Stick with me:) (Bostik Quickstick)

Member Name: nickbrown60

Product:	Bostik Quickstick
Date:	22/02/09 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good at sticking paper and card, nice tube, safe!

Disadvantages: Not extremely strong, lid is hard to remove

Hi everyone and welcome to this review.


Glue... We can never have enough of it in our home, whether it's making card, sticking up posters or homework we use it for them all. Now for multi uses like that we need a very versatile glue that is quick and easy to use with no mess.


We had been buying the big pots of PVA glue for many years but after making Christmas cards for charity it really was evident that it was useless for the tasks we were doing. Well... Time to find a replacement! That is where this lovely Bostik Quick Stick comes into the equation.


Bostik:
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They are a very well known company around the world for its DIY adhesives as well as the domestic glues. They of course make the famous 'Blue Tac' that many of us use every day. They also make many products for use in the building trade such as tile adhesive, cement additives and silicones. So they are not little guys when it comes to this sort of product!


I found my Bostik Quick Stick in Tesco's on special offer in the stationery aisle. It cost only 79p for two sticks! Bargain. They are the smaller type sticks of around 8g of glue in each tube.


Packaging:
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The glue is packed in a very eye catching package, a cardboard backing with the glue on top and covered in shrunken plastic wrapping. The cardboard in the back is dark yellow and blue and states, 'Ideal for sticking paper and card solid'. After seeing how convenient these glue sticks looked compared to the big messy tubs of PVA it was decided to try some. At the back of the packaging there are two tabs that you pull for easy opening! Yay, no messing with plastic wrapping!


Once the glue was out of the packaging the tubes looked very small and I thought they would not be lasting long. They are around 3 inches in height and quarter an inch in width. An okay size I suppose, very handy for pencil cases as they will not take up much room at all. The glue stick itself is a dark blue colour with a dark blue lid and the yellow turn mechanism at the bottom. Very attractive looking sticks I must say! On the back it states that it's safe to use with children and washes easily. But it is not suitable for children under 36 months because of small parts.


Using the glue
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The glue is very easy to use, just pop off the lid, turn the yellow mechanism up to the required amount and your glue is ready for use. The glue is white in colour when on the stick but when it's applied to a surface it happily turns clear. The smell is not great, I'm no glue sniffer!! But I did notice a rather strange chemical smell which I was not expecting in glue that was advertised for use with children. Oh well, I suppose it shouldn't cause any harm. I also noticed that the lid was extremely hard to remove, this is most likely to be a safety feature to stop young children pulling it off. But if you have wrist problems I would highly recommend buying a different brand.


What can this glue stick be used for?
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I have found these glue sticks to have loads of uses. It really is strong and I managed to fix a broken ornament with it! Wow.


Here are some of the uses I have tried and tested:
*Sticks paper
*Sticks card
*Small pieces of balsa wood
*Sequins
And anything else that is light and can be usually stuck down by glue! I was surprised with how strong it was, paper really cannot be separated when stuck, I did stick my fingers together at times but a rinse under the tap helped this. I must say that it lives up to the claim of washing easily. I have got it on my clothes so many times and it comes off with a wet wipe, no problem at all. The glue is generally not messy at all, it's very clean to use and the lid stays very clean, unlike that of the PVA.


The glue is free of any toxic chemicals so it's safe for use with children, even though it smells very strange Bostik says it is also free of any solvents so is very safe to use. Please do not eat this glue though, I am sure it wouldn't do you much good and probably would not taste the best!


Are there any disadvantages to this glue stick?
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Well there are some things they could have made better, but for the price I cannot complain too much. Below are some improvements I think they could make:

*Not suitable for sticking slightly heavy items
*Takes a while to dry (Around 5 minutes to securely stick) I know this sounds short but compared to other sticks I've used it's not.
*The lid is hard to remove
*The turn mechanism is slight stiff
*Small stick of only 8g


That's about it. But again I cannot complain because of the price and I can simply live perfectly fine with the glue the way it is! Even though I have said the pot is small mine has lasted 3 weeks already, I have used it a few times a week so I would say it is quite long lasting, I have about a quarter left. It must be said that this glue does spread very well and does not leave lumps of glue all over your work! This does mean the glue will last longer.


Now I have seen a few places selling this glue at around about the same price I paid. I have seen this in Morrison's, Wilkinsons and Pound Stretcher - also known as Instore.


The company also has a website: www.bostik.com, but I found it very hard to use, I don't have a clue how to use it ha-ha.


Overall I would say this is a fantastic little glue stick. It sticks everything it claims on the packaging and is quite easy to use; being small and portable makes it great for pencil cases. The price is good and I really recommend it as an office companion.

Thanks for reading,©nickbrown60
Nick

Summary: A really great office companion or fantastic for arts and crafts