Anyone tried "Badge Magic" no-sew badge attach?

[GS-CS_leader]

Warning about staples: use small staples. I once used staples for a Halloween costume to attach a "tail" to a pair of sweatpants and in some places the staples sheared the threads of the fabric and made small holes. I can't quite remember if that happened when one of the Brownie moms in my troop used that method to attach patches.

 

When I sew on patches either by hand or machine, I use a couple small pieces of masking tape to hold the patch on, removing the tape as I get up to that spot. Next time I use the machine, I'll try the clear packing tape mentioned by sweetspiritpamh. The "invisible" thread is really great in that you don't have to match color, but it is difficult to tie off because it is so thin.

 

Comment about machine sewing: a running stitch is adequate and easier than a zig zag which has to be done precisely on the edge of the patch. Just run right along the inside of the border. However, I when I did not secure the edges of the pack numbers the edges started fraying after a few washes. So I went back and used a zig-zag stitch with a machine, and a whip stitch for hand sewing also seems to work from what I have seen on other shirts.

 

Another comment about my GS troop's possible use of a no-sew alternative like "badge magic". They will use it on ceremonial vests, not shirts. The vests are not subject to heavy duty wear (we don't use them when we are camping or doing anything really active) and they do not need to be washed as often as shirts. The only time they are likely to even get really sweaty is if we march in our town's July 4th parade. So the vests are unlikely to be washed more than the 25 times mentioned by shanve.

 

Thanks to everyone who replied to this forum. I've decided to try this product next month on some badges for my troop's Junior vests. I'll show them how to apply the stuff and they'll all do it right at the meeting, so I can see how it works out for them. They will only be using their Junior vests until the end of the school year since they will be bridging. Since they won't be wearing their Junior vests much longer, if we don't like the way the "badge magic" works, it's not a big loss. If we have a good experience with the product, we'll use it next fall for their new khaki "Cadette" vests when they will have a lot of basic insignia to put on including a couple of non-edged patches that are hard to sew on by hand.

 

After seeing Scoutnuts "scolding", I've decided to devote the first meeting next year to helping all the girls get their new vests ready instead of doing most of it myself. I recently looked at my daughter's Junior vest and realized that I bought the old non-iron-on council ID badges for them since they were cheaper and they would give the girls more sewing practice. So the only badges I ironed on for them were the troop numbers. At next year's patch attachment meeting, I'll be there to make sure the basic badges are placed correctly and I'll still encourage the girls to tack the badges with a few stitches even if we use the badge magic.

[ScoutNut]

Didn't mean to "scold". However, the point is to have the girls learn to do things on their own. In 12 years, I never once sewed patches on my Girl Scout's vests. Sometimes they were not perfect, but hey, they were their vests after all.

 

 

 

 

[MaScout]

A washable gluestick works great for patch placement, too. Then you don't have to worry about holes or tape removal. Just glue the patch in the right spot, sew it on, then the glue comes off in the first wash.

[Trevorum]

Way back when I was a newly minted Den Leader, I used fabric glue to attach patches to my brand new uniform shirt. Of course I glued the DL insignia to the wrong sleeve! After removing the patch, the glue left a splotchy stain advertising the fact that I was an idiot. Not wishing to ruin the surprise for those who didn't yet know me well, I was able to successfully remove the glue by carefully dissolving it with non-acetone fingernail polish remover and scraping the scum up with a dull knife.

[SSScout]

Teach your Scout to Sew... " BADGES? WE DON' NEED NO STEENKIN' BADGES!!"

 

" Teach.. your Scout to sew... your Daddy's patch... will never fall off...

and see ... him stick his thumb.. he's not so dumb... he'll beg

his motheeeer... and...

don't you stop to ask him why... he'll just look at her and cry..

til she gives in and sews it oooon and he'll tell her "Mooooooom, you

know I love you!! " ( apologies to CSN&Y)

 

(personal experience) The aerosol can works , but not permanent. On the BACK of the patch, shoot a small bead around the edge of the patch, just inside the edge. With putty knife, smear it around til you have a thin even coating. On a table, QUICKLY place the patch BACK DOWN in place on the uniform, and place wax paper over it. Stack some heavy books on top and leave it over night.Next morning, carefully peel off the wax paper. Artfully done, no smear out the edges of the patch. It will eventually fall off, depending on how strong your laundry detergent (lasts longer if you never wash it!) Will NOT stick to nylon jackets. Plastic backing allows patch to be peeled off cloth. Soak Back of cloth with wd40 to remove most of stickum, but some stain will remain, no matter what.

The sheet material is more permanent. I used it for my new uniforms when I had to get ready for Jamboree. Follow the package directions AND::: place a white handkerchief over the patch and iron (wool setting 30 secs.)Avoid getting it on the iron at all costs. DO NOT DRY CLEAN. everything desolves and patches come off. You can touch it up with another litte piece of stickum, should the patch start to peel off.

I would never use either for the wool leader jacket, but the patches on the Cub Scout poly felt vest have not come off (aerosol can stuff.)

 

[GS-CS_leader]

This stuff is nearly perfect for my needs. More details follow. For bulk order information from the manufacturer, see bottom of this post.

 

I tested the "Badge Magic" on my troop of 4th and 5th grade girls who had a bunch of badges and patches that I wanted to get on their vests so that they could wear them before they "bridge" and get new vests in the fall. We used the "merit badge" pre-cut circles and the "cut-to-fit". I was worried that the merit badge circles seemed to stick out a bit around their Junior badges, so I had them trim the circles to the inner circular line. But when I emailed the "Badge Magic" company, they told me that the circles are meant to keep the edges from peeling and that the excess usually shrinks back after the adhesive is "set" in the dryer. But it is only a little harder to use the "cut-to-fit" for small circular badges, and it is more economical because you can place them with less wasted space between them.

 

The product has worked fine so far. The girls were able to do it easily by themselves. The only slight error was that one of the girls who doesn't have patience to do things carefully, did not cut the adhesive carefully to the contours of an irregular house-shaped patch with corners that stuck out, but just cut a rough rectangle much smaller than the size of the patch. So of course, the edges are free. At the next meeting, I'm going to help her to cut some additional small pieces to stick down the edges and I'll remind my scouts that they should to cut the adhesive to be as close as possible to the shape and size of the patch.

 

At about $7 per 8.5" x 12" or $7.25 for official Scout Stuff 8.5" x 13" cut-to-fit, it is a bit expensive. But you can get quite a few patches on a cut-to-fit sheet if you place your patches really carefully to minimize waste. The pre-cut sheets may be even easier, but there is a lot of wasted space around the patch shapes and a total waste of shapes for patches that you don't need (although you may be able to cut out a smaller patch from those unused shapes). It was hard to draw on the "badge magic" cover paper so that it showed due to the printed designs on the paper. This is how I did it: I used a regular pen to draw around the badge on a plain white piece of paper. I cut the shape out of the white paper trimming it a bit smaller. Then I put that pattern on the "badge magic" cover paper and used a dark permanent marker to draw around the plain paper pattern. This worked especially well for us given that we were cutting out many copies of the same shapes since we had a whole troop of girls with many of the same patches.

 

"Badge Magic" is definitely faster and easier than any of the other no-sew patch attach methods. It takes less time than putting on an iron-on patch (and you can use "badge magic" on iron-on patches too), and no irons to heat up or be careful about using. Easier to get the right shape and have the edges attached but not have unsightly extra glue showing around the edges than the glue-type "badge bond" or a hot glue gun (and the latter doesn't hold that long.) Although I got it for the girls in my troop who resist sewing, I've realized that I can use just a small piece on irregular patches to help hold the patch in place while I machine or hand sew.

 

Because it is somewhat expensive and not necessary for girls willing to do their own sewing, I'm going to buy

some with troop money only for the basic non-iron-on badges for their new vests so that I can have them all get their vests ready in one meeting and I can help them with placement which is tricky if they want to leave room for specific places for future badges. I am going to have the girls use very small pieces of "badge magic" just to hold the iron-on council ID strips and troop #'s in place so that they don't slip while being attached with the iron. But it seems a waste to use "badge magic" when the iron-on patches can be attached without it. I will require the girls' families to pay for any other "badge magic" themselves if they want to use it for all their other badges and patches, but I'll buy it in bulk (see below) so that they don't all have to drive to the nearest BSA office which is 25 min away, and it will save some money.

 

Since you can save more on shipping the larger the bulk order, I may even see if I can get together a really big bulk order from my whole GS service unit. I think that a lot of families would love to be able to use this product because a lot of them hate to sew on patches. Our council does not carry the product in it's shops, so the BSA shops or online are the only options in our area as far as I can tell.

 

Information on purchasing badge magic:

The official Boy Scout pre-cut sheets can only be purchased through official BSA shops, not directly from the company. However, the Girl Scout pre-cut sheets and the cut-to-fit sheets can be purchased from the website: http://www.badgemagic.com

 

Here is information I got about bulk order discounts:

"We couldn't agree more about the high shipping costs. It costs a lot more

than $2.50 to send one kit (in addition to the postage there is the

envelope, mailing label, and the time involved to do the invoice, receipt,

and credit card processing) but at 3 kits it works out about right for us

and the customer, and that happens to be what most people order.

 

For larger orders, it doesn't work so well. That is why we offer a free

Cut-to-Fit kit with every order of 4 or more regular kits and a free upgrade

to Priority Shipping with 5 or more. In effect, this lowers the shipping

cost by $6.95 on a 4 kit order.

 

If you would like to place a "bulk order" for any of the Girl Scout type

kits we would be happy to offer a free kit with each 5 purchased. We

would then ship UPS and charge you $5.00 handling (what we get charged) plus

the actual UPS charge (usually $5-10 depending on distance and weight). You

would need to order in multiples of 10 kits and would receive 12 kits, as

this is how they are packed for bulk delivery. For instance, if you ordered

20 Cut to Fit kits, we would send 24. Just let me know what you need in an

e-mail. We will then do a credit card transaction by phone and we will ship

within 1 business day.

 

This offer only applies to the kits for girls as we cannot sell Boy Scout

kits directly."

 

[Mr.Mal]

I have used it, and I like it. Sometimes it is tough to hold the badges in place while sewing them, so I use the product and then when I have the time (1 hour/week), I sew on those badges that are going to be permanent.

 

For removal of those that are held on wsing the Badge Magic product, check out the removal process, directly from the company's own web site: http://www.badgemagic.com/info_pages/index.cfm?fuseaction=all&parent_id=34