What happens when your favorite adhesive disappears!

We scrapbookers really become attached to our adhesive. No pun intended! I've been using Tombow's diamond dot runner for several years, and consider it perfect...sticks great, the tape never pulls out of the dispenser, easy to drop in a refill. It's the basic paper-to-paper and paper-to-photo adhesive we've been recommending to our customers for quite some time.

You can imagine how crazy I got about a month ago when I found out that my beloved blue adhesive runner (photo below) was being discontinued! Once I calmed down, I came up with a plan.

First, I've never liked the tape runners with the filmy adhesive that just kind of strings along. So I knew I wouldn't substitute any of those. Instead, I ordered seven brands of adhesive dot runners, and Lindsey and I had some fun with them. We each took one of each brand, and conducted "consumer tests" on them so that we could come up with the new brands we would carry/recommend here at SG.

I was a little surprised at the differences from brand to brand. One, from a huge name in adhesives, was particularly bad. It came out in the stretching, pulling, stringing way that I hate. I used that runner on an entire layout, and when I got up the next morning and looked at my creation, every single photo was peeling up at the corners. Another brand didn't make the cut because after I used the original tape in the dispenser and popped in a refill, the tape pulled out when I started to use it and I had to throw the refill away. Another tape runner was awkward to hold, so I marked it down. Lindsey had similar experiences. She wrote down detailed descriptions from her "consumer tests," and by the time we were through, we were pretty much in agreement about the direction to take!

You can read our choices below. These adhesives are now available at SG, and there is a happy ending to my Tombow-addiction story!

This is the Tombow adhesive runner that has been discontinued. We have a few left, but once they are gone, they are gone for good.

Good news! There is another Tombow dot runner with identical adhesive to the one that has been discontinued! It's pink, and instead of 49 feet of adhesive like the one we all know and love, it has 39 feet. Like the one that is no longer available, it also has a dispenser and refills (39 feet) that just drop in. So...I'm happy!

Another great choice! This adhesive dot runner by Scotch has 49 feet in the dispenser and 49 feet in the refill. It also sticks well and fits comfortably in your hand. Lindsey really likes this brand!

We're also going to carry the 49 foot dot runner by Scrapbook Adhesives. Lots of you use the red E-Z runner, so you're already comfortable with the look and feel of this applicator. An added bonus -- this brand comes in two sizes. You may like the smaller runner at the right!

This new tape runner by Plus wasn't in our "consumer tests," but comes highly recommended by one of our customers, so we've added it to our adhesive choices here at SG. She loves it because the tape is narrow enough to fit on a 1/4" strip of paper, which we use lots in our sketch layouts and kits.