Types of glue for jewels?

[Lostariel Telrunya]

Hey, so I am currently in the process of painting/decorating my fabric tail. I have whole bunch of little gemstone plastic things, and I really want to put them on the end of my fluke. Is there a specific type of glue/adherent that I should use? Does crazyglue work???

[Mermaid Daenerys]

If you're doing a lot of gems, or are going to be doing multiple tails with gems, I would personally recommend a great tool called the Gem Master - it's sold by a company called Antex, and you can get the tool for about £15, which comes with a starter set of jewels. The jewels have backing of heat-activated glue, so you place them onto the surface you want to decorate, and press the Gem Master down - it seals the jewel in place in about 5-10 seconds. It comes with about 5 different heads for different sizes of gem, and it's really simple to use. Jewels are really cheap - about £2 a pack, and I've had my Gem Master for about 7 years, and it's still going strong.
If this is a one-off project, I would go to the local craft store to see what they recommend - just be careful when applying the glue to the back of your gems, or you'll end up with a little glue-splodge round each jewel.
Hope that helps, and I can't wait to see your tail!

[Lostariel Telrunya]

Thank you so much! This will only be for one tail though, so I might have to wait before buying the Gem Master (Although I am definitely putting that on my "Must buy when mermaiding gets ultra-serious" list :)). My dad has a really tiny tube of crazyglue (hence the reason I asked) that he used to fix a wine glass with a really tiny stem on it, like, dull pencil-lead tip tiny. However, I wasn't sure if it the gems would fall off over time or not.

[Mermaid Daenerys]

I don't know that brand - I'm British, as you might have guessed xD - but double check it's skin and water safe before you go and use it on your tail. If it's not, I'd definitely suggest the craft or haberdashery shop, as they generally have all kinds of glues - sometimes even for swimsuits specifically.

[Lostariel Telrunya]

Thanks! Crazyglue is just a super strong glue: for putting handles on and fixing dishes and things like that. By the way, love your username :)

[Raayvhen]

I think your best bet would be e-6000

[Lostariel Telrunya]

I am going to Michaels tomorrow, so I'll hopefully be able to find something like that there (that is, if my brother will actually take me seeing as though he said we could go today, and he has been sitting on the computer for literally the past 5 hours doing nothing, and then refusing to take me >:()
Thanks!

[Aquarianne]

Michaels has e-6000 and I would DEFINITELY recommend it, simply because I've worked in the production shop for a jewelry label that supplies pieces to places like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, etc, and e-6000 is actually what we used to put pieces in settings. It has a super strong but flexible hold, so it won't go brittle and snap when force is applied. We used it for everything that wasn't strictly metal on metal. I'm using it right at this moment to put seed pearls on my mermaid top, in fact! XD I love it because unlike some crazy glues or epoxies, it won't stick your fingers together if you get it on your skin. Just wipe it off like regular glue and you're fine.

case in point: when we were bored at the shop, we'd pick up bits of leftover jewelry findings and broken bits from the floor and glue them on the backs of our phone cases with e-6. I did that with a ton of random stuff and even though it's a year later and my phone goes in and out of my pocket and bag a lot, and even though some of the pieces are large, bulky and awkward, NONE of them have come off yet. I can't recommend e-6 enough for anything that requires a strong glue! :D

Just make sure to use it in a well-ventilated area and give it a full 24 hours to dry before using the item.

[Lostariel Telrunya]

Thank you so much! How much does it cost? Or, at least where you live what does it cost? I live in Canada so the prices may be a bit different, but for some reason the Michaels website isn't working for me...

[Raayvhen]

For me a 3.7 oz tube (which is waaaaaay more than you need) is just under $6 USD after sales tax. You can use the 40% coupons on them to make them a tiny bit cheaper. I'm assuming you'd pay about $8 CAD?

[Lostariel Telrunya]

Yeah, after tax it'll be about $7. That's pretty good! Thanks :)

[Ilyena]

Overseas envy....Unless I order it the only place that sells e6000 here costs like $12 for the 1oz tube (small one)