FREEZE MOTHERSTICKERS ! (Bostik Blu Tack)

Member Name: thegarleon

Product:	Bostik Blu Tack
Date:	19/08/06 (897 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good alternative to drawing pins

Disadvantages: Can peel off new paint

The purchase of our first packet of BLU – TACK marks the dawn of a whole new era in our house. Yes it is a memorable occasion. Our kitchen walls are no longer our own. My Son has started Nursery School and the pictures have started covering the walls.

I will be very honest in a little admission. I don’t think I have actually ever bought a packet of Blu Tack in my life before. At about a £1 a packet it doesn’t exactly break the bank I know. Normally I have just taken it home from the stationary cupboard at work. (Is a stationary cupboard called that because it doesn’t move? It remains stationary while folk pilfer it’s contents). On this occasion I actually went out and bought a packet of this wonderful stuff. Do you want to hear all about it? Well let’s take a look into the Blu then…

----- What is it ?-----

For anyone from the planet Mars, Blu Tack is a non toxic mastic adhesive. It’s most unique property is that it is re-usable. Wow, I can see you are impressed… please don’t be, it’s really not that special. However it is a pretty handy thing to have around, a bit like a Wife. Invented in Wickham and launched in 1970, It is manufactured by those boffins at Bostik. Blu Tack is designed to be a suitable and re-useable alternative to the likes of Sellotape and drawing pins. Primarily it is used to stick pictures or things to walls. Now I’m not suggesting you use it to hang a framed family portrait, because that would be a bit daft. Blu Tack’s picture hanging properties are limited to that of posters and bits of paper. However there are more uses to this magical stuff than meets the eye.

----- You do WHAT with it ? -----

It comes in a little flat packet, sandwiched between two sheets of plastic. What you do is rip off a little bit, roll it into a ball and press it onto the corners of the picture you want to stick to the wall. Simple eh ? Unless of course you follow the manufacturers highly complex instructions for use. Now I like to look at these sort of things in a slightly different way to most people. I find that Bostik’s instructions are a little bit like a fitness programme…

“ HOW TO USE
1.Ensure that the surfaces are clean, dry, free from grease and loose materials.
2. Tear off the amount you require, PULL AND STRETCH UNTIL SUPPLE.
3. ROLL INTO A BALL.
4. Place between surfaces to be fastened and PRESS FIRMLY. “

I never realised it was so… energetic. While Blu Tack’s most enduring quality is that it never really solidifies, it is only really a temporary fixative. Because it is a mastic adhesive it is not good for permanent repair of items like ornaments. Believe me when I say this, because I have a faint memory of trying to repair one of my Mum’s ornaments with it as a child. If you don’t want to tear off lumps of wallpaper with sellotape, or make your walls look like you have woodworm by using rakes of drawing pins, then this is the stuff you need.

----- Sticking up pictures…WOW, I am impressed.-----

I did try and prepare you earlier, but the following revelations are positively awesome. Blu Tack can do oh so much more.

It can …

“Hold Up – Posters, cards, children’s paintings, party decorations, maps, messages and much more.”

So the packaging says. To my knowledge a packet of Blu Tack was recently helping the Police with their enquiries regarding the Holding-Up of a local Post Office. When they say it can hold up messages, they DO NOT mean the weekly grocery messages. It is down right useless at holding a loaf of bread and some milk up on a wall.

But wait, there IS more. It can also…

“Hold Down – Telephones and calculators, desk tidies and other desk accessories, ornaments, photographs in albums, screws to screwdrivers and model parts during construction or painting.”

However due to it’s erratic behaviour it cannot hold down a reasonable job or a stable relationship. What a shame.

Personally I find that I mainly use it for sticking my Son’s pictures to the kitchen wall, but hey, if you want to annoy someone who works in an office by Blu Tacking everything to their desk, you have a ball. It can also take fluff off of fabric and dirt from keyboards and typewriters, it can even lift newsprint from newspapers. Try it. Roll a big ball out flat and press it onto a picture in the paper. Then you can squash or stretch the image. Yes I do have a lot of spare time on my hands sometimes at work.

----- Is there no end to this stuff ? -----

Thankfully yes there is. You should not use Blu Tack on recently painted surfaces, hand stencilled paper or some blown wallpapers. It will destroy woodchip when you peel it off, but then again that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It does work well on non-porous surfaces like vinyl coated wallpapers, painted surfaces and glass, metal etc. Blu Tack can leave an oily mark on some surfaces, but even though the manufacturers suggest “ this can be removed by lighter fuel or dry cleaning fluid”, it’s best not to burn it off eh !

Bostik do leave you with some words of wisdom that completely washes their hands of any misuse of their blue sticky stuff. After warning you that the adhesive qualities of Blu Tack increase with time, and that you should take care when removing it after a period of time, they say goodbye like this…

“Recommendations and suggestions are for guidance only, as conditions of use are COMPLETELY BEYOND OUR CONTROL”.

----- For further information -----

1.Raid the stationary cupboard at work.
2.Do not visit the Bostik website because it is very corporate.
3.Contact them by telephone on (01785) 272764

Thank you for reading

Summary: It's Blue, it's tacky, so lets call it Orange Glue !