In the scrapbooking world except for paper, one of the areas that you have the most choices in is adhesives. Using the wrong one can be the difference between having a scrapbook which lasts for decades and one which after a few years, everything falls out and you have to do most of the work all over again or risk losing embellishments or, worse, treasured memories. We’ll take a look at the three main types of adhesives and see which is appropriate for a scrapbook that lasts.
At first, it may seem like you would want to follow every practice that professional archivists use. After all, if it’s good enough for a museum, you think, it should be more than sufficient to make your scrapbook last for years and years. In reality though, what archivists use could come close to destroying your scrapbook. You see, archivists use natural adhesives like starches and wheat pastes. Over time, these natural adhesives encourage the growth of mold, if kept outside of a controlled museum exhibit. You wouldn’t want your prized scrapbook to mold, would you?
A common type of adhesive is rubber based. Rubber cement is one such example. While rubber cement, and other rubber-based adhesives, may seem permanent, in reality in time the different components of these adhesives can separate, leaving you with a scrapbook which literally comes unglued. Clearly, this is also not where you should be looking for a quality scrapbook adhesive.
The ideal scrapbook adhesive is an acrylic-based adhesive. These adhesives will not cause your scrapbook to grow things you wouldn’t want or dissolve over the years. When it comes to acrylic-based adhesives, though, you’ll find that you have a myriad of choices. I’ll help you navigate through those as well, as you will see later. Stay tuned!
