Staying on top of important changes from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an important part of business. It is our responsibility as a manufacturer to make sure our customers and distributors have compliant information in a relevant and timely manner.  

Whether your application is consumer packaging, beverage packaging, material handling, or forward-facing placement, handheld applicators for administering adhesives are useful. When it comes to applying our Glue Dots Brand Adhesives, there are a few handheld options for your use. While each of our handheld applicators is easy-to-use and affordable, there are certain applications where one is a better option than the others. Which handheld applicator is right for you?

Last week, we discussed how water-based adhesives can be adversely affected by the cold and changing temperatures through transport. Today, we’re going to discuss the opposite end of the temperature spectrum and discuss how you can protect your adhesives from heat and humidity.

Whether you’re using a water-based adhesive or a hot melt adhesive, there are three different environments that can adversely affect the adhesive’s structure and performance: cold weather, excess heat, humidity.

Today, we’re going to address cold temperatures and the resulting changes within water-based adhesives. We’ll also provide a few tips on how you can protect your adhesive through proper planning and procedures to minimize damage.

While most hot melt adhesives are tolerant to cold weather conditions and temperature changes, water-based adhesives are not. It might be warm and sunny at your location, but your adhesive manufacturer might be surrounded by snow storms and bone chilling sub-zero temperatures. The temperature change experienced during transport can be enough to damage your adhesive.

Keeping your adhesive at a reasonable temperature during transport is very important. Most carriers rely on the constant movement of the adhesive to keep the product from freezing, but when it’s cold outside that’s not always enough. Drum and pail warmers or blankets may also be used to keep the adhesive from freezing.

One indication of the adhesive freezing is its physical appearance. It may crystalize and have the appearance of cottage cheese. The adhesive may also thicken, which may prevent it from returning to a solution during agitation or stirring and cause it to be unusable.

Here are a few basic tips when transporting and storing water-based adhesives:

In our last two blogs, we did our best to show that Glue Dots adhesives are superior to adhesive tape and hot melt adhesive. For the final blog in this series, we will be taking on a classic: liquid glue.

Part 3 - Glue Dots Adhesives versus Liquid Glue

In our previous blog, we made the case for why Glue Dots Brand Adhesives are superior to standard adhesive tape. This time around, we will compare and contrast our product with hot melt adhesive (HMA).

Part 2 - Glue Dots Brand Adhesives versus Hot Melt

We’re often asked about what the differences are between Glue Dots Brand adhesives and some of the other types of adhesive solutions on the market. It might be easy to just claim, “Our product is the best”. But, perhaps it is best to give our view of the differences and why we think Glue Dots Brand adhesives are the best solution for commercial applications that need to be clean, effective, and not costly. Over the next three blogs, GDI intends to do just that: prove to you why our Glue Dots adhesives are usually a better choice than tape, hot melt, and liquid glue.

All of us at Glue Dots International (GDI) are excited about launching a new blog. For almost 20 years, GDI has been developing and manufacturing the world’s most innovative adhesive solutions.  In fact, there is a good chance you’ve heard of our namesake Glue Dots® because they were the original product of their kind on the market.

Here at Glue Dots International (GDI) we take great pride in providing solutions that solve real challenges in the packaging world. Recently, the QuikDot Pro has proven to be an asset to the food and beverage industry. The process of creating this product is indicative of our approach here at GDI, and even gave rise to a new internal team.

Glue Dots International is exhibiting at PACK EXPO 2013 in booth S-5731. Come see the unveiling of a new adhesive applicator and a preview of a new adhesive assembly aide.

Here is an exclusive look of what you can expect to see at the show.