Ironing glue stick?

Has anyone used an iron to set something glued with glue stick? Generally I find glue stick to bond poorly, but my extremely limited testing suggests that ironing it makes the bond very strong. I had to scrape it off with a blade/chisel and the glue bond was stronger than what I was gluing.

If anyone has tried this, is there some “gotcha” I should be aware of?

Detailed background

I need to glue a bunch of card stock squares onto an MDF base, in a pattern. I don’t want to use white glue or similar because I expect the card stock to warp, buckle, pucker, etc. I would prefer a solvent-based glue, but shy away from contact cement for this use because the working time is zero. I smeared some Elmer’s extra strength glue stick on the base, pressed on the card stock, ironed it with a very hot (dry) iron and wow - it surely seems like it’s stuck super well.

I plan to coat it with Mod Podge after completion, so that should deal with any minor lifting issues - I hope.

Repositionable spray glue on your squares + some kind of non-glued template to line them up.

My experience with spray glue isn’t good. It doesn’t seem to be as permanent as I need it to be.

Wouldn’t rubber cement have been a good way to do this? I never ironed glue before.

I am concerned that rubber cement / contact cement sets too quickly for me to be able to slide around the pieces to get them precisely aligned.

I iron things that have white glue routinely. It does a great job of quickly setting the glue.

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If one was thinking of rubber cement, Barg is the tougher, more durable version.

Actually, it just occurred to me to go test my YES! glue. But the glue stick worked really well and I just wondered if anyone had any experience with it.

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Have you tried Super 77 spray adhesive? Be for warned that it does tend to find its way to your arms and arm hair.

I wonder about water based contact cement. It’s become popular in leather work.

Why not use the modpodge as the adhesive as well?

edit to add rubber cement comment:

Rubber cement is usually used incorrectly. You don’t smear it on one side and smash it down; you apply thin coats to both surfaces then stick them together. You can cover a big chunk of one side with wax paper or parchment paper to prevent big-time sticking until you have it positioned as desired, then slowly remove the “blocking” or makeshift release paper.

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something to consider about glue stick; is there a possibility it might eventually discolor the card stock?

One of the reasons I thought of rubber cement. If used properly you can reposition items. With the modge podge they wouldn’t come off anyway.

I used a water based cement on some things. I wouldn’t use it on paper, well, depending on the thickness. It does soak through some paper.

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I have used Modpodge once or twice. It peeves me that it never really seems to “cure”. I modpodged a fluffy sticker thing onto a box, and the Modpodge (much later) stuck to another box that was stacked on top. Irksome.

If you fold the waxed paper in half, you can pull the lower layer under the upper layer and very gradually expose a fresh surface to adhere. Gives a lot of control.

Looks like none of us have the experience you’re looking for. We’re full of ideas, but no experience…

I hadn’t thought of that. But the card stock is fairly thick, and half of it is black. It’s going to be a distressed kitchen floor, so if it discolors it, it might actually be preferable.

Silver lining …

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Used to do papercraft while I was bored at work. Elmers glue is perfectly fine for heavier card stock, shouldn’t cause any warping, and is plenty strong (never had a properly set papercraft item come apart and most of those are bent into pretty obscene angles) The trick to keep it from being too saturated is to lay down a line and then use your finger or similar apparatus to spread the glue as a thin even coat. I guess it all depends on how large these tiles are. If you’re talking a 2’x2’ tile, thats a lot of work for using standard glue and I would probably go with a spray adhesive. but if they are in the inch size, I would try Elmers.

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That stuff…pure delightful evil. I hate it so much that I adore it.

Seems like there would be better sealer options than ModPodge…

Good tip on application

Re 2’ x 2’ tile

Lol. If I were betting, I imagine @John_Marlow’s tiles are a teensy bit smaller than that. Emphasis on “teensy” :slight_smile:

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