Bostik80710 Handy Glue Sticks All Purpose, 3.7 cm*1.02 cm*6.38 cm

I bought these to go in my dad's handy glue gun. They are the perfect size for it and since I had borrowed my dad's glue gun I didn't want to risk it getting clogged up using the wrong glue sticks. The glue sticks give a clear finish which was good for the little craft projects I was making with my son and also repairing the ones he accidentally broke. They do stick anything to anything and it can be painted over with poster paint so you can hardly see the repairs. It gives a good strong hold even when there is not much surface area to stick down like the shells we glued on. The glue is a bit stringy but this seems to be common with glue sticks for glue guns and the stringy bits can be pulled away when the glue has set. It does set very quickly so you don't have much time to work with it but I found it much easy and better than the twist up glue sticks glue sticks and sets much quicker than PVA glue. They do seem to melt down quickly, much quicker than the white glue sticks my dad gave me, so I had to use a lot of glue sticks for all our crafts but at least with 14 sticks in the pack I had plenty of them and didn't run out.

I like the Bostik glue gun. It's great for a quick fix on lots of items and while it wont stick everything together, it's a great tool to have in your DIY arsenal. However, when buying replacement sticks be careful about the size. I bought these for my gun as I was running low, not realising there were different sizes.I noticed as soon as they arrived, but I wasn't worried as I guessed they'd just go through the gun quicker than the big ones.What I didn't appreciate is that because these 8mm ones are so much smaller than the 12mm I'd used before, the glue, like all fluids, takes the path of least resistance. i.e. it backs up out the back of the gun instead of going out the small nozzle. Thereby burning my fingers! No injury resulted, but it was most uncomfortable!

These are the 'least stringy' of the range. All I can say is the 'most stringy' ones must be the ones they use in the scary scenes of haunted house movies.Whatever we use them for, when finished you have to painstakingly go over the whole project and clean off the string. Infuriating when you think you're done and you notice loads you missed in the spray booth- I can tell you!You put down the glue gun and there is a string from you to the gun resting place, hundreds if- like me- you work quick.As for the actual performance, they melt quick, dry quick and they glue anything to anything.We've glued all types of substances, including fabric, we use them in IT and electrical installations, clothing, we've even textured murals with it.BUT THE DAMNED STRING!!!!!

Purchase and delivery of this item beat our local supplier by about two weeks and the price was comparable.The packs came well packaged to protect them and the only negative thing I can say is that they just didn't last long enough!The pupils descended on the glue sticks like a plague of locusts!Still, top marks to the supplier for customer care and service. Many thanks!

You might think that the time taken to heat up the gun would defeat the object of quick glueing - but, no, it just takes about 2 minutes to reach working temperature and then the molten glue holds the surfaces together in a few seconds and cures completely in a couple of minutes. These glue sticks don't seem to be available in Homebase, so it was very useful to be able to get them online.