Diamond painting is the latest addiction in town. If you are reading this, you are probably already hooked to it or hoping to get a kit and start this new found hobby soon.
For those still trailing, we’ll let you in on the scoop about what diamond painting is? Diamond painting is a fairly new craft with nearly the same concept as cross stitching and paint by numbers.
With diamond painting, small “diamonds” made from resin are placed on a sticky canvas. The application follows a particular DMC code such that the completed craft appears as a painting done with diamonds.
Diamond painting kits come with easy to follow instructions and all the stuff you need to set the ball rolling. What follows is hours of crafting and a blissful sense of fulfillment when done. The craft has some therapeutic benefits as well.
However, for some reason, particular spots or parts of the canvas sometimes lose their tack. As a result, they fail to hold the diamonds in place. Finding yourself in a not so sticky situation might leave you wondering what to do.
What adhesive is used on diamond paintings? There are two types of adhesive used for diamond painting: double stick tape and canvas glue. Whichever you choose, they should be clear and have a strong tack while also allowing for repositioning.
In this post, we tackle the two adhesives and help you choose the best one to use if you ever need to redeem your not so sticky diamond painting. We also recommend the best products for the task.
Why You Need Adhesive For Your Diamond Painting
You are unlikely looking to create a custom diamond painting from scratch since they already come in kits. But we are pretty sure you’ll encounter those oops! moments where the drills just won’t stay put.
Perhaps it’s hair, pet’s fur, fingerprints, skin oil, or other kinds of debris blocking the surface. You can easily wipe them out with fresh wet wipes and restore your tack instantly.
However, some of these tack-less mishaps cannot be remedied with wet wiping, for example:
- You are unlucky to get the batch’s fluke with a few drill spots, an entire row, or large surface areas without any glue.
- The overall craftsmanship of the product is bad, and the adhesive is too weak thus budges.
- Changes in temperature and humidity can affect the glue by melting or drying it out.
- Damaging the original adhesive inadvertently, such as scraping it off when repositioning misplaced diamonds.
- You may want a wider coverage of drills in a partial diamond painting (the type where diamonds are applied to selected parts of the image).
- The protective backing or any piece of stray paper getting stuck to the glue and lifting the tack off of the painting when you try to peel it off.
In any such case, don’t go into panic mode. There’s still hope you can continue with your craft! You’ll need to restore your diamond painting using some adhesive.
But which one? Not just any double-sided tape or glue will do the magic.
Well, we are here to tell you more about selecting an adhesive for your diamond painting in the next segment.
Diamond Painting Adhesives: What to Look For
Every avid crafter has some craft glue, tape, school glue, or other adhesive type lying around somewhere in the house, like your sequins glue. Unfortunately, you can’t use those.
It would help if you had an adhesive specially designed for the task. It could be multi-purpose though, and therefore not necessarily labeled as diamond painting adhesive.
Here are your best adhesive choices along with key pointers to help you select the most suitable type for your next diamond painting:
1. Double-Sided Tape
Double stick tape is what some manufacturers include in their diamond painting kits. So it’s no wonder you can use it to fix non-sticky parts of your canvas.
Simply cut it to the size and shape matching the ruined patch and stick it on top as a replacement and voila! A new tacky surface.
It is ideal for covering large bald spots (or even the entire canvas), or a mere row or two. Just be sure not to overlap or leave spaces between layers when placing strips back to back.
While purchasing double-sided tape for diamond painting, consider these things:
- Transparency: Tapes come in various colors. Opt for a crystal clear one without any hazy hues. A clear tape ensures you can clearly see through to the image – which is the whole point of your diamond painting.
- Thickness: You’ll find tape in a variety of thicknesses, lengths, and widths. The thinner the tape, the better, to avoid the appearance of obviously raised edges. You want to maintain the canvas surface to be as flat and even as possible. So go for something that will blend in and not stick out.
- Backing: Backing on one or both sides of the tape guarantees you an easy application. Backing prevents the tape from sticking to your fingers. It also keeps dirt off of the top side of the adhesive when you want to work on the painting in bits or at a later time.
- Heavy tack: Go for double stick tape with a high strength tack that will secure the diamonds in place firmly.
2. Canvas Glue
Diamond paintings that do not utilize double-sided tape are made by pouring a special canvas glue. The glue is slightly different from other types of glue you might have used before.
Fluid adhesive is ideal for application on small bald spots between drills or rows, for example where an individual drill stubbornly keeps popping out. It would be more practical to drop a dollop of glue on that than a piece of tape. The glue can also be spread on a larger surface area, so it is still a versatile choice.
These are the things to look for in canvas glue:
- Transparency: The best glue for diamond painting is clear. It must also maintain the same clarity when dry so you can still view underneath. Glue that dries cloudy will diminish the stunning aesthetics of your diamond painting.
- Ability to Reposition: The best adhesive for diamond painting dries tacky and just slowly enough to give you some working room. This way, you’ll be able to easily reposition your diamonds if you stick them in the wrong place without having to reapply the glue. You can also work at your own pace without worry about it drying out completely.
- Easy to apply: Ensure that your choice of glue is easy to apply. The fluid should be a nice thin consistency that can be spread thinly or squeezed out in dots for more specific and accurate application.
3 Best Adhesives For Diamond Painting
We are sure you’ve got the best diamond painting kit by your side. But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for any eventualities. As promised, here are our top adhesive recommendations for diamond painting:
Rank | Product | Description |
---|---|---|
1. | iCraft SuperTape | Double-sided, permanent tape |
2. | Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over Glue | Clear repositionable adhesive |
3. | Orment Glue For Diamond Painting | 12 bonding glue bottles (nozzle top) |
For more information on these great adhesives, keep reading below:
1. iCraft SuperTape Permanent Double-sided Adhesive
iCraft has the solution to all your “unsticky” issues if you choose to go the double-stick tape way.
It is a super-strength adhesive with glue on both sides of the tape. Every roll comes backed with a red paper to make its application manageable, but the tape itself is glass clear.
You can choose among a variety of sizes. There’s ½”, ¼” and ⅛” width rolls. Each one is 6 yards in length.
As for the thickness, it is only 9 mils (0.229 mm) and can almost go undetected, blending seamlessly into your canvas. It is the perfect replacement adhesive to have by your side for those bald rows.
2. Aleene’s Tack-It Over & Over Glue
Aleene’s Tack It Over & Over is an awesome multipurpose glue for a number of projects including Diamond painting.
The high strength tack glue holds your drills like a magnet and can reinforce the existing but weak or dried-out adhesive. It dries tacky and is repositionable, so you can transfer the diamonds to the right place if you happen to make a mistake.
The product comes in a 4 oz/118 ml bottle conveniently shaped with a narrow mouth for precise dispensing. It is filled with a crystal clear fluid that stays transparent and does not obscure the image below.
Did we also mention that it is non-toxic? It conforms to ASTM safety standards. Therefore, both you and the kids can handle it worry-free.
The consistency is thin but not runny. It spreads just as easily as it goes on to the brush. Once you apply it, allow time to dry tacky before placing your diamonds.
3. Orment Glue For Diamond Painting (12 Pack)
You are more likely to trust glue specifically made for diamond painting, right? So you should definitely check this one out.
It comes in 12 finger-sized bottles. If you’ve ever had a big bottle of glue dry up on you after a single use, then you’ll appreciate these separate packages.
It is cleverly designed to squeeze out the glue in dots, therefore, it works great for dotting and sticking. Though, it can be spread over large parts of the canvas as well.
Don’t mind the amount in every bottle – a little of this adhesive goes a long way. In fact, for best results, it should be applied thinly, then left to set for a few hours.
If you are new to diamond painting glue, you want to keep the above in mind because this product doesn’t come with any application guidelines. Still, the glue does what it is supposed to do excellently. It goes on white when wet, but dries to a nice clear finish.
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