One of the most frustrating things about diamond painting is that sometimes parts of a canvas lose all of the stickiness that is supposed to hold the diamonds. Usually this happens when the canvas is left uncovered and something gets stuck to the glue. Sometimes, a piece of the canvas just doesn’t get any glue put on it at all during the manufacturing process. Figuring out why your canvas isn’t sticky will help you decide which method you should try to get the stickiness back.
There are many different craft glues that can be applied directly to a diamond painting canvas to make it sticky again. There are also non-glue options, such as double sided tape. If the canvas is sticky because of dust, wipe gently with a baby wipe to remove the dust.
The Best Glue Options for Diamond Painting Canvases
There are many different types of glues that can be used to get drills to stick to a plain canvas or to one that’s lost it’s glue.
- Aleen’s Tack-It Over and Over – this is the best option I’ve tried, but it does usually need to be ordered. Craft stores (at least near me) sell the fabric glue from Aleen but not the tack it over and over, which is what you’ll need for diamond painting.
To use this product, you’ll want to let the glue dry instead of using it wet like the other glues we will talk about below. For this glue, brush or gently scrape glue onto any area of the canvas that needs it.
A thin layer is enough – a quarter sized drop should fill up a 12” x 12” square of canvas. Then, let the glue dry for 20-30 minutes. Once dried, the canvas should be sticky again just like new. One thing that’s helpful about using this glue is that the canvas shouldn’t stick to the cover paper either once the glue has dried. - Glue stick – many people swear using a glue stick is the easiest way to get diamonds to stick to a diamond painting. This method works well if there is a large section of canvas that needs to be covered, because the glue stick is hard to get into really small spaces.
This is an option that needs to be used while the glue is wet. Once it dries, it will not hold the diamonds. This method is great if it is all you have on hand, or you need a temporary solution to just help you get the last few diamonds back onto your painting before you are able to seal it. However, it’s not the best option for long-term adhesion. - Dotz Stick– This is made and sold specifically for diamond art painting, but it’s a bit more expensive than some of the other options, and usually needs to be ordered online. Some people swear by it and use it on different surfaces, while others say that it doesn’t hold the drills well after the painting has dried completely. If you use this for your diamond painting, especially if you are using the leftover drills for a project on different surfaces than just canvas, be sure to seal the finished product to avoid losing drills.
- Nail glue/Superglue/B7000 glue – Some people use this method successfully, but I personally don’t recommend it. Superglue gets everywhere very easily and it’s very hard to get back off. If you are fine with your tweezers and pen getting covered in glue, as well as possibly your fingers and your canvas, then give it a shot.
This one needs to be used while the glue is wet, by dabbing a small dot of glue on before placing each diamond. It’s tedious and messy but once the diamonds are stuck on, they will stay for a very long time. I would use this glue only as a last resort or in very small sections of a canvas for diamond painting. - Double-Sided Tape – I love this option because it’s readily available in stores and you don’t have to wait for glue to dry or use while glue is wet. It may not hold as well as glue in the long run to hold the diamonds, but if the final painting is sealed it should hold up for several years.
This is the easiest adhesive to apply, just stick the tape directly to the canvas in any areas that aren’t sticky anymore. The only tricky thing about using double sided tape is when you are placing drills on it, if the wax in your pen is too strong, it can sometimes pull up the double sided tape and cause wrinkles. - Rubber Cement – This is a great option in theory, but you would have to apply rubber cement in only small sections, as it will work best when either it’s wet, or when the glue is applied to both the canvas and the diamonds. As you can imagine, painting tiny diamond drills with rubber cement is time consuming.
- Liquid glue – Tombow aqua Glue –
Tombow Aqua Glue is actually made for paper cards and crafting, but it can be very useful for diamond painting because it dries clear. It also comes in an easy to use pen that has a large tip and a fine tip for applying the glue, which is helpful to get the glue into small spaces when diamond painting a tight area. This glue is one that you’ll want to use while it’s still wet.
Aqua glue is water soluble, which means it’s easy to get it off your hands with just water, but it also means if your diamond painting gets wet, the glue could start to break apart and come off. If you use this as the base glue for the drills, you will likely want to seal your painting with another product or frame it behind glass for a little extra protection. - Mod Podge – comes in tons of different varieties and can also be used to seal a finished canvas so that nothing falls off. Mod podge feels similar to using Elmer’s glue in terms of the level of stickiness. It may not hold diamonds on the canvas forever, but if the final painting is sealed or displayed in a glass frame, it should hold up just fine.
- Spray Adhesive (super 77 Spray adhesive by 3M)
This spray glue is very effective, but it’s also somewhat messy and it’s hard to control how much glue gets on the paper instead of the surrounding work surfaces.
What if I Get Paper Stuck to My Diamond Painting?
If paper gets stuck to your diamond painting, wipe it with a baby wipe to remove the paper, then allow the canvas to dry. If the paper is thick or stuck on really well, you may have to use several wipes and scrub gently until the wipe soaks through the paper and it starts to peel off. You don’t want to scrub too hard, or use cleaning wipes that have bleach in them, because it can make the ink come off of the painting, and then it will be hard to tell which symbol goes in each diamond’s spot.
If this happens you can contact the company that you purchased your kit from, and they should be able to send you a picture of what symbols go in each section of the picture.
Once the painting dries back out, it should be sticky again just like normal. If it’s still not sticky, you can use the glue methods mentioned above to add an adhesive back onto the canvas.
How Do I Get Dust Off of my Diamond Painting?
Baby wipes are excellent at removing dust and pet hair from a diamond painting before the diamonds have been added. Before the drills are added and it’s just a canvas with glue, a baby wipe can be used to gently wipe off debris and dust from the canvas. Once the canvas dries again, it will usually be sticky just as before.
Be careful not to scrub too hard with the wipe or the glue may start to come off as well. If that happens, you can add glue back onto the canvas very easily using one of the glues mentioned above.
If you don’t have baby wipes and you are dealing with a small area that has dust on it, you can even dip your fingertip into a small amount of water and then use that to rub any dust off the surface of the glue. It only takes a very tiny amount of water, if you use too much water or scratch at the canvas, the glue will start to rub off. Once the canvas is dry it should be sticky again, as long as the glue hasn’t rubbed off.
How do I Remove Pet Hair From a Diamond Painting?
The first option to try to remove pet hair would be to use a baby wipe or some water, just to see if you can loosen up the fur so that it comes off the canvas more easily. As long as you don’t rub too hard, the canvas should be sticky again once it dries. If that doesn’t work, a pair of tweezers will get the job done, but it’s a painstaking process.
If nothing else works to remove the fur or hair, you can scrape off the sticky glue from the canvas, removing the fur as well, and then add a coat of fresh glue to the canvas. Once the new glue is laid down, you can add the diamond drills directly to the painting as you normally would.
I have been known to put diamonds directly on top of the occasional stray hair or piece of lint, and it hasn’t caused too many issues, but if there is too much dust or hair, the drills might not lay flat on the canvas. This can cause them to pop back up out of place after the painting is finished, so it’s usually better to fix it the right way instead of trying to take shortcuts.