Poured Glue VS Double Sided Adhesive for Diamond Painting

Whether you’re new to diamond painting or you’ve been around for a while, you’ve probably heard at least a little bit about double sided adhesive versus poured glue. These are the two most common types of adhesives you’ll find on diamond painting canvases. What are they all about? And is one better than the other? Keep reading, and we’ll show you the differences!

An Overview of Adhesives

Double sided adhesive is a type of diamond painting adhesive in which the manufacturer uses sheets—much like double sided tape, only wider—to cover the canvas. Often you’ll find that canvases have two or more strips of this material to cover the entire pattern.

Poured glue is quite a bit different. Manufacturers of this canvas style will pour a liquid adhesive over the canvas and spread it over the pattern, then let it cure so that it provides a sticky surface for you to place drills.

How Can You Tell the Difference Between the Two?

Manufacturers should tell you what type of adhesive they use on their canvases. When they don’t, it could be a sign that they’re using double sided adhesive, which is considered inferior—but more on that below.

If the manufacturer doesn’t list the type of adhesive, or if you overlooked it, you can often tell by the protective covering over the canvas. Manufacturers will put paper or plastic over the sticky part of the canvas to protect it during shipping and storage. Double sided adhesive canvases almost always have an opaque white paper cover over the adhesive while poured glue canvases will have a clear plastic film over the adhesive.

Another way to tell the difference is by looking at the edges of the painting. Poured glue will usually only extend to the edges of the pattern or just a little beyond while double sided adhesive might extend quite far past the edges of the pattern—where it is liable to pick up lint and bits of dust as you work on it.

Which is Better?

Most diamond painters much prefer poured glue canvases to double sided adhesive, and for a variety of reasons. Double sided adhesive can be prone to separating from the canvas, which can result in air bubbles or fine wrinkles, leading to diamonds falling off.

While there are ways to fix these issues—such as cutting open air pockets and re-pressing the adhesive, or even removing the adhesive entirely to replace it with wide strips of double sided tape—it’s still a hassle, and if bubbles or rivers should form after the painting is completed, then drills may sit oddly or pop out. Meanwhile, poured glue canvases are more flexible, rarely suffer from wrinkled adhesive, and never have air bubbles. Glue rivers can happen but they never affect the canvas and it's tackiness.

Additionally, poured glue is more durable and more adhesive, which makes for a longer lasting painting. It’s not as affected by air or humidity, either, which means that you can leave portions of a poured glue painting uncovered as you work on it without worrying that the adhesive will become less sticky.

Double sided adhesive paintings, however, are best finished quickly to make sure that the adhesive surface stays as sticky as possible while you work on the painting.

Dreamer Designs Dream-Tech Adhesive

At Dreamer Designs, all of our diamond paintings feature a poured glue adhesive called Dream-tech, which is a specially formulated poured glue that covers only the design.

Because it is a poured product, there is little risk of air bubbles, and we take care to make sure the adhesive doesn’t extend past the design so that you don’t end up with a border featuring bits of lint or fluff picked up from your sleeves.

Diamond painting is meant to be a fun, relaxing activity, which is why it’s worthwhile to go with a poured glue canvas. Dealing with linty borders, peeling adhesive, air bubbles and drills that refuse to sit properly is no fun.

That’s why we do everything possible to deliver you a quality product that you’ll enjoy working on.