ray_patel27•19d agoProlific Poster

Tried those dollar store hot glue sticks on a fabric project and they melted through my whole shirt

I grabbed a pack of the white hot glue sticks from Dollar Tree last week to fix a hem on an old denim jacket. Figured glue is glue right? Well after 2 minutes with my low temp gun the stuff turned into liquid lava and soaked right through the fabric. Left a hard plastic stain on my shirt underneath. Lesson learned: not all glue sticks are the same. Anyone else had cheap craft supplies backfire on them?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lisa19d ago

Wait, were you using a high temp glue gun for that? Because those dollar store sticks are usually designed for low temp guns, but if you put them in a high temp gun they basically turn into napalm. I made that mistake once with a cheap set of sticks from the grocery store. The low temp guns run around 250 degrees and the high temp ones go up to like 380 or something crazy. Check the wattage on your glue gun, your mileage may vary but I've found the low temp setting is way more forgiving for fabric projects. Also, some of those bargain sticks have a lower melting point than name brand ones, so they get runny way faster. Just a heads up for next time.

brookekelly19d ago

Oh yeah, the napalm comparison is spot on. I had a similar thing happen where the glue was bubbling and smoking, like it was way too hot for those cheap sticks. I switched to a low temp gun and it's been night and day for delicate stuff like fabric or foam.