Product Review: Scotch CAT 085 Advanced Tape Glider

There’s a Michael's on West Broadway that visit by each time I’m in the area.  Glad that I did.  On their clearance table, was a damaged box with a perfectly good tape glider for only $10.  The only thing wrong was it was someone stole the 2 rolls of tape that supposed to come with the gun.  I happen to have a 50% coupon used to purchase refills.  The regular price for the glider is $40.  Michaels always overpriced their product, but that day, I got both the gun and tape for $15.  You know when you get a rush when you find a bargain?  That day was my rush.

In the long on, this will save you money on the tape refills.  I used to buy dollar store brand tape runners but they run out quickly.  For me, $5.00 roll will replace 30 dollar store ones.  I went ‘cheap’ and purchased double sided tape rolls but they were not acid free and the adhesive started to soak and show through on many of my cards that I didn’t put to market right away.  I won’t sell sub-par product, so all that hard work down the drain.  And I shutter on the ones I did sell as those customers may not come back to my store.

So I needed a acid free tape adhesive that will last me for many paper related projects.  I’ve been eyeing this glider for a while, but when I saw that damaged box with a perfectly good gun inside, I jumped at the opportunity.

Pros:

• acid free
• bonds permanently over time, but if you make an error right away, you can rub the tape off if you are careful
• will last you many projects
• tape will ‘break’ where you want it to stop if you apply a little pressure.  A plus if you have experience with the tape stretching and snapping onto the paper in little balls

Cons:

• It’s big.  There are competing products that is smaller.  It took some time to get used to with my small hands.  And I can’t ‘throw it into the tape drawer’.  Had to find a special home for it in my craft room
• The gun itself is a little tricky to load.  I had to look it up on YouTube.  The instructions on the box is a little vague
• You have to hold the trigger to dispense the tape, this took a few projects to get used to.

I’ve been using this glider for a few weeks now and haven’t the need to refill it.  I highly recommend it even if the gun is oversized and tricky to load.  It’s worth the learning curve.