Hello everyone.

I am trying to find out which fabric glue would be the most effective for my latin costume. There are so many to choose from, and I want the very best. Any additional tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I am having a serious glue problem. Must finish stoning a professionally made standard gown and most of the work I did on the sleeve points in April has fallen off, just hanging. Will compete in 2 weeks and have to reglue and add more stones. Gem-Tac is what I used most ineffectively. Sleeve is stretch lace. Dressmaker stoned most of the gown and the stones are solidly attached - not one fell off. She may have used E-6000. When I got the gown, it had a smell (I thought from the glue). I will not be stoning again after this project, but right now I need the stones to stay on during comp and hopefully when I prepare to sell the gown. Any other thoughts? Also bought Aleene's Jewel It. Thanks for input.

My two favorites are Gem-tac and E-6000. Gem-tac is easier to work with than E-6000, and doesn't smell as bad, and doesn't "string". E-6000 is waterproof, and if the stone is applied correctly it will probably never come off.

Your best bet is to try both and see which one you prefer working with. I like Gem-tac better, and can live with losing a stone or few when I wear the dress. I just check for lost stones when I air the dress out after wearing and replace then and there rather than waiting for a whole bunch to come off. A friend of mine loves E-6000 and won't use anything else. It really all depends. I can stone about twice as fast using Gem-tac as E-6000, and speed is important to me.

Gem-Tac is the best. Dries quickly and clearly. Not sticky. Nothing else can compare.

This may or may not apply, but I had a dress that was made of white lycra and was starting to look dingy so I used woolite and hand washed it. When stoning the dress I had used both gem-tac and E-6000. To my dismay as the garment started to dry many of the stones glued with gem-tac came off because the glue actually became tacky with the water. So from now on I will only use E-6000. Gem-tac might be fast, but with E-6000 you glue once and are done forever.

With Gem-tac you can't soak the garment for very long because the glue does soften up. I actually purposely removed all the stones from an old dress that I couldn't sell due to stains and other damage. I soaked the dress in warm water in the bathtub for hours and picked off the stones one by one. I had to do this a few times -- the glue gets softer with hotter water.

On the other hand, I've also machine-washed, on a short cycle, in cold water, a dress stoned with Gem-tac and I only lost a few stones. I washed the dress zipped up in a pillow case, so I was able to recover the stones and re-glue them.

A lot of how the stones stick is related to how they are applied. Some people don't use enough glue and so the stones pop off. Ideally the glue dot should be big enough so that when you push the stone into it, a small ring of glue oozes out arond the stone, like a little cup or rim set.

Thank you Laura. So, Gem-tac keeps the stones on in major action? Can I find it in craft stores, or must I order it?

Thanks again!
Dancededicate

I get mine at a local craft store, but not all places carry it. For instance, the Beverley's chain has it, but JoAnn doesn't.

Thanks alot