United Fabric Adhesive - uses?

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Andrew Lenz Jr.

Andrew Lenz Jr.

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Posts
673
Location
Santa Cruz, Calif.
Hey folks,

We bought out a closed art store/frameshop and we ended up with a large bottle of United Fabric Adhesive. Untied is now gone, but I'm wondering what uses my framer buds out there have figured out for this glue. We've never had it in our shop before.

Here's the official description that can still be found online:
"This special glue is made to mount fabrics on matboard, liners, chipboard, etc. Apply with a brush or a paint roller to an even coat, place material down and flatten. Can be used with linen, burlap, silk, velvet, velveteen, canvas, polyester, etc. Waterproof when dry, water soluble, can be heat reactivated."

It almost sounds like a form of acrylic.. But aside from using it to glue fabric, anything else? Or is that it?

Thanks,
Andrew
 
It's a great glue for corner joints. Very strong Dries fast and remains slightly flexible. Does not sand well so I don't use on raw wood mouldings.
 
I use it for the paper backing on frames. Paper doesn't ripple and is a heck of a lot cheaper than ATG tape. Try it. It was someone her on The Grumble that told me about this years ago...
 
Larry Peterson said:
Whatchatalkingabout? United still exists, albeit owned by Decor.
Click to expand...

United went out of business. Decor bought the name and hired at least one of the former key United staff.

Are you saying that United still exists as a separate company elsewhere that is owned by Decor? I don't believe that is the case, but I'd love to know if that is true.

Andrew
 
As far as I know Decor bought the company, not just the name. They are selling UMS products which indicates the sale of more than just a name and website.

It's no different than the sale of any other company. They bought it and are still selling the old products. Decor didn't just buy the name; it bought the company and are still selling UMS products. Whether it's a separate company or a Decor division doesn't matter. UMS lives on. I still buy some product from them; products that Decor didn't have. No different than AOL/Time Warner, just on a different scale. ;)
 
Larry, FWIW, I checked with Joe Papa, the former owner of United. He said (quote), "United Mfrs. Supplies Inc. went out of business." What I said above is correct. After the fact, DECOR bought the United domain name/website to make sales to former United customers, but United was already out of business at that point. DECOR, later on in an unrelated move, hired Joe as purchasing agent. It'd be like me buying just the domain name of a local closed frame shop—we didn't buy that business, there would be no connection other than we bought their "marketing face" and maybe sold products under that name. It was just one of a myriad of assets for sale after United closed.

Andrew
 
Andrew Lenz Jr. said:
Larry, FWIW, I checked with Joe Papa, the former owner of United. He said (quote), "United Mfrs. Supplies Inc. went out of business." What I said above is correct. After the fact, DECOR bought the United domain name/website to make sales to former United customers, but United was already out of business at that point. DECOR, later on in an unrelated move, hired Joe as purchasing agent. It'd be like me buying just the domain name of a local closed frame shop—we didn't buy that business, there would be no connection other than we bought their "marketing face" and maybe sold products under that name. It was just one of a myriad of assets for sale after United closed.

Andrew
Click to expand...

That's interesting because they are still selling UMS products. Did they buy their inventory as well or is Joe, because of his knowledge of UMS's suppliers, able to buy the same stuff that UMS used to sell. I didn't buy a wide variety of UMS's products, but the ones I did are the same as before.

Since they are still selling the same product line is why I thought that Decor bought UMS.
 
I don't know the answer, Larry. Though, just based on what I've heard, I'd speculate that DECOR is using Joe's knowledge to buy new products to fulfill orders for specific items from the United website that DECOR bought. If not, then you'll see those products disappear from the website as they sell out. (I doubt that's the case though.) I could contact Joe again, but I want to respect his time.

Andrew
 
To answer your question, UMS Fabric Glue is a PVA blend, a little heavy on the Vinyl portion. It is essentially the same as Mighty Muck, Miracle Muck, and other brands of fabric glue. Other than applying fabrics to mats. liners, and backings, it can be used for joining, though I find it a bit too aggressive*, and other utility uses around the shop. The ability to heat reactivate makes it especially useful in applying dust covers and wrapping mats with very fine fabrics where the glue might tend to bleed through.

Word of caution, all PVA glues have a shelf life, and if it is over 2 years old I would be a little circumspect about using it on other than dust covers. This caveat came from Scott Brummit, former owner of Raphael's Fabrics.

*I had to take apart a frame I assembled with Mighty Muck, and I would have broken the frame rails if I tried to break the joints. I ended up extracting the v-nails and sawing the joint. The wood was fairly soft and porous.
 
Thanks for that insight, Wally. One thing I love about CornerWeld glue is that it makes a nice strong frame, but if you do need to reverse the joint, you can.
:cool: Rick
 
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