 9:40 The versatility of hot glue is showcased by Stephanie, emphasizing its applications in crafting, especially the need for precision when applying it to delicate materials like paper.
10:28 - 11:03 Jane Clauss explores Surebonder's innovative crafting solutions with a spotlight on their specialty jewelry and fabric glues.
11:35 - 12:45 Stephanie guides crafters on techniques for a flawless hot glue application on thin papers, advocating for fine tip glue guns and controlled trigger pressure to prevent bubbling.
18:27 - 20:09 Brad introduces the glue pot/skillet and shares a pro tip for minimizing stringiness by stirring the glue occasionally to maintain its consistency.
22:34 - 23:21 Learn about the innovative use of Teflon stir sticks, which help manage the flow of hot glue from a pot, ensuring a clean crafting experience.
25:20 - 26:16 Brad gives the virtues of cordless glue guns, celebrating the convenience and freedom they offer for unencumbered crafting.
32:13 - 33:37 Get a glimpse into the future with Surebonder reveals hints at forthcoming innovations such as high-wattage cordless glue guns, expanding the creative toolkit of
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's time to tantalize yourearbuds with creative makers and
(00:04):
shakers, each creative livingthe podcast with Jane Clauss.
Welcome to Creative living wherewe help you live your most
creative life. I'm Jane Klaus.So happy you're joining us
today. Now, it's very importantto have the right tools to get
the job done. And I am a bigbeliever in making sure that you
(00:28):
always have the right tools. Iknow you know that my sewing
machine and I are practicallyinseparable. But when a project
calls for a no so touch my go tois my trusty hot glue gun. So
today, we're gonna get into asticky situation with this
(00:49):
fabulous crafting companion. Ourspecial guests today are from
surebonder. And they're here tomelt down the facts on why hot
glue is a must have in yourcraft arsenal. We'll explore its
evolution, we'll get a grip onhow it works. But before we dive
into that, let me share a littlestory with you. A few years ago,
(01:12):
I worked hosting a show inEngland it was called Create and
Craft. And one of our regularguests. Her name was Louise was
famous for her unique approachto paper crafting. So unlike the
rest of us who would use tape,she would grab her hot glue gun.
I mean, she was all about theglue. God was basically an
(01:33):
extension of her arm. So we gaveher the nickname hot glue. And
she actually loved the nickname.But here's the funny part. One
day during a live segment,Louise was in the middle of like
this massive glue intensivepaper craft and I said jokingly,
Louise, I'm surprised you haveany fingerprints left with all
(01:56):
the hot glue that you used. Andwithout a beat, she put her hand
up in the air and she goes, doyou mean these? This is just
relics of my life before Istarted crafting. And you know
what? I'm close to being a superspy by now. Everybody laughed.
And we all do that hot glue isnot just Signet name. It was a
(02:16):
way of life and it should beyour way of life to we're going
to talk about it right now withmy guests Brad caimans and
Stephanie Daniel fromsurebonder. So how many times
have you guys heard about thishot glue and fingerprinting?
More
times than you can count?
Are you tired of it? Yes. Well,hot glue was not she loved. She
(02:40):
loved her nickname. And we lovedmaking fun of it. Now this is
going to be a glute tastic showStephanie and Brad. So thank you
for being here. Before we getinto how to use hot glue, and
why we should use hot glue, tellme a little bit. Give me a
history lesson about hot glue.And surebonder I guess
starting with surebonder Mygrandpa started the company back
in 1968. I've one car garage,locally to Chicago and Prospect
(03:04):
Heights. We moved a couple timesbetween wheeling Palatine
Buffalo Grove. We're currentlyin what kind of right now. We
started selling eyelets andrivets. Somehow we got into glue
started manufacturing it in the90s. And we're pretty much one
of the last domesticmanufacturers in the US. And
it's something that we're superproud of. And we have a plethora
(03:26):
of different formulas, over 25unique formulas that we sell to
the crafting industry, thehardware industry, and also into
the industrial packagingindustry as
well. That's amazing. Yourgrandfather started the
business. That's so cool. So youlike you've always just been in
the biz and kind of sort ofaround it.
Always. Yeah, since since thebeginning.
So can you tell us a little bitabout the technology behind hot
(03:49):
glue? Like when your grandfatherstarted it? Was it different at
all? Like how did that happen?Or had he heard of it or used
it? Yeah,
so back then it was primarilyjust like a general purpose or
something to to close acorrugated box. I believe the
first order was for Zenithelectronics, and he was a
stocking distributor. He broughtin two cases, one for them and
(04:10):
one to keep on the shelf. Andfrom there, it's pretty much
been history, innovations andhave nots have really come a
long way since the beginning. Imean, back in the day, even with
the technology of the glue guns,it was the thumb fed glue gun
where you would push the stickthrough the melt chamber to get
the glue out. Obviously nowthere's triggers and now we're
moving into motorized guns whereyou squeezed the trigger and a
(04:31):
motor physically sickautomatically in some of our
industrial models and on ourcraft models as well. When it
comes to the glue. We have highstrengths. We have different
application we have glowglitter, ultra low temperature
that's safe for kids. There's alot of different technology out
there different raw materialsthat have helped us develop a
lot of different formulas thatquite frankly are way above and
(04:51):
beyond what they were back inthe 60s.
It's interesting too, because Ifeel like I'm still living in
the 60s with Mike Weaver not nowbecause I have my surebonder but
pushing glue, pushing the gluethrough. How important is it to
have I talked about this, tohave the right tool to get the
job done because there's so manydifferent applications for hot
glue these days. But you guys atsurebonder have really made some
(05:15):
significant innovations thatwere introduced to the market
for crafters. So talk abouthaving the right tool
when it comes to the rightproject and the right gun and
the right glue and the glue gunside. I mean, we have our full
size or mini size most peopleare probably most familiar with,
we've introduced automatic shutoff technology where after 30
minutes if the gun hasn't beenused, and it'll shut off
(05:37):
automatically kind of like haircurl or something like that,
just for safety reasons. Weinclude safety fuses on all of
our guns, we have dualtemperatures, different wattage
is just anything from a detailedtips if you want to get into a
real nice fine place and bedelicate with your glue
application. There's detailedtips, if you want to do a large
scale project, we have differenttips for different you know,
(06:00):
application widths, and wattageguns for higher output for those
bigger projects, even gettinginto more like construction
style.
I'm fascinated. I just I loveit. And you know, creative
living is based in Chicago. SoI'm super happy that you guys
are right out here in theneighborhood coming up with all
these great innovations. Sofunny. Tell us what you do for
(06:21):
the company? Because I know it'svery important. Are you family
to?
No, I'm not. But I have beenworking for the company. Yeah,
kind of I've been working with acompany for quite a while now.
So I do a lot of their graphicdesign, packaging, photography
and help out wherever I can to
you use hot glue. Oh
yeah, I actually used all oftheir products, without even
(06:45):
knowing who they were or whatthey were about before I joined.
I was like a huge crafter, mymom and I, we make a lot of
wreaths, we do a whole bunch ofstuff. Like we used to do just
things for holiday in general.And then for fun and kind of
call myself a little bit of acrafter and not a maker like
yourself, but I do enjoy. And sousing their products, and then,
(07:07):
you know, seeing that they had ajob opening, it was pretty cool.
Back in the day, we would findjob openings, we would look in
the paper. And we would circlethe ones that we thought were
the best. This would be one thatyou circled with a big black
Sharpie marker because you'relike, yes, that's where I want
to work. I feel you on that Ifeel you invited. If you're a
crafter, you're also a maker,everyone I think is a maker.
(07:28):
Even if you don't think you'recreative, you can make something
because you get that sense ofsatisfaction that you made it
yourself. And I always say this,because I like to sew because I
grew up sewing. But I also grewup using hot glue, like I love
my hot glue. I say to peoplemake this, if you can't sew it,
pin it, you can't pin it, stapleit, you don't want to staple it,
(07:51):
go to the seamstress down thestreet and have her help you if
you don't wanna do any of that,grab your hot glue, and glue it
because that is always going towork for you. So with all of
that being said, Stephanie, whatare some cool applications and a
variety of ways that we can useour hot glue these days, there's
a
lot of different applicationsand you know, kind of playing
(08:12):
off what you just said Likehonestly, anyone can make
anything that's very well said.Even if you feel like you're not
the most creative person, Ithink a glue gun can definitely
propel you into that. And wehave a lot of different types of
glue guns like from detail tip,which is personally probably one
of my favorites. And you canreally do a lot with that from
like paper crafting and allsorts of paper crafting. So my
(08:34):
mom and I we usually use it forlike scrapbooking things or
cardmaking. It's kind ofinteresting to use it in that
way. But you can add a lot ofembellishments with it. And
putting things together likethat plus it's fast drying. So
it makes those crafts that maytake a little bit longer of time
to put together really fast andeasy and quick so your
imagination can take you so manydifferent places with all the
(08:57):
different applications thatcould be out there. We have like
different application specificglues as Brad had mentioned. So
we have one for wood if you'reworking with a wood project, we
have jewelry stick we havefabric stick, we have a
specialty like low stringingskillet glue as well which is a
lot of favorites with the floralindustry for making reeds and
(09:19):
door hangers. There's just somany different types of things
out there. So pretty much likewhatever you're into, we either
have a specialty glue to helpyou with that. Or again, our
clear all purpose glue is very,very strong as well just using
our all purpose glue so that canmake you you know, do any kind
(09:39):
of craft that's out there when I
learned that surebonder hadfabric glue, and you have
jewelry glue and you haveglitter glue and color glue. So
it's a whole different worldfrom even when I was talking
about the story of working inEngland at creating craft. The
glue we were using was yourbasic clear stick And we would
(10:01):
have to get specialty glue. If Iwanted to do something with
fabric or I wanted to, you know,glue jewels down. I do a lot of
jewelry crafts, like you costumejewelry crafts that you can just
rip them apart and then put themback together. I put them on
shoes, I put them on Wall arts,I'm putting jewelry on shells,
you know, to create necklaces.So is this jewelry glue,
(10:23):
something that we can use on allthese other surfaces? And why
does it work? It's
an acrylic based adhesive. So itsticks really well to non porous
materials like jewelry, alldifferent kinds of rocks,
stones, plastic ones, anythingunder the sun, that isn't
necessarily porous acrylicfeature of that glues, what
(10:43):
gives it its intense strengthand helps with the bottom
quality?
Is there a curing time for that?Or because like hot glue just
when it cools? It's dry?
Yes. So usually for that glue,it takes about 45 seconds. So
about a minute before it'spretty much done heating, done
cooling and it's it's hard readyto go and it's not gonna go
anywhere.
(11:04):
I'm so freaking excited aboutjewelry glue. I don't think you
guys understand. Because itdries quick. And that's one of
the reasons to why everybodyloves hot glue. And Stephanie,
you mentioned it your yourpapercrafting with your mom and
making cards. And of course hotglue was doing that when
everybody else was using tape isthe glue come out. You know,
(11:25):
sometimes hot glue can be alittle bit thick. But if we're
putting it on paper, we don'twant it to be bubbly. Talk about
how to make that smooth and haveit laid flat.
Yeah, great question. That isdefinitely something I think
that our detailed tip glue gunsreally help with. But it is a
little bit I would say it takesa little bit of finessing to get
(11:46):
it just right, especially whenyou're dealing with like
cardmaking scrapbooking whereyou're dealing with the thinner
papers. So one of the thingswith the detail tip glue gun,
like I mentioned, it's one of myfavorites, I use it all the time
is that you have the perfectcontrol, you have precision at
your fingertips right there. Sowith our detailed tip, it's a
(12:08):
very, very fine tip that's onthere, like nothing else that's
out there on the market. And itreally does put the control back
in your hands. I think thatright there is a key to working
with paper with hot melt glue.And then also to like, it's all
about the trigger control. Solike I said, it's a little bit
(12:28):
of finessing that you have tokind of do in there. So it's a
little bit of a learning curve,I would say. But you can lay a
very, very thin bead down withour detailed tips. And that
really does help a lot to giveyou that finer, not bubbly, if
you will kind of effect
I always say more as more andless as a bore like That is my
(12:48):
motto. That is my trademark.That's what I say to everyone.
If you asked anybody that I'veever hosted a show with or has
seen me hosting a show, I alwayssay more is more and less is a
word, which means if you'rethinking about buying one by
two, if you think that you havetoo much stuff in your basement,
leave it there. So you know youmight need it someday. So more
is more or less is more but inthis case, when we're talking
(13:11):
about adding glue with the finetip or we're adding a little bit
of fabric glue, so a little bitless or is it so good. So it
gets in there like a lot oftimes we want to make a little
nest so it can stick in there.Is it more as more or less as a
bore? Or is it really be mindfulof how much glue you're putting
on what project you're doing
(13:31):
my experience with it anywaysusing it is that if you're going
to be doing something like finelike really small like you're
adding just one bead at a time.You're and you don't want the
everybody knows about the hotglue, smoosh, right it comes out
kind of thing and you're tryingto avoid that usually. So you
can actually use a little bitless
(13:52):
glue. If you've got a fabricglue stick and you've got a
glitter glue stick and you'vegot your clear glue stick and
you just have one gun. Againmore is more unless it's a bore
by two guns by three guns. Yougot to have one gun for every
single one of the glues that youhave have a dedicated glue gun.
This is me talking as a crafteras somebody who wants to sit in
(14:15):
my craft cellar and just makethings all day long. I wish that
was what I did. But I would loveto have three What is your
thought on that? Can we use oneand then kind of cycled the glue
through and how does that work?Well, if I get jewelry glue on
my into my fabric glue it iskind of like a Reese's is it
(14:36):
going to be bad?
So just with any kind ofexperience with different types
of hot glue because that'sanother thing too. A lot of
crafters a lot of people thatare doing it kind of on the
everyday or as a hobby, you aretending to use just a standard
glue stick right so you'repretty used to just using your
clear sticks and that's kind ofyour go to but now when you're
introducing specialty glues inthe mix of things if you don't
(15:00):
have multiple glue guns, whichof course, yes, it is a great
suggestion just because and Iknow a lot of people that do do
that they have their onededicated glue gun just for
fabric or just for jewelry oryou know, whatever your
specialty glue that you're usingis, but if you don't, I would
definitely recommend taking aclear stick. And then running
(15:22):
the glue stick all the waythrough of your specialty. Let's
say you have the fabric stick inthere, and you just did a fabric
project. Now you're gonna switchgears and you're gonna go to a
whole new the project and yourjewelry stick like you had
mentioned, you know, make sureyou're gonna feed that glue,
stick the fabric glue all theway through. And then you're
going to want to take a clearstick, maybe even two of them.
(15:42):
And you're going to want to keepfeeding it through the glue gun
until you don't see any more ofthe fabric stick, which is a
cream color. It also isavailable in a black color as
well too. But you're going towant to make sure you see no
other color coming out of there.And then you can go ahead and
swap out your specialty stick.It's a little bit of you know,
(16:03):
again, kind of playing aroundwith it. But that's something
that we do recommend isdefinitely feeding the glue
stick all the way through beforeyou start another one.
Yeah, see, I don't want to wastemy glue stick. So I'm probably
just gonna have to get a couplemore glue guns. So let's talk
about fabric gluing. And wetalked about it a little bit. So
(16:23):
in my little head, I like tomake pillows, I like to make
everything but I'm thinking of afleece pillow, they do a lot of
nose. So fleece where you tiehim, and then you give the
pillow out something like okay,if I have a fleece fabric and I
want to cut this into a 14 inchpillow, I want to add you know,
cut some trench and add that toit as well stuff the pillow in
(16:45):
it and then glue the edges. Doesthe knot nozzle need to be
bigger if we're doing somethingthat massive and trying to
create sort of like a thickerseam, just because simply it is
glue and it's not a stitch thatgoes in between? Or is it going
to hold it? And that's going tobe just fine to give away as a
gift and feel comfortable thatit's not going to break? Great
(17:07):
question. Honestly, I think itreally does depend on the
different material that you'regoing to be using. So I mean,
I'm not a seamstress at all, Iuse my glue for sure, with any
kind of soap projects. So Iwould definitely recommend
though with the fabric glue, itis also again formulated to be
super strong bond that whenyou're using like a detail tip
(17:30):
or something like that, you canuse that fine glue bead, and it
should hold just fine. I thinkyou should be totally
comfortable with that. Butagain, with their detail tip,
even though you have that finebead, you can pump out a lot of
glue using it as well, too. Soas long as you keep continuously
pulling the trigger, you candecide on on your own as it's
(17:52):
coming out. Do you want it to bethicker? Or do you want it to be
remained small and skinny, aswell, you know, and we do have a
full size version of that gluegun as well, which does feature
a little bit larger of a tip ifyou did want to have a larger
line of glue for that type ofproject.
I want to talk a little bitabout the glue pot. So explain
(18:18):
what that is. I probably saidthe name wrong. So let's talk
about it. What's the glue pot?
Well, we call it the glueskillet.
Skillet I love Yeah,
yeah, we love that our modelthat we advertise a lot is our
adjustable temperature. So youcan either adjust the
temperature up to high or low orsomewhere in between, depending
(18:41):
on what you're working with. Ifit's more of a delicate
material, you can turn the heatdown a little bit. And it also
works with our low stringingglue skillet pellets that we
formulated as well. Yeah, I
want to hear more about lowstring. And I want to hear about
what how is that different? Whatdoes that mean Brad we mean. So
(19:02):
if I mean anyone that's used aglue gun, you know that when
you're gluing something and youback the gun away, there's a
string that forms so pretty muchhot glue is it's a plastic base
material, so it's like a moltenplastic. So there's that
stringing quick tip with theglue gun switching gears from
the skillet. If you want to cutthat string with a glue gun,
(19:22):
circle your tip to where theheat of the tip cuts that string
just as I love a cheat to bypassthat. But in terms of the glue
skillet that is pretty muchdesigned for bringing the
materials that you're using inyour craft, dipping them into
the glue to get a better surfacearea instead of taking a glue
(19:42):
gun and trying to hit all thesurface area individually. Dip
it in the hot glue skillet. Theglue will attach to the product
and then you put it on yourproject. When you're doing that
transition. Stringing can be anissue. So the formula for the
glue skillet has differentcomponents in it that help reach
Use that string so that you'renot fighting that constantly
while you're doing your project.So another tip would be just to
(20:05):
like turn it to kind of like getthe the to spin a little bit,
and then it should break.
I love a good top tip, Brad, Idon't know, but you're bringing
it right now. This is good. Thisis what happens when it's a
family business, you know, allthe tips and tricks. I'm sure
when you were a little kid,everybody went to like first
grade with their little, youknow, little white bottle of
glue name, we all know. And thenBrad comes walking in with like
(20:29):
a hot glue stick. Everyone'slike, what
was the cool kid?
Of course you were so the glueSkillet is meant for a dip, and
stick a dip and stick for peoplewho don't know what that means?
Explain it.
Sure. Yeah, I mean, that'sexactly what our catchphrases
for this product is just dip andstick. So you're just going to
(20:52):
literally, actually let me backup a little bit. So when using
the skillet, the neat thingabout this is that you're
literally It's all containedwithin the skillet. So you'll
have your skillet, you'll goahead and turn that on, let it
heat up, and you'll be able topour the skillet pellets, the
glue pellets into the skillet.And then the pellets will melt
(21:13):
down, and it'll be molten glue.And you'll be able to dip those
materials, whatever it is beinga pine cone, or different
floral, faux flowers, thingslike that, dipping that straight
into the glue, and then beingable to stick that directly onto
your wreath or whatever projectthat you're decided to make. So
it just cuts down some of thecumbersome ness of using a glue
(21:35):
gun for those specific types ofprojects, you want to kind of
just dip it and then stick itright away onto the project. It
just makes for a fast and alittle bit easier way when
you're doing such a large scaleproject like a big wreath or a
door hanger, things like that.The floral industry really loves
these.
Yeah, that's cool, because Ifeel like the loose Skillet is
(21:57):
sort of a new innovation. It'sreally the first time I've seen
it. And I'm like who is usingthese but I guess if you're
always dipping and sticking,just having it right there and
having your hands free, freejust to create not necessarily
grabbing that glue gun. So Brad,thank your family for that cool
innovation. Let's talk aboutinnovations bread, we've got the
(22:18):
heuristics, I have thisheuristics and I thought oh,
these look like chopsticks forglue sticking. There's no glue
to them. I'm guessing they repelthe hot glue like nothing sticks
to them explain to us howsomebody would use a stir stick
and what it is.
Sure, so we've we've brought onthe stir sticks to pretty much
assists with being able to stirthe glue. Sometimes after being
(22:41):
on for a couple hours thingsthings can get stagnant, you got
to give it a little bit of astir. The sticks are actually
made out of Teflon. So thatrepels the adhesion of the
skillet glue. So at the end ofthe project, you're able to peel
that glue right off and thenkeep your sticks clean. Another
way that you can use these is,let's say you want to do
(23:02):
something a little more fine,you don't have your glue gun
with you. You can dip the stirstick into the molten glue in
the skillet, accumulate a littlebit of that, take it over and
dip it or at least touch up orput glue on smaller portions of
your project. So it gives youthat control and versatility.
You know sometimes you want todunk something in there and
sometimes you just need a littlebit.
I mean seriously, it's abouttime somebody came up with that
(23:25):
I love the Teflon stir stick andthen if you find on never using
them, you can use them foroversized chopsticks. No, I'm
kidding. It is it is I madejokes about having no
fingerprints. And being coming asuper spy because you have no
fingerprints left or you haveglue ridges instead of
fingerprints. all fun and gamespeople I know this and I talked
(23:48):
about Brad going to second gradewith the glue gun instead of
regular white glue that doesn'tdry immediately. Talk about
safety, it hurts if you get alittle dab of glue. We all try
not to do that sometimes it getsstuck on your nice manicure but
you know that's part of thegame. If you end up getting it
on you best way to get it off isto roll it off. And then what
(24:09):
about kids use.
So in terms of kids use, we dohave an ultra low temperature we
call it our coolshot glue. Andthat melting point of that glue
is significantly lower than thatof a standard glue. As a
perspective, like a hightemplate would be about 380
degrees. A low temp would beabout 250. Your Ultra Low Temp
is going to be sitting aroundthat 180 to 200 degree
(24:32):
Fahrenheit range. So still hot,but to the touch. It's not
nearly as hot as what it wouldbe if it was coming out of a
high temp glue gun. So typicallyif you find yourself in a
situation where you do get glueon your skin, we recommend put
it under cold water immediatelyif available, or try to thin out
the glue whatever's around you.The thicker the glue, the more
(24:53):
heat that is retained in thatglue. So thin it out, put it
under cold water, peel it off,more than likely you're gonna be
okay, if you work with curlingiron, stuff like that it can be
very hard as well. But gluesticks to you. So
yeah, that's funny. It currentlyirons Hello, we know that I love
the idea that we can actuallyhave the lower heat for the
(25:15):
kids, any insider tips andtricks for getting the best
results? Yeah,
well one that comes to mind isthat when we all kind of know
that, you know, the glue, right,it sticks together, and it kind
of forms an instant bond and itdries quickly. But I think what
really happens in the magic ofit is the actual bond comes when
(25:39):
it's cooled. So when it's hot,that's the perfect time
immediately to stick twosurfaces together, right, and
then you're gonna want to holdit together firmly for 15 to 30
seconds. And then as it'scooling, the glue cools, that's
when that bond actually formsand is solidified then. So I
(26:00):
think that's kind of somethingthat, you know, as a lot of
people know, but really knowingkind of how that works. And
knowing that to hold it a littlebit longer sometimes then you
should, can really help with thebonding process.
I guess I will add one morething when it comes to the glue
guns just as an educationalpiece. So you have your mini and
(26:24):
your full size, full size, youwant more volume, many you want
to be more delicate, you don'treally need as much volume, then
you get into temperatures, hightemp low temp. Typically with
hot glue, the hotter thetemperature, the better the
bond. So if you're doing wood,or plastics or hard to bond to
materials, you want to have ahigh temp glue gun to get the
(26:45):
best adhesion out of the gluethat you're using. And then it
comes to the power of the gluegun. So we advertise this and
everyone does in terms ofwattage, so the higher the
wattage, the more glue outputyou get per time period. So like
a mini glue gun is like a 10 to20 Watt, we have 1000 like glue
(27:07):
guns, if you're doing packagingall day, typically in the craft
arena, you'll see like a 40 or60, or an 80, or maybe even 100
WACK glue gun. So it reallydepends on the application that
you're doing, how much glue upwhat you're looking to get for
your project. So those are justsome glue gun shopping tips, as
you're perusing to the stores.
And Stephanie, did you want toadd something? Yeah, along
(27:30):
just along with the, you know,the amount that you're using
kind of too is, as you're usingit, and you're using the glue
gun a lot, let's say and you'reusing a mini glue gun, let's
just look at an example. Right.And as you're crafting, you may
be using a lot of glue for thisparticular craft, well, when
that trigger becomes a littlebit harder to pull, that's when
(27:53):
you know you're going to want tostop, we find that that's kind
of something to that is alwaysgood to touch on. You never want
to force the trigger to bepulled. And that kind of touches
on the wattage which Brad wasmentioning, there is a catch up
time, right there is you know,there's only so much melted glue
within the chamber of the gluegun. So when you've used it all
(28:15):
and it hasn't had that time tocatch up, it will become harder
to pull that trigger. And inthat time, you have to wait a
little bit longer, until thatglue gun is ready to be used
again. And it's not a long time,especially if you've been
crafting for quite a long timeyou know that. But it's one of
those things too, that we kindof forget. And maybe even, it
might be a time where you wantto think about upgrading your
(28:37):
glue gun instead of a mini sizeinto a full size because you
might be just having such abigger project that a full size
would definitely aid you betterthan using a mini size glue gun,
let's review the products thatwe have that we can use and that
we should all buy to have an ARcrafty stash. And I'm really
interested in talking a littlebit more about how the glue gun
(29:00):
sets on the holder because ifthey already like me, your glue
gun just has two little prongsthat leans on it and it flips
over all the time. But you guyshave come up with a really cool
innovation where it sits on theholder it charges wood inside
there, and then you can put itback on there to continue
charging. So let's let's startwith the glue guns and then
we'll make our way finallythrough the glue stick. So we
(29:22):
came
out with the mini cordless gunanalysis as a fine tip as well.
So the benefit of the cordlessfeature is everyone kind of
knows when you're you're pluggedinto an outlet or you have an
extension cord and you have todrag the cord over your project
to glue whatever you're gluing.With the cordless feature. You
don't have that problem anymore.So you keep your cord and your
(29:45):
stand plugged into the wall orextension cord that you're
using. And that stays on thetable. The glue gun actually is
essentially it doesn't there'sno battery to it. So it's not
really a charge or uncharged.It's essentially plugging it in
versus unplugging it. So you'lltake it off the stand, you're
essentially unplugging the gluegun, you take it over to
(30:06):
wherever you're working to doyour gluing. And technically,
it's just turned off, but thatheat stays for about one to
three minutes, depending on howmuch glue up what you're doing
in that time period. So when youtake it back to the staff and
plug it back in on the stand,it's like plugging the gun back
and or flipping the switch toon. And it's starting to repeat
(30:27):
itself again. So it gives youthat flexibility, so you're not
dealing with the cord. And italso gives you the freedom to
just go wherever you want orglue where everyone, Stephanie,
let's talk about the fabric gluea little bit more. It's
one of our best sellingspecialty glues, I would say
it's available in cream andblack. So depending on what kind
of fabric you're working with,could be like lighter colors,
(30:49):
you're gonna want to use thecream. If you're working with
darker colors, use the black,but then also one of the cool
things about it, you can throwin the washing machine. Now
we're gonna preface you're gonnawant to use it on the cool,
gentle cycle. Right? Right. It'shot glue. So you're definitely
not sticking that in the dryer,you're gonna want to hang dry
(31:09):
that, but how cool is that? I'mgonna actually throw it in the
washer. Yeah, I mean, it justmakes a really neat. Yeah, just
if you can, if your hand if yourhand stitching something, or if
you can sew, or if you can't. SoI mean, this is a great way to
be able to use a differentmaterial when you're crafting
(31:30):
materials in addition to yourpaper in addition to, you know,
your other surfaces that you'reusing. So I think that's really
great, I'm super excited aboutit, it
tends not to seep into thefabric weaves either, it rather
just grabbed a hold of it. Andthen that's pretty much what is
a little bit of a secret aboutthat glue in particular is that
(31:51):
a lot of times if you have usedhot glue, or just a regular all
purpose hot glue before withfabric, it'll seep in between.
And that's kind of why a lot ofpeople don't prefer to use it.
But with this specialty fabricglue, it kind of takes that away
any other innovations in hotglue technology you have coming,
that we should be excited forBrad.
(32:13):
So I mentioned it or briefly atthe beginning that the motorized
glue guns are becoming morepopular. And we just came out
with a retail slash craftversion in the mini size. So
like I said, you squeeze thattrigger, it turns a motor in the
gun and it feeds the glue stickautomatically, which gives you a
consistent bead and reduces handfatigue. So that's something
(32:37):
that's new to us. We're alsocoming out with some higher
wattage cordless glue guns aswell, just giving you that
freedom because everything'sgoing battery lately. And it's a
very popular new feature formost things. So we're
incorporating that into our glueguns. We also have guns, I have
built in batteries as well. Soyou don't have to go out and buy
$100 battery at a hardwarestore, whatever that may be.
(32:59):
Versatility is a big thing. Andglue strength as well. So in
terms of different glueformulas, you know, the
misconception with hot glue isit's like a temporary bond. It's
not that strong. Well, we have,like I said over 25 different
formulas. We have really strongglues out there that can even be
used in the construction world.They can be excellent bonds in
(33:21):
the crafting world as well towhere you're not questioning
whether it's going to stick ifit's a gift if you're handing it
to someone. So the technology isout there. There's all sorts of
different glues, and we're justtrying to educate people on
what's out there. What'savailable that I
think that's great. That's whywe're here today friends. All
right, so I do believe that hotglue and the glue skillet and
(33:45):
several glue guns are absolutenecessities in your crafting
arsenal. But if people want tolearn more about the fascinating
story behind surebonder Or theyjust want to find the product,
pick the one that's right forthem. Seven Eight, where can
people find you?
Well, we're in most retail craftstores like Duan Hobby Lobby
(34:06):
Michaels, things like thatWalmart we're in a bunch of
different hardware stores tolike Lowe's, Home Depot. But you
can also find us onsurebonder.com and Amazon and
pretty much wherever youpurchase your supplies for
crafting or DIY projects, you'llbe able to find surebonder
(34:29):
There. Just choose the black andgreen. Choose
the black and green. I like itand then any social media
handles we should be following.
Yeah, all of them are just atsurebonder at Surbana
that's perfect. Okay, so choosethe black and green. I'm so
excited. And I love the jewelryglue. Alright you guys, this has
(34:50):
been really fun except that nowI need to go make stuff.
Stephanie and Brad, thank you somuch for all of that great
information about hot glue. havean surebonder and thank you for
joining us I'm creative livingbetter
creatively for more inspirationvisit Jane clauss.com Thank you
(35:11):
for listening
It's time to tantalize yourearbuds with creative makers and
(00:04):
shakers, each creative livingthe podcast with Jane Clauss.
Welcome to Creative living wherewe help you live your most
creative life. I'm Jane Klaus.So happy you're joining us
today. Now, it's very importantto have the right tools to get
the job done. And I am a bigbeliever in making sure that you
(00:28):
always have the right tools. Iknow you know that my sewing
machine and I are practicallyinseparable. But when a project
calls for a no so touch my go tois my trusty hot glue gun. So
today, we're gonna get into asticky situation with this
(00:49):
fabulous crafting companion. Ourspecial guests today are from
surebonder. And they're here tomelt down the facts on why hot
glue is a must have in yourcraft arsenal. We'll explore its
evolution, we'll get a grip onhow it works. But before we dive
into that, let me share a littlestory with you. A few years ago,
(01:12):
I worked hosting a show inEngland it was called Create and
Craft. And one of our regularguests. Her name was Louise was
famous for her unique approachto paper crafting. So unlike the
rest of us who would use tape,she would grab her hot glue gun.
I mean, she was all about theglue. God was basically an
(01:33):
extension of her arm. So we gaveher the nickname hot glue. And
she actually loved the nickname.But here's the funny part. One
day during a live segment,Louise was in the middle of like
this massive glue intensivepaper craft and I said jokingly,
Louise, I'm surprised you haveany fingerprints left with all
(01:56):
the hot glue that you used. Andwithout a beat, she put her hand
up in the air and she goes, doyou mean these? This is just
relics of my life before Istarted crafting. And you know
what? I'm close to being a superspy by now. Everybody laughed.
And we all do that hot glue isnot just Signet name. It was a
(02:16):
way of life and it should beyour way of life to we're going
to talk about it right now withmy guests Brad caimans and
Stephanie Daniel fromsurebonder. So how many times
have you guys heard about thishot glue and fingerprinting?
More
times than you can count?
Are you tired of it? Yes. Well,hot glue was not she loved. She
(02:40):
loved her nickname. And we lovedmaking fun of it. Now this is
going to be a glute tastic showStephanie and Brad. So thank you
for being here. Before we getinto how to use hot glue, and
why we should use hot glue, tellme a little bit. Give me a
history lesson about hot glue.And surebonder I guess
starting with surebonder Mygrandpa started the company back
in 1968. I've one car garage,locally to Chicago and Prospect
(03:04):
Heights. We moved a couple timesbetween wheeling Palatine
Buffalo Grove. We're currentlyin what kind of right now. We
started selling eyelets andrivets. Somehow we got into glue
started manufacturing it in the90s. And we're pretty much one
of the last domesticmanufacturers in the US. And
it's something that we're superproud of. And we have a plethora
(03:26):
of different formulas, over 25unique formulas that we sell to
the crafting industry, thehardware industry, and also into
the industrial packagingindustry as
well. That's amazing. Yourgrandfather started the
business. That's so cool. So youlike you've always just been in
the biz and kind of sort ofaround it.
Always. Yeah, since since thebeginning.
So can you tell us a little bitabout the technology behind hot
(03:49):
glue? Like when your grandfatherstarted it? Was it different at
all? Like how did that happen?Or had he heard of it or used
it? Yeah,
so back then it was primarilyjust like a general purpose or
something to to close acorrugated box. I believe the
first order was for Zenithelectronics, and he was a
stocking distributor. He broughtin two cases, one for them and
(04:10):
one to keep on the shelf. Andfrom there, it's pretty much
been history, innovations andhave nots have really come a
long way since the beginning. Imean, back in the day, even with
the technology of the glue guns,it was the thumb fed glue gun
where you would push the stickthrough the melt chamber to get
the glue out. Obviously nowthere's triggers and now we're
moving into motorized guns whereyou squeezed the trigger and a
(04:31):
motor physically sickautomatically in some of our
industrial models and on ourcraft models as well. When it
comes to the glue. We have highstrengths. We have different
application we have glowglitter, ultra low temperature
that's safe for kids. There's alot of different technology out
there different raw materialsthat have helped us develop a
lot of different formulas thatquite frankly are way above and
(04:51):
beyond what they were back inthe 60s.
It's interesting too, because Ifeel like I'm still living in
the 60s with Mike Weaver not nowbecause I have my surebonder but
pushing glue, pushing the gluethrough. How important is it to
have I talked about this, tohave the right tool to get the
job done because there's so manydifferent applications for hot
glue these days. But you guys atsurebonder have really made some
(05:15):
significant innovations thatwere introduced to the market
for crafters. So talk abouthaving the right tool
when it comes to the rightproject and the right gun and
the right glue and the glue gunside. I mean, we have our full
size or mini size most peopleare probably most familiar with,
we've introduced automatic shutoff technology where after 30
minutes if the gun hasn't beenused, and it'll shut off
(05:37):
automatically kind of like haircurl or something like that,
just for safety reasons. Weinclude safety fuses on all of
our guns, we have dualtemperatures, different wattage
is just anything from a detailedtips if you want to get into a
real nice fine place and bedelicate with your glue
application. There's detailedtips, if you want to do a large
scale project, we have differenttips for different you know,
(06:00):
application widths, and wattageguns for higher output for those
bigger projects, even gettinginto more like construction
style.
I'm fascinated. I just I loveit. And you know, creative
living is based in Chicago. SoI'm super happy that you guys
are right out here in theneighborhood coming up with all
these great innovations. Sofunny. Tell us what you do for
(06:21):
the company? Because I know it'svery important. Are you family
to?
No, I'm not. But I have beenworking for the company. Yeah,
kind of I've been working with acompany for quite a while now.
So I do a lot of their graphicdesign, packaging, photography
and help out wherever I can to
you use hot glue. Oh
yeah, I actually used all oftheir products, without even
(06:45):
knowing who they were or whatthey were about before I joined.
I was like a huge crafter, mymom and I, we make a lot of
wreaths, we do a whole bunch ofstuff. Like we used to do just
things for holiday in general.And then for fun and kind of
call myself a little bit of acrafter and not a maker like
yourself, but I do enjoy. And sousing their products, and then,
(07:07):
you know, seeing that they had ajob opening, it was pretty cool.
Back in the day, we would findjob openings, we would look in
the paper. And we would circlethe ones that we thought were
the best. This would be one thatyou circled with a big black
Sharpie marker because you'relike, yes, that's where I want
to work. I feel you on that Ifeel you invited. If you're a
crafter, you're also a maker,everyone I think is a maker.
(07:28):
Even if you don't think you'recreative, you can make something
because you get that sense ofsatisfaction that you made it
yourself. And I always say this,because I like to sew because I
grew up sewing. But I also grewup using hot glue, like I love
my hot glue. I say to peoplemake this, if you can't sew it,
pin it, you can't pin it, stapleit, you don't want to staple it,
(07:51):
go to the seamstress down thestreet and have her help you if
you don't wanna do any of that,grab your hot glue, and glue it
because that is always going towork for you. So with all of
that being said, Stephanie, whatare some cool applications and a
variety of ways that we can useour hot glue these days, there's
a
lot of different applicationsand you know, kind of playing
(08:12):
off what you just said Likehonestly, anyone can make
anything that's very well said.Even if you feel like you're not
the most creative person, Ithink a glue gun can definitely
propel you into that. And wehave a lot of different types of
glue guns like from detail tip,which is personally probably one
of my favorites. And you canreally do a lot with that from
like paper crafting and allsorts of paper crafting. So my
(08:34):
mom and I we usually use it forlike scrapbooking things or
cardmaking. It's kind ofinteresting to use it in that
way. But you can add a lot ofembellishments with it. And
putting things together likethat plus it's fast drying. So
it makes those crafts that maytake a little bit longer of time
to put together really fast andeasy and quick so your
imagination can take you so manydifferent places with all the
(08:57):
different applications thatcould be out there. We have like
different application specificglues as Brad had mentioned. So
we have one for wood if you'reworking with a wood project, we
have jewelry stick we havefabric stick, we have a
specialty like low stringingskillet glue as well which is a
lot of favorites with the floralindustry for making reeds and
(09:19):
door hangers. There's just somany different types of things
out there. So pretty much likewhatever you're into, we either
have a specialty glue to helpyou with that. Or again, our
clear all purpose glue is very,very strong as well just using
our all purpose glue so that canmake you you know, do any kind
(09:39):
of craft that's out there when I
learned that surebonder hadfabric glue, and you have
jewelry glue and you haveglitter glue and color glue. So
it's a whole different worldfrom even when I was talking
about the story of working inEngland at creating craft. The
glue we were using was yourbasic clear stick And we would
(10:01):
have to get specialty glue. If Iwanted to do something with
fabric or I wanted to, you know,glue jewels down. I do a lot of
jewelry crafts, like you costumejewelry crafts that you can just
rip them apart and then put themback together. I put them on
shoes, I put them on Wall arts,I'm putting jewelry on shells,
you know, to create necklaces.So is this jewelry glue,
(10:23):
something that we can use on allthese other surfaces? And why
does it work? It's
an acrylic based adhesive. So itsticks really well to non porous
materials like jewelry, alldifferent kinds of rocks,
stones, plastic ones, anythingunder the sun, that isn't
necessarily porous acrylicfeature of that glues, what
(10:43):
gives it its intense strengthand helps with the bottom
quality?
Is there a curing time for that?Or because like hot glue just
when it cools? It's dry?
Yes. So usually for that glue,it takes about 45 seconds. So
about a minute before it'spretty much done heating, done
cooling and it's it's hard readyto go and it's not gonna go
anywhere.
(11:04):
I'm so freaking excited aboutjewelry glue. I don't think you
guys understand. Because itdries quick. And that's one of
the reasons to why everybodyloves hot glue. And Stephanie,
you mentioned it your yourpapercrafting with your mom and
making cards. And of course hotglue was doing that when
everybody else was using tape isthe glue come out. You know,
(11:25):
sometimes hot glue can be alittle bit thick. But if we're
putting it on paper, we don'twant it to be bubbly. Talk about
how to make that smooth and haveit laid flat.
Yeah, great question. That isdefinitely something I think
that our detailed tip glue gunsreally help with. But it is a
little bit I would say it takesa little bit of finessing to get
(11:46):
it just right, especially whenyou're dealing with like
cardmaking scrapbooking whereyou're dealing with the thinner
papers. So one of the thingswith the detail tip glue gun,
like I mentioned, it's one of myfavorites, I use it all the time
is that you have the perfectcontrol, you have precision at
your fingertips right there. Sowith our detailed tip, it's a
(12:08):
very, very fine tip that's onthere, like nothing else that's
out there on the market. And itreally does put the control back
in your hands. I think thatright there is a key to working
with paper with hot melt glue.And then also to like, it's all
about the trigger control. Solike I said, it's a little bit
(12:28):
of finessing that you have tokind of do in there. So it's a
little bit of a learning curve,I would say. But you can lay a
very, very thin bead down withour detailed tips. And that
really does help a lot to giveyou that finer, not bubbly, if
you will kind of effect
I always say more as more andless as a bore like That is my
(12:48):
motto. That is my trademark.That's what I say to everyone.
If you asked anybody that I'veever hosted a show with or has
seen me hosting a show, I alwayssay more is more and less is a
word, which means if you'rethinking about buying one by
two, if you think that you havetoo much stuff in your basement,
leave it there. So you know youmight need it someday. So more
is more or less is more but inthis case, when we're talking
(13:11):
about adding glue with the finetip or we're adding a little bit
of fabric glue, so a little bitless or is it so good. So it
gets in there like a lot oftimes we want to make a little
nest so it can stick in there.Is it more as more or less as a
bore? Or is it really be mindfulof how much glue you're putting
on what project you're doing
(13:31):
my experience with it anywaysusing it is that if you're going
to be doing something like finelike really small like you're
adding just one bead at a time.You're and you don't want the
everybody knows about the hotglue, smoosh, right it comes out
kind of thing and you're tryingto avoid that usually. So you
can actually use a little bitless
(13:52):
glue. If you've got a fabricglue stick and you've got a
glitter glue stick and you'vegot your clear glue stick and
you just have one gun. Againmore is more unless it's a bore
by two guns by three guns. Yougot to have one gun for every
single one of the glues that youhave have a dedicated glue gun.
This is me talking as a crafteras somebody who wants to sit in
(14:15):
my craft cellar and just makethings all day long. I wish that
was what I did. But I would loveto have three What is your
thought on that? Can we use oneand then kind of cycled the glue
through and how does that work?Well, if I get jewelry glue on
my into my fabric glue it iskind of like a Reese's is it
(14:36):
going to be bad?
So just with any kind ofexperience with different types
of hot glue because that'sanother thing too. A lot of
crafters a lot of people thatare doing it kind of on the
everyday or as a hobby, you aretending to use just a standard
glue stick right so you'repretty used to just using your
clear sticks and that's kind ofyour go to but now when you're
introducing specialty glues inthe mix of things if you don't
(15:00):
have multiple glue guns, whichof course, yes, it is a great
suggestion just because and Iknow a lot of people that do do
that they have their onededicated glue gun just for
fabric or just for jewelry oryou know, whatever your
specialty glue that you're usingis, but if you don't, I would
definitely recommend taking aclear stick. And then running
(15:22):
the glue stick all the waythrough of your specialty. Let's
say you have the fabric stick inthere, and you just did a fabric
project. Now you're gonna switchgears and you're gonna go to a
whole new the project and yourjewelry stick like you had
mentioned, you know, make sureyou're gonna feed that glue,
stick the fabric glue all theway through. And then you're
going to want to take a clearstick, maybe even two of them.
(15:42):
And you're going to want to keepfeeding it through the glue gun
until you don't see any more ofthe fabric stick, which is a
cream color. It also isavailable in a black color as
well too. But you're going towant to make sure you see no
other color coming out of there.And then you can go ahead and
swap out your specialty stick.It's a little bit of you know,
(16:03):
again, kind of playing aroundwith it. But that's something
that we do recommend isdefinitely feeding the glue
stick all the way through beforeyou start another one.
Yeah, see, I don't want to wastemy glue stick. So I'm probably
just gonna have to get a couplemore glue guns. So let's talk
about fabric gluing. And wetalked about it a little bit. So
(16:23):
in my little head, I like tomake pillows, I like to make
everything but I'm thinking of afleece pillow, they do a lot of
nose. So fleece where you tiehim, and then you give the
pillow out something like okay,if I have a fleece fabric and I
want to cut this into a 14 inchpillow, I want to add you know,
cut some trench and add that toit as well stuff the pillow in
(16:45):
it and then glue the edges. Doesthe knot nozzle need to be
bigger if we're doing somethingthat massive and trying to
create sort of like a thickerseam, just because simply it is
glue and it's not a stitch thatgoes in between? Or is it going
to hold it? And that's going tobe just fine to give away as a
gift and feel comfortable thatit's not going to break? Great
(17:07):
question. Honestly, I think itreally does depend on the
different material that you'regoing to be using. So I mean,
I'm not a seamstress at all, Iuse my glue for sure, with any
kind of soap projects. So Iwould definitely recommend
though with the fabric glue, itis also again formulated to be
super strong bond that whenyou're using like a detail tip
(17:30):
or something like that, you canuse that fine glue bead, and it
should hold just fine. I thinkyou should be totally
comfortable with that. Butagain, with their detail tip,
even though you have that finebead, you can pump out a lot of
glue using it as well, too. Soas long as you keep continuously
pulling the trigger, you candecide on on your own as it's
(17:52):
coming out. Do you want it to bethicker? Or do you want it to be
remained small and skinny, aswell, you know, and we do have a
full size version of that gluegun as well, which does feature
a little bit larger of a tip ifyou did want to have a larger
line of glue for that type ofproject.
I want to talk a little bitabout the glue pot. So explain
(18:18):
what that is. I probably saidthe name wrong. So let's talk
about it. What's the glue pot?
Well, we call it the glueskillet.
Skillet I love Yeah,
yeah, we love that our modelthat we advertise a lot is our
adjustable temperature. So youcan either adjust the
temperature up to high or low orsomewhere in between, depending
(18:41):
on what you're working with. Ifit's more of a delicate
material, you can turn the heatdown a little bit. And it also
works with our low stringingglue skillet pellets that we
formulated as well. Yeah, I
want to hear more about lowstring. And I want to hear about
what how is that different? Whatdoes that mean Brad we mean. So
(19:02):
if I mean anyone that's used aglue gun, you know that when
you're gluing something and youback the gun away, there's a
string that forms so pretty muchhot glue is it's a plastic base
material, so it's like a moltenplastic. So there's that
stringing quick tip with theglue gun switching gears from
the skillet. If you want to cutthat string with a glue gun,
(19:22):
circle your tip to where theheat of the tip cuts that string
just as I love a cheat to bypassthat. But in terms of the glue
skillet that is pretty muchdesigned for bringing the
materials that you're using inyour craft, dipping them into
the glue to get a better surfacearea instead of taking a glue
(19:42):
gun and trying to hit all thesurface area individually. Dip
it in the hot glue skillet. Theglue will attach to the product
and then you put it on yourproject. When you're doing that
transition. Stringing can be anissue. So the formula for the
glue skillet has differentcomponents in it that help reach
Use that string so that you'renot fighting that constantly
while you're doing your project.So another tip would be just to
(20:05):
like turn it to kind of like getthe the to spin a little bit,
and then it should break.
I love a good top tip, Brad, Idon't know, but you're bringing
it right now. This is good. Thisis what happens when it's a
family business, you know, allthe tips and tricks. I'm sure
when you were a little kid,everybody went to like first
grade with their little, youknow, little white bottle of
glue name, we all know. And thenBrad comes walking in with like
(20:29):
a hot glue stick. Everyone'slike, what
was the cool kid?
Of course you were so the glueSkillet is meant for a dip, and
stick a dip and stick for peoplewho don't know what that means?
Explain it.
Sure. Yeah, I mean, that'sexactly what our catchphrases
for this product is just dip andstick. So you're just going to
(20:52):
literally, actually let me backup a little bit. So when using
the skillet, the neat thingabout this is that you're
literally It's all containedwithin the skillet. So you'll
have your skillet, you'll goahead and turn that on, let it
heat up, and you'll be able topour the skillet pellets, the
glue pellets into the skillet.And then the pellets will melt
(21:13):
down, and it'll be molten glue.And you'll be able to dip those
materials, whatever it is beinga pine cone, or different
floral, faux flowers, thingslike that, dipping that straight
into the glue, and then beingable to stick that directly onto
your wreath or whatever projectthat you're decided to make. So
it just cuts down some of thecumbersome ness of using a glue
(21:35):
gun for those specific types ofprojects, you want to kind of
just dip it and then stick itright away onto the project. It
just makes for a fast and alittle bit easier way when
you're doing such a large scaleproject like a big wreath or a
door hanger, things like that.The floral industry really loves
these.
Yeah, that's cool, because Ifeel like the loose Skillet is
(21:57):
sort of a new innovation. It'sreally the first time I've seen
it. And I'm like who is usingthese but I guess if you're
always dipping and sticking,just having it right there and
having your hands free, freejust to create not necessarily
grabbing that glue gun. So Brad,thank your family for that cool
innovation. Let's talk aboutinnovations bread, we've got the
(22:18):
heuristics, I have thisheuristics and I thought oh,
these look like chopsticks forglue sticking. There's no glue
to them. I'm guessing they repelthe hot glue like nothing sticks
to them explain to us howsomebody would use a stir stick
and what it is.
Sure, so we've we've brought onthe stir sticks to pretty much
assists with being able to stirthe glue. Sometimes after being
(22:41):
on for a couple hours thingsthings can get stagnant, you got
to give it a little bit of astir. The sticks are actually
made out of Teflon. So thatrepels the adhesion of the
skillet glue. So at the end ofthe project, you're able to peel
that glue right off and thenkeep your sticks clean. Another
way that you can use these is,let's say you want to do
(23:02):
something a little more fine,you don't have your glue gun
with you. You can dip the stirstick into the molten glue in
the skillet, accumulate a littlebit of that, take it over and
dip it or at least touch up orput glue on smaller portions of
your project. So it gives youthat control and versatility.
You know sometimes you want todunk something in there and
sometimes you just need a littlebit.
I mean seriously, it's abouttime somebody came up with that
(23:25):
I love the Teflon stir stick andthen if you find on never using
them, you can use them foroversized chopsticks. No, I'm
kidding. It is it is I madejokes about having no
fingerprints. And being coming asuper spy because you have no
fingerprints left or you haveglue ridges instead of
fingerprints. all fun and gamespeople I know this and I talked
(23:48):
about Brad going to second gradewith the glue gun instead of
regular white glue that doesn'tdry immediately. Talk about
safety, it hurts if you get alittle dab of glue. We all try
not to do that sometimes it getsstuck on your nice manicure but
you know that's part of thegame. If you end up getting it
on you best way to get it off isto roll it off. And then what
(24:09):
about kids use.
So in terms of kids use, we dohave an ultra low temperature we
call it our coolshot glue. Andthat melting point of that glue
is significantly lower than thatof a standard glue. As a
perspective, like a hightemplate would be about 380
degrees. A low temp would beabout 250. Your Ultra Low Temp
is going to be sitting aroundthat 180 to 200 degree
(24:32):
Fahrenheit range. So still hot,but to the touch. It's not
nearly as hot as what it wouldbe if it was coming out of a
high temp glue gun. So typicallyif you find yourself in a
situation where you do get glueon your skin, we recommend put
it under cold water immediatelyif available, or try to thin out
the glue whatever's around you.The thicker the glue, the more
(24:53):
heat that is retained in thatglue. So thin it out, put it
under cold water, peel it off,more than likely you're gonna be
okay, if you work with curlingiron, stuff like that it can be
very hard as well. But gluesticks to you. So
yeah, that's funny. It currentlyirons Hello, we know that I love
the idea that we can actuallyhave the lower heat for the
(25:15):
kids, any insider tips andtricks for getting the best
results? Yeah,
well one that comes to mind isthat when we all kind of know
that, you know, the glue, right,it sticks together, and it kind
of forms an instant bond and itdries quickly. But I think what
really happens in the magic ofit is the actual bond comes when
(25:39):
it's cooled. So when it's hot,that's the perfect time
immediately to stick twosurfaces together, right, and
then you're gonna want to holdit together firmly for 15 to 30
seconds. And then as it'scooling, the glue cools, that's
when that bond actually formsand is solidified then. So I
(26:00):
think that's kind of somethingthat, you know, as a lot of
people know, but really knowingkind of how that works. And
knowing that to hold it a littlebit longer sometimes then you
should, can really help with thebonding process.
I guess I will add one morething when it comes to the glue
guns just as an educationalpiece. So you have your mini and
(26:24):
your full size, full size, youwant more volume, many you want
to be more delicate, you don'treally need as much volume, then
you get into temperatures, hightemp low temp. Typically with
hot glue, the hotter thetemperature, the better the
bond. So if you're doing wood,or plastics or hard to bond to
materials, you want to have ahigh temp glue gun to get the
(26:45):
best adhesion out of the gluethat you're using. And then it
comes to the power of the gluegun. So we advertise this and
everyone does in terms ofwattage, so the higher the
wattage, the more glue outputyou get per time period. So like
a mini glue gun is like a 10 to20 Watt, we have 1000 like glue
(27:07):
guns, if you're doing packagingall day, typically in the craft
arena, you'll see like a 40 or60, or an 80, or maybe even 100
WACK glue gun. So it reallydepends on the application that
you're doing, how much glue upwhat you're looking to get for
your project. So those are justsome glue gun shopping tips, as
you're perusing to the stores.
And Stephanie, did you want toadd something? Yeah, along
(27:30):
just along with the, you know,the amount that you're using
kind of too is, as you're usingit, and you're using the glue
gun a lot, let's say and you'reusing a mini glue gun, let's
just look at an example. Right.And as you're crafting, you may
be using a lot of glue for thisparticular craft, well, when
that trigger becomes a littlebit harder to pull, that's when
(27:53):
you know you're going to want tostop, we find that that's kind
of something to that is alwaysgood to touch on. You never want
to force the trigger to bepulled. And that kind of touches
on the wattage which Brad wasmentioning, there is a catch up
time, right there is you know,there's only so much melted glue
within the chamber of the gluegun. So when you've used it all
(28:15):
and it hasn't had that time tocatch up, it will become harder
to pull that trigger. And inthat time, you have to wait a
little bit longer, until thatglue gun is ready to be used
again. And it's not a long time,especially if you've been
crafting for quite a long timeyou know that. But it's one of
those things too, that we kindof forget. And maybe even, it
might be a time where you wantto think about upgrading your
(28:37):
glue gun instead of a mini sizeinto a full size because you
might be just having such abigger project that a full size
would definitely aid you betterthan using a mini size glue gun,
let's review the products thatwe have that we can use and that
we should all buy to have an ARcrafty stash. And I'm really
interested in talking a littlebit more about how the glue gun
(29:00):
sets on the holder because ifthey already like me, your glue
gun just has two little prongsthat leans on it and it flips
over all the time. But you guyshave come up with a really cool
innovation where it sits on theholder it charges wood inside
there, and then you can put itback on there to continue
charging. So let's let's startwith the glue guns and then
we'll make our way finallythrough the glue stick. So we
(29:22):
came
out with the mini cordless gunanalysis as a fine tip as well.
So the benefit of the cordlessfeature is everyone kind of
knows when you're you're pluggedinto an outlet or you have an
extension cord and you have todrag the cord over your project
to glue whatever you're gluing.With the cordless feature. You
don't have that problem anymore.So you keep your cord and your
(29:45):
stand plugged into the wall orextension cord that you're
using. And that stays on thetable. The glue gun actually is
essentially it doesn't there'sno battery to it. So it's not
really a charge or uncharged.It's essentially plugging it in
versus unplugging it. So you'lltake it off the stand, you're
essentially unplugging the gluegun, you take it over to
(30:06):
wherever you're working to doyour gluing. And technically,
it's just turned off, but thatheat stays for about one to
three minutes, depending on howmuch glue up what you're doing
in that time period. So when youtake it back to the staff and
plug it back in on the stand,it's like plugging the gun back
and or flipping the switch toon. And it's starting to repeat
(30:27):
itself again. So it gives youthat flexibility, so you're not
dealing with the cord. And italso gives you the freedom to
just go wherever you want orglue where everyone, Stephanie,
let's talk about the fabric gluea little bit more. It's
one of our best sellingspecialty glues, I would say
it's available in cream andblack. So depending on what kind
of fabric you're working with,could be like lighter colors,
(30:49):
you're gonna want to use thecream. If you're working with
darker colors, use the black,but then also one of the cool
things about it, you can throwin the washing machine. Now
we're gonna preface you're gonnawant to use it on the cool,
gentle cycle. Right? Right. It'shot glue. So you're definitely
not sticking that in the dryer,you're gonna want to hang dry
(31:09):
that, but how cool is that? I'mgonna actually throw it in the
washer. Yeah, I mean, it justmakes a really neat. Yeah, just
if you can, if your hand if yourhand stitching something, or if
you can sew, or if you can't. SoI mean, this is a great way to
be able to use a differentmaterial when you're crafting
(31:30):
materials in addition to yourpaper in addition to, you know,
your other surfaces that you'reusing. So I think that's really
great, I'm super excited aboutit, it
tends not to seep into thefabric weaves either, it rather
just grabbed a hold of it. Andthen that's pretty much what is
a little bit of a secret aboutthat glue in particular is that
(31:51):
a lot of times if you have usedhot glue, or just a regular all
purpose hot glue before withfabric, it'll seep in between.
And that's kind of why a lot ofpeople don't prefer to use it.
But with this specialty fabricglue, it kind of takes that away
any other innovations in hotglue technology you have coming,
that we should be excited forBrad.
(32:13):
So I mentioned it or briefly atthe beginning that the motorized
glue guns are becoming morepopular. And we just came out
with a retail slash craftversion in the mini size. So
like I said, you squeeze thattrigger, it turns a motor in the
gun and it feeds the glue stickautomatically, which gives you a
consistent bead and reduces handfatigue. So that's something
(32:37):
that's new to us. We're alsocoming out with some higher
wattage cordless glue guns aswell, just giving you that
freedom because everything'sgoing battery lately. And it's a
very popular new feature formost things. So we're
incorporating that into our glueguns. We also have guns, I have
built in batteries as well. Soyou don't have to go out and buy
$100 battery at a hardwarestore, whatever that may be.
(32:59):
Versatility is a big thing. Andglue strength as well. So in
terms of different glueformulas, you know, the
misconception with hot glue isit's like a temporary bond. It's
not that strong. Well, we have,like I said over 25 different
formulas. We have really strongglues out there that can even be
used in the construction world.They can be excellent bonds in
(33:21):
the crafting world as well towhere you're not questioning
whether it's going to stick ifit's a gift if you're handing it
to someone. So the technology isout there. There's all sorts of
different glues, and we're justtrying to educate people on
what's out there. What'savailable that I
think that's great. That's whywe're here today friends. All
right, so I do believe that hotglue and the glue skillet and
(33:45):
several glue guns are absolutenecessities in your crafting
arsenal. But if people want tolearn more about the fascinating
story behind surebonder Or theyjust want to find the product,
pick the one that's right forthem. Seven Eight, where can
people find you?
Well, we're in most retail craftstores like Duan Hobby Lobby
(34:06):
Michaels, things like thatWalmart we're in a bunch of
different hardware stores tolike Lowe's, Home Depot. But you
can also find us onsurebonder.com and Amazon and
pretty much wherever youpurchase your supplies for
crafting or DIY projects, you'llbe able to find surebonder
(34:29):
There. Just choose the black andgreen. Choose
the black and green. I like itand then any social media
handles we should be following.
Yeah, all of them are just atsurebonder at Surbana
that's perfect. Okay, so choosethe black and green. I'm so
excited. And I love the jewelryglue. Alright you guys, this has
(34:50):
been really fun except that nowI need to go make stuff.
Stephanie and Brad, thank you somuch for all of that great
information about hot glue. havean surebonder and thank you for
joining us I'm creative livingbetter
creatively for more inspirationvisit Jane clauss.com Thank you
(35:11):
for listening
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