Scrapbooking Glue Dots: Best Adhesive for Paper Crafting

Glue dots can be used for many things, but as far as what glue to use for scrapbooking, they are one of the easiest to use. Glue dots are perfect as a scrapbook adhesive as they are not a liquid glue, which scrapbookers avoid when possible, and they don't leave a sticky residue as foam adhesive does.

Glue dots are really easy to use and are completely mess-free!

Adhesives can be tricky to use and could damage your scrapbook page if not handled correctly, a lot of factors have to be taken into consideration when using adhesives, you'll need to know whether it's acid-free, archival-quality, etc. with that being said, one of the best adhesives to use for your crafting project is glue dots.

Knowing the right way to glue your photos and embellishments to you scrapbook is a must for all scrapbooking beginners learning how to scrapbook.

Now, when I talk about glue dots, I'm referring to any brands of glue dots. However, there is an actual brand of glue dots called Glue Dots.

The Glue Dots brand website states that their products are acid-free, lignin-free, and archival-quality so they are actually a good choice to make when purchasing adhesive for scrapbooking as they even help you preserve your scrapbook elements.

I use them myself when I can get them and love them. But to make it clear, I'm not discussing the Glue Dots brand in particular in this blog, just glue dot in general.

If you decide to use a different brand of glue dot for your scrapbook adhesive, just make sure it's archival-quality, acid-free, and is suitable for photographs so that your scrapbooking pages can stand the test of time.

Want more scrapbooking tips and tricks? Click here and check out our books!

Glue dots are a pressure-sensitive "blob" or "dot" of adhesive that you need to push gently on to make them stick your pieces of card, paper, or other surfaces together. They stick plenty of other things together too so you can use them for creating awesome embellishments as well.

 

Depending on what type of glue dots you use it also works great with adhesive stubborn surfaces which means you can use wood or some unconventional / unique material types for your embellishments.

Glue dots come in varying sizes and dispensers and how you apply them depends on the type of dispenser you have bought. Rest assured that regardless of the type of glue dots you have, they are usually easy peasy to use.

Below is a picture of two that I use regularly, a glue dot roller and glue dots on a sheet.

Glue dots can be temporary, permanent, and super-strength.

Temporary glue dots are useful for sticking posters on a wall surface that will at some point be removed and when it comes to using temporary glue dots as a scrapbook adhesive, they are just perfect for holding things in place on your page while you're still experimenting with your arrangements.

Many people choose to use a temporary glue dot to adhere to their photographs so that it can be repositioned if they accidentally stick it down slightly crooked. You can also swap the photograph out at a later date when using a temporary glue dot.

Permanent glue dots are great for when you're 100% happy with your scrapbooking layout and are ready to finish it off. I nearly always use permanent glue dots, particularly when making embellishments for my scrapbooking pages.

Super strength adhesive dots are not really necessary in scrapbooking adhesives as usually, you aren't trying to adhere something together that is particularly stubborn.

Though it's great for wood or metallic embellishments, super strength dots are more suited to projects around the home such as holding a picture frame in place.

Glue dots can be fairly decent sized, like the size of a fingerprint, down to really quite small, like the micro glue dots in the photograph below.

Teeny tiny adhesive dots are great for creating fiddly embellishments and sticking little fiddly things onto your page like small plastic gems or flowers.

Glue dots come on rolls, double-sided/ single-ply sheets, perforated sheets, Dot 'n' Go dispensers and rollers. How they are applied depends on the type of dispenser you have bought but generally speaking, buying a roll or sheet is often more economical than buying a roller or Dot 'n' Go dispenser.

A Dot 'n' Go type dispenser or a roller dispenser is probably the quickest and easiest way to use glue dots but not all brands offer refills, so the dispenser may end up being just another piece of single-use plastic.

The image below is my favorite dispenser, it's a glue dot roller. Unlike the Dot 'n' Go dispenser which dispenses one small dot at a time, it rolls out a kind of adhesive tape with lots and lots of dots.

I use this roller all the time for adhering my scrapbooking page elements down as it's a super-thin layer so anything I stick down sits completely flat with no bulk.

You should always follow the instructions on the packet but generally speaking, to apply this type of adhesive purchased on a roll, you will need to press one side of the item you want sticking down against the adhesive, and then peel away the liner before pressing it into place.

The Dot 'n' Go and roller dispensers are easy peasy and work just like a tape dispenser or correction pen tape dispenser. You hold it in your hand, press it against whatever you want a sticky dot on, and pull the dispenser toward you at a 45-degree angle to dispense the cute little blob or line of adhesive blobs.

If you have bought a glue dot on a perforated sheet, you will need to tear the perforation and peel the tabs apart. Place the tab with the actual adhesive dot onto your surface and press firmly to apply it.

You can see in the photograph below that I have already torn off my perforated square and have removed the backing.

I am left with a clear square with the adhesive on it, which I then press onto my cardstock. Once I have given it a little push and adhered it down, I can then remove the clear backing and stick whatever I wish on top.

Unlike cardmaking and other papercraft, when it comes to scrapbooking and albums, we need to be aware of creating less bulk. With this in mind, the best adhesive for scrapbooking are the smallest and flattest kind of glue dots.

 

These are usually called "Ultra Thin", or something to that effect. Whether you get these in a dispenser, roll or sheet is up to your own personal needs, wants, and budget.

You can get glue dots from office supply stores, crafting stores, large general department stores, and even hardware stores. Although you have more chance of finding the ultra-thin glue dots at office supply stores and crafts stores.

Although my roller doesn't advertise it on the packet, it's the flattest one I have come across so far and you can see from the picture below that the cupcake is sitting as flat as possible on my cardstock backing.

Glue dots are not known to degrade over time but like any other adhesive product, it's helpful if you stored them in their original packaging at normal temperatures in a clean and dry environment.

 

Like other adhesives, extreme humidity, heat, and sunlight can make them less sticky. Touching them excessively with your fingers before you use them makes them less sticky also.

Do you use glue dots in your scrapbooking layouts? Do you use them for everything or just for creating embellishments? I would love to see and hear about how you have used your glue dots creatively.

Happy Scrapbooking!