Review on 🔵 Grafix Artist-Tac 11 x 17" Permanent Micro Adhesive Dots – Mess-Free Crafts & Stationary Mounting Solution (Pack of 25) by Angela Rodriguez

I just finished my first job with this material so I'd better post some observations. First, it's clearly not cheap, so using it effectively is important. By that I mean using as much adhesive surface as possible and leaving as little waste as possible. It depends to some degree on the nature of your project, really the size and shape of your pieces. My work is a plate cut out of paper. Think Matisse. Many custom sizes. The most effective approach I've found is to place a series of parts on the protective paper side of the material. This is before you remove the paper layer. You want the glue to be on top when the paper is removed. Your goal is to arrange your shapes so that they cover as much or part of the arch as possible. You won't cut the Artist-Tac sheet until you've laid out your parts. Try to keep it at a manageable size. It is more difficult to work with a whole board without a protective layer than with three or four cut pieces of board. If you lay out your parts (not how they will appear in the project, just how it's most efficient), you can cut the sheet just as wide as you need them to be. Remove the protective paper from the sheet you will be working with. Now arrange the parts the way you arranged them. All at the same time. They can remain on the adhesive backing until each is removed and transferred. You want to polish each piece to make sure you get the sticky dots. It is easy to see where the adhesive base is and where the protective paper is. The adhesive film is covered with sticky dots that are clearly visible in the reflected light. Handle with care. The glue is easy to pick up with your fingers. It's easy enough to wipe off. I do all my artwork in special jeans that catch all paint residue and paint drips. Of course, having glue on your fingers makes the task harder. I use an exacto knife to loosen a corner of each piece from the glue when I need it. It lifts up easily and you can look at the back and clearly see if you've smeared the whole area with glue. If necessary, you can reapply it to a fresh piece of glue. Put it where you want it with a little care. At first I just lightly press it in place in case I need to move it. When finished, press down with a rubber roller, then gently sand each piece with a clean, rounded object. The curved side of the marker end seems to work. Keep the polisher clean. It collects bits of glue from the edges of the parts. They can appear on the surface of the parts. If so, roll it up and then away. Do not attempt to clean this substance with solvents. Just rub. I think I can reach 60% to 80% usage efficiency. If I had worked with rectangular pieces I would have done much better. So far I feel like it's a lot neater than glue sticks. I'll probably use brush glue for some things, but when the shapes are very complex like most of mine, cleaning up becomes problematic in terms of clutter. It's pretty neat and simple. It's a really nice way to work with all the pieces ready to be applied with glue instead of gluing each piece as you grab it. And I can't complain at under 75 cents per square foot.