Anyone use a hot glue gun?

Indinana That's what it does. OH has one and to be honest it tends to just leave a dreadful mess.

Oh dear, not very encouraging then. There are so many tutorials online for various crafts and they all seem to use these hot glue guns. They can't all be having their crafted items unsticking, surely? Oh well, back to the pots and tubes. Or maybe needle and thread....

Oh dear, not very encouraging then. There are so many tutorials online for various crafts and they all seem to use these hot glue guns. They can't all be having their crafted items unsticking, surely? Oh well, back to the pots and tubes. Or maybe needle and thread....

I have a hot glue gun, it's a small one I bought in Lidl. I always use it on a cutting board with a magazine or newspaper on, plus a saucer or something to rest the glue gun on. I've never burnt myself. Mind you I use it infrequently prefer sewing.

Thanks suzied. I must admit I prefer sewing really, but the glue gun is handy for holding small fiddly things in place while I sew! I'm making little stretchy headbands for baby girls and most of the ideas for embellishments online seem to rely solely on hot glue guns. I was hoping that someone would pop up and say the hot ones (as opposed to my cool one) are much stronger adhesive, which doesn't peel off easily.

i think their great,,best glue around by far,,,

I have one, I love it. I do use surgical gloves when I use it though. I haven't had any problems. I do tend to put a dab on both surfaces and smear it around as much as possible first. I also make sure it's really well melted. I have managed to stick things like pebbles together.

I wouldn't like to sew through the glue from a hot glue gun as it wouldn't do a sewing machine any good but perhaps that's not what you meant. I would use Stick and Spray Adhesive For Fabric for a temporary bond and Stick and Stay for a permanent bond but do make sure they are the "for fabric" ones.

I do use a hot glue gun. They take a bit of getting used to and as they can be thready it is worth covering all surfaces and yourself.

Oh definitely, I made a horrible mess the first time.

Thanks janer. I may just get a hot one as well then. I made a little paper and card mini album for my DD which used tiny magnets and that stick on magnetic tape stuff as a closure. The stick on tape was fine, but attaching the magnets with the cool glue gun was useless as they just came off when opening the album - the magnetic pull was stronger than the glue! In the end I used superglue (which I'm scared of!!) and that did the trick.

I agree they take some practice - I used to get in a terrible mess at first too!

Hope it's OK to chip in with a question. The glue guns you're talking about, are they the kind that take sticks of glue? If so and you don't use it very often, do the sticks last well between uses, or do you end up using a new stick?

I don't use my cool one that often - I can go several weeks between uses, and have had no problems with the glue sticks lasting. They simply cool down from the last use, and then warm up (and melt) the next time.

Yes, mine are fine too, it can be a couple of years between uses. I have had mine for twenty years now!

I've just ordered one from Amazon, a rather better one than the cheap 'cool' hot glue gun I started out with. Cue burnt fingertips...

In that case I think I will get one sometime soon. We shop at Lidls and every now and then they sell them, so I will keep my eyes open for one. I use E6000 glue in jewellery making and I am always looking for different ways to use glue neatly.

I went to a hot glue gun craft class a couple of months ago & one of the things we did was to put the melted glue onto a silicon stamp- let it dry & peeled off the image. Made lovely flowers, butterflies etc. Also made 'gems' by making dots with it & sprinkling it with glitter. I didn't have one until then but I have used it a lot since.

A friend of mine used a hot glue gun to make a triangle shaped Christmas tree for a flower club display. She drizzled the glue over a wooden frame and then sprayed it white. It looked like lace and made an impressive backdrop for a flower display at the Christmas tree festival.

I am a crafter making cards, books, boxes and mixed media items. I use a glue gun as sold in craft shops using sticks. I don't use it that often and have no problems with the sticks going off. Some of my peers have started using a DIY tool, maybe Bosch or some such. It is a rechargeable one and is more powerful and doesn't have a cord to get twisted. I may look at one of those.

Yes. I use a hot glue gun for flower arranging and it is fine. It does tend to make long threads of blue like spider webs which are difficult to manage.

My husband and he usually makes a dreadful mess.

I use a hot melt glue gun regularly. The secret is to get the items you are gluing as hot as possible. If the glue hits a cold surface it will cool before adhesion has taken place. Metal items I would put in the oven and get very hot, wooden/plastic item warm.

I use a hot glue gun for my craft work. It is a bit stringy though, I've found. I don't know how to get it not to do this? Anyone?

I too use a hot glue gun for paper crafts I m not as impressed as I expected to be I find it sets SO quickly that I have to be speedy to get the item to stick well and they can leave trails all over the place. Every crafter I know raved about them but it's Ok I certainly wouldn't rave

I am a crafter and own 3 glue guns, took a bit of practice before I found one which suited me - the Bosch glue PEN. Its amazing. Its rechargeable and you can just remove the stick of glue when you are not using it, so this stops most of the drips. If it does leave a little bit it just lifts off when the glue has cooled. Also I store upright in a jar or box and this stops the glue collecting around the nozzle. I buy a job lot of sticks & they last ages.