Tom Damitio

Roofing fasteners are a necessary component of any roofing job whether you’re installing a new roof on a home, a business, a commercial building, a pole barn, or a garage. The roofing screws you choose will make a difference in the overall strength and integrity of the roof. Bond Products has the roofing fasteners you need to get the job done right. 

Why Are Roofing Fasteners Important?

Using the right roofing screw will not only secure the roofing material to the building, it will have an impact on the building’s energy efficiency and the longevity of the structure. Choosing a good quality roofing fastener can also impact your homeowner’s insurance!

We have roofing fasteners in a number of different styles and powder-coated paint colors to match a variety of roof panel colors, creating a clean and attractive appearance on any structure. 

3” x 10 GA ¼” Hex Head Screws

These screws are self-drilling screws. They are designed to attach metal to wood on a house, porch, pole barn, shed, barn, or other utility building and are ideal for attaching roofing panels and siding on post-frame & residential metal roof applications. They utilize 16mm EPDM virgin rubber vulcanized to a steel washer. This forms an excellent seal even when the screw is driven at an angle.

The metal section of these screws are coated with an additional topcoat that exceeds 1,000 hours of salt-spray performance and the powder-coated head of the screw has a topcoat that reduces chalking or fading. They are available in the following colors:

• Classic red
• Terracotta
• Stone gray
• Slate gray
• Midwest green

1” x 10 GA ¼” Hex Head Screws

These self-drilling screws attach metal to wood and can be used for a variety of building projects, including roofing HVAC, steel stud framing, gutters, and register vents. They are ideal for attaching roofing panels and siding on post frame and residential metal roof applications. They use 12mm EPDM virgin rubber vulcanized to a steel washer forming an excellent seal even when the screw is positioned in the roof at an angle.

Like the roofing screws above, these 1” screws are premium mechanical coated with a topcoat that will exceed 1,000 hours of salt-spray performance and their heads are powder coated so they will resist chalking or fading. They are available in white and tan. 

1” #9 Hex Head Self-tapping Roofing Screws

This is a self-drilling screw as well, designed to attach metal to wood. They are C1022 steel hardened with a thread cutting end designed for penetrating wood. They are mechanical zinc/tin coated for 1,000 hours of salt-spray performance. Insert these screws with 12.7 mm EPDM steel-bonded washers which come bulk packed with the screws. Used together, they will form a great seal even when they are driven in at an angle. 

These roofing fasteners are commonly used on houses, porches, sheds, pole barns, and other buildings. They are ideal for attaching roofing panels and siding on post frame and residential metal roof applications and can be used for HVAC, steel stud framing, gutters, and register vents too. 

Roofing screw selection is important for ensuring that a roof will be strong and will stay strong over time. If you are not sure which type of roofing fasteners would best meet your needs, please call us at 1-888-800-BOND. We would be happy to talk over the specs of each screw type and advise you. 

 

Installing artificial turf is a landscaping choice many homeowners or organizations are making for areas of their property that they want to look neat and attractive without a lot of maintenance. Home putting greens, pet runs, play areas, pools, tennis courts, and other athletic fields often utilize artificial turf. Installing artificial turf is more challenging than installing carpet. With the right tools and supplies, however, including the right turf tape and mallets, you can make any area attractive, easy to use, and easy to clean by landscaping artificial turf. 

Landscaping Artificial Turf

What do you need to install artificial turf that will stay put and look great? First, you need to break up the sod either with a tiller or a sod cutter  and remove all plant material from the section you are landscaping. If you do not remove all grass, weeds, or seeds, they will find a way to grow through your turf and create unsightly problems. So take your time and be thorough.

When you’ve entirely cleared the area, you will need to lay down crushed aggregate over the entire surface to the depth of two to four inches. When you’re finished laying it down, the aggregate should be level with the ground surrounding the piece that you are landscaping with artificial turf. Then you will need to add a 15-25 year weed barrier on top of the aggregate. This will ensure that any potential plant growth will be stifled and will not wreck your turf. 

When you’ve completed adding the aggregate and the weed barrier, you’ll begin installing the turf itself. You will need a carpet knife or box cutter to cut the turf. During the turf Installation, the trickiest part is making sure that the seams match up so that the artificial turf looks like all one lawn and there are no seam issues. 

Bond Products offers a variety of products to make that easier, including turf tape, turf seaming irons, a turf carpet tractor and even a turf seam sewing machine. With our turf tape, you won’t have to fumble around with messy pails of glue, trowels, and fabric. Just roll Bond’s turf tape out, line it up, heat with a high temperature iron, and lay the seam. In order to attach the turf solidly to the ground you’ll also need 6-inch galvanized nails. 

Bond also sells mallets and mallet replacement caps. These are very useful for spiking down the turf and hammering out bumps under the turf. You will want to make sure that the surface of the turf is entirely flat when you’re finished so that it looks and feels as good as possible when you’re walking or playing on it.

Once your artificial turf is seamed and attached, your job is almost finished. The final step is to  apply an infill material that will keep the turf down and flat. Brush the infill material over with a broom to make sure the entire backing is covered.

Landscaping artificial turf may sound like a difficult job, but with the right tools and supplies, most homeowners can install it on their own. The key is to make sure you have the right equipment and quality artificial turf and to take the time you need to do a good job start to finish. If you need turf installation supplies or mallets, call us at 1-888-800-BOND. We are here to help you get everything you need to make your projects turn out perfectly.

 

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, there has been a much greater demand for personal protection equipment (PPE) for both personal and professional use. Because so many hospitals did not have adequate equipment and supplies went to them first, many people were left scrambling to find hand sanitizer, masks, and gloves. The grocery stores and pharmacies ran out of these supplies fast and still have empty shelves. If you are looking for these hard-to-find items, we are happy to say that we have them in stock to order either separately or in kits.

Gloves, Masks, and Hand Sanitizer

We’ve done several blogs about how to make your own mask to wear out in public or to work. People making their own masks have helped meet consumer demand. It’s a lot harder to make your own gloves or hand sanitizer, though, so, in an effort to help our customers comply with local regulations to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus, Bond Products is now offering four different products (while supplies last). These are:

• Hand sanitizer in 4-ounce spray bottles – this hand sanitizer is an 80% alcohol, antiseptic, topical solution 
• KN95 masks – These 4-layer masks come in packages of 30
• Gloves – These disposable gloves come in packs of 40 (20 pairs) or 100 (50 pairs)

Some geographical areas of the United States have already lifted their lockdowns. In Pennsylvania the governor is lifting the lockdowns on a county-by-county basis, depending on how many coronavirus cases exist. Other states have been allowing certain industries to return to work as long as they take precautions to ensure the safety of their employees and customers. Not every area has experienced the coronavirus the same, but everyone wants to minimize the risk of having employees become sick. For this reason, providing staff with PPE and training them in using it to prevent the spread of the virus is vital. 

We are selling our gloves, masks, and hand sanitizer individually or in kits. If you have any questions about what you may need for PPE or any other carpet binding or installation needs, do not hesitate to call us at 1-888-800-BOND. We will be happy to help you find what you require to keep working – either at home or on the job. 

 

In our last blog we talked about making cloth masks to help service workers, family members, and neighbors protect themselves from the coronavirus. Several of the products we sell can be used to make face masks with ties. This is useful for people who sew who may have enough fabric but have had a hard time finding elastic. Face masks that tie are also preferable in some ways than those with elastic. 

Sewing Face Masks to Help the Effort

When we look back at the COVID-19 epidemic, there will be a lot of difficult and frustrating things to remember, but one of the good things will be how people pulled together for each other and soldiered on. Frontline workers and those in essential industries kept working. Many people at home stayed busy making a difference by sewing face masks. They sewed all day and sometimes into the night, and they made do when they ran low on things like elastic. They created new patterns and taught others how to sew too. We’ve seen a lot of customers purchasing our ½-inch and ⅝-inch cotton #501 natural tapes and twill tapes as material for mask ties. 

One of our customers, W.C. Carpenter, has been making use of our cotton binding and donating them to people in need! They sent us these pictures of their work and the final result. Impressive!

A really nice thing about making face masks is that this is the perfect beginner sewing project. There are some more complicated face mask patterns available, but the simplest ones involve cutting rectangles and sewing them together in straight lines. If you can cut, pin, and sew a straight line, you can make a mask. 

Here’s what you will need: 

• High quality 100% cotton fabric
• Binding tape or twill tape
• Pins
• Thread
• Scissors

That’s it! Here is a great tutorial (with pattern) on how to make a two-layer, rectangular mask with a filter pocket. The type of mask allows you to add a piece of filtering fabric to make the mask more effective against viruses. 

Face masks with ties aren’t harder to make than masks with elastic, and they should hold up longer. This is important because they will have to be washed as protective gear. Elastic loses its elasticity over time, but ties will continue to work as long as the mask itself lasts. Some people prefer this type of mask because they think it’s more comfortable, especially if it has to be worn for many hours. Elastic can cut into the skin and pinch. 

If you would like to make face masks for yourself or others and need quantities of cotton binding tape or twill tape for the face mask ties, Bond Products has the supplies you need. Call us – we will be happy to help get you started.

 

Americans may be quarantined at home, but they are still working to combat the coronavirus. Many people are making cloth masks for frontline workers or family members to wear to protect themselves. Our awesome customers have asked about using our cotton binding tapes for surgical masks. Yes, cotton binding tapes and twill tapes can be used to make masks! Bond Products has created a coupon for you to use to get 10% off mask making supplies.

CDC Recommends Wearing Cloth Masks 

Last week the Centers for Disease Control came out with a recommendation for Americans to wear cloth masks or face coverings in public places, especially places where it’s hard to maintain the recommended distance of 6 feet between two people. This might mean at work for some people or at the grocery store or pharmacy for others. Wearing cloth masks can help slow the spread of the virus. Some people may be sick and not even know it, so wearing a face mask as an extra precaution would really help keep others around them safer.

Harvard Medical School also recommends wearing a mask if “you have respiratory symptoms like coughing or sneezing…This may help contain droplets containing any type of virus, including the flu, and protect anyone within three to six feet of the infected person.” Since cloth masks are reusable, they will still be good to have when the coronavirus outbreak is over. Cold and flu season is every year.

It’s important to wash and sterilize the masks after they are used, so making a number of masks if you are going to be out of the house on a regular basis would be advisable. You can wash them in hot water and use color-safe bleach to sterilize them. 

Making Cloth Masks to Wear

Cloth masks can be made from household items like t-shirts or cotton fabric. There are a number of tutorials online about how to make face masks. Some of them are very simple and others are designed to allow an extra protective insert or to be worn over an n95 mask. You can decide which would work best for you. 

One of the challenges for many people sewing masks has been to find elastic to use to fasten the masks over the wearer’s ears. We’re happy to say that our cotton binding tapes and twill tapes are ideal to use for fastening masks that tie behind the head or fasten behind the ears.

If you want to make cloth masks for your family, neighbors, or community members, enter the coupon code “MASK10” to save 10% on all cotton binding, twill tapes, hook & loop tape, glue guns, and scissors. The COVID-19 pandemic will not last forever, but until it ends, we’re all doing what we can to help each other survive it. Call us today or order online. Please stay safe and well! 

In recent blogs we have discussed how higher tariffs and the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide will affect the prices and availability of necessary manufactured goods such as staples and nails. In this blog we will talk about the current logistics challenges and why problems with international shipping by ocean or by air look like they are not going away anytime soon. 

The Current State of International Shipping

Anything we state now about shipping is subject to change weekly, daily, and sometimes even hourly. The COVID-19 virus and China’s regional shutdowns in manufacturing areas greatly affected production of goods earlier in 2020. As China’s people have recovered from the coronavirus, production has too. Right now their production levels are about 70-75% of normal, and exports have resumed and are increasing too. 

The earlier shipping deficits in February and March, combined with an expected increase in demand in April and May, are going to create some problems. Shipping rates have increased and will continue to increase. There’s also a large imbalance in shipping container supply because China’s imports collapsed in February, so there are few containers in the U.S. and Europe presently. 

President Trump closed travel from Europe to the U.S. in order to fight the advance of the coronavirus, but that decision has caused massive disruption to transatlantic air freight. Without passenger flight service, air freight will have to go through freighter airport hubs, and this will be more expensive and result in more delays. 

Domestic logistics are also tricky right now. There were already trucker shortages in the U.S. Some companies are having to store goods longer than usual because they cannot be immediately shipped domestically from ocean ports.

The COVID-19 Outbreak Continues to Complicate

As the COVID-19 virus has spread to Europe and the U.S. it only makes shipping challenges more complicated. Italy locked itself down entirely last week. Areas of the U.S. like the San Francisco Bay Area are also locking down. In these areas cargo flow slows to a halt. It’s uncertain how many countries will institute lockdowns or what the rules of those lockdowns will be. Currently in the U.S. all terminals and airports continue to be operational, but that is subject to change at any given time. 

It’s hard to predict exactly what will happen with international shipping under these circumstances except to say that resources will be scarcer than usual and shipping costs much higher. That is guaranteed to affect consumer prices on goods and services. 

At Bond Products we want to be open about how the current challenges to the market affect us and, by extension, our customers. We are affected by the mandates of the City of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania, but, unfortunately, these mandates are not the same, so the situation is confusing. At this time we are monitoring both and keeping our business open as we have fewer than 50 employees and are considered in part a hardware store and manufacturer. This may change, of course. If you have any questions about prices or availability of any of our products, please do not hesitate to contact us at 1-888-800-BOND. We will be happy to share with you what we know. 

 

 

 

 

Do you need mallets for your flooring installation needs? Bond Products has them! Anyone working in the wood flooring industry knows how useful and necessary rubber mallets are for installing floors. Having the right mallet makes all the difference for this job, so Bond offers several mallet choices as well as a variety of mallet caps to complement them. 

Different Mallets for Different Needs 

We currently offer three single head versions called MI (3.0lbs) and MIII (3.6 lbs). They both have an iron wedge while the third one, H081W, (3.1lbs) has a unique beveled head. All three come with a 6-ring grip and a white cap. Our MII mallet is comparable to Powernail® Mallet MIII. The handle of this mallet is made of 100% American hickory. The 6-ring wood grip is easy to use, and the rings carved into the handle prevent slippage during use and protect wear layer. 

This mallet comes with a replaceable non-marring white mallet cap that protects flooring material and tools from damage. Replacement caps are available for this mallet. They come in white, black, or gray for use with all types of pneumatic flooring nail staplers or nailers. 

The second type of mallet is a double head mallet. This mallet also has a cast steel head, weighs 3.3 pounds, and is 15 inches in length. It too is made of 100% American hickory and has a 6-ring wood ring grip that makes the grip comfortable and easy to hold. The double head design helps to protect the nailer from damage during use. The double head mallet is ideal as a rental tool and can be used with all types of pneumatic flooring nail staplers or nailers. 

The double head mallet comes with two premium mallet caps affixed with chrome plated steel retainer rings. This unit also takes replacement mallet caps in white, black, or gray as necessary. 

Both types of mallets are made in America and designed for hardwood floor installation to allow the user to apply maximum force with little effort. A good mallet makes the job of installing wood flooring simpler, easier, and safer. 

Bond happily supplies replacement mallet caps in white, gray, and black. Each mallet cap has a heavy-duty, chrome-plated steel retention ring that ensures a proper fit. Our mallet caps will fit all major flooring mallet brands. We guarantee they will fit your flooring mallet. Although anyone can use our mallet caps, they are designed for professionals, with long-lasting durability in mind. White and gray mallet caps are non-marring and used for prefinished woods, whereas black mallet caps are used for unfinished woods. All types of our premium mallets caps are sold either by the single cap or by the box (27 replacement caps). Volume options are also available.

If you have any questions about either type of mallet or the replacement mallet caps, call us at 1-888-800-BOND. Our customer service department will be happy to help. And for staples, staple guns, L-cleats, or finish nails for your flooring project, shop our Pro Drive HD™ line of supplies. 

In our January blog we talked about the fact that the Commerce Department had announced preliminary RETROACTIVE ADD duties of 301.64% on ALL Chinese producers and exporters. For any company that sells products made from steel and aluminum, this decision will have an impact on prices. Everything involving China is currently to be determined, however, U.S. customers should anticipate that higher tariffs and effects of the coronavirus will result in more volatile prices for steel and aluminum goods in the future. What can we expect in 2020 for prices on flooring fastener products like staples and finish nails? 

Higher Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum

In January President Trump signed a proclamation that expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from specific countries. This proclamation increased tariffs on derivative steel products 25% and derivative aluminum products 10%. Countries with products exempted from these additional tariffs are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea for steel products and Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico for aluminum products. 

These higher tariffs were placed because import volumes of derivative products increased significantly after the original tariffs on steel and aluminum were put in place. Those tariffs increased prices on raw materials, not finished goods. The new proclamations appear to be an order to align the impact of tariffs against finished imported material. In other words, the Department of Commerce is attempting to close any loopholes.

Since the goal of tariffs is to protect and encourage American manufacturing output, if imports increase from the exempted countries, President Trump is likely to increase tariffs on them as well. 

DOC Tariff Changes Do Not Affect Collated Steel Staples 

As of February 8, 2020 the new steel tariffs will affect most nails and other steel fasteners but not collated staples which were specifically excluded. Nail products affected are the following: 

• 7317.00.30        Threaded pins for powder actuated nailers
• 7317.00.5503    Collated wire coil bright nails
• 7317.00.5505    Collated galvanized plastic strip nails
• 7317.00.5507    Collated plastic strip nails (all others, not galvanized)
• 7317.00.5560    Bulk bright threaded nails
• 7317.00.5580    Bulk threaded nails vinyl, resin or cement coated
• 7317.00.6560    Bulk nails not made of round wire, not cut  

China Suffers under the Coronavirus

Complicating matters further, we can expect that any company sourcing Chinese made products will be affected by not only tariffs but also delays in production due to the coronavirus. While the situation with the coronavirus is not clear, many large cities and manufacturing centers in China have been shut down while mill personnel are under quarantine. China’s New Year celebration also impacted production which currently is a month behind normal. 

The coronavirus has affected mills even outside of China too. They rely on China for raw steel and aluminum and if the supply chain comes to a halt, so will their mills. One potential impact is workers who traveled to their homeland in some cases were not permitted to return home due to concerns about the virus. Only recently have some factories returned to work, and they are subject to strict monitoring by the Chinese government. 

Ultimately, this news means that prices for flooring fasteners will be increasing and this is likely to affect staples too in the very near future. Fortunately, Bond Products does not source any of our fasteners from China which means that delays in production and higher tariffs placed on Chinese products will not affect our prices or product availability. 

We live in interesting times, but we can promise our customers that we will continue to offer competitively priced flooring supplies for all of your flooring fastener needs. 

 

 

 

 

The PBB-1X Bobbinless Portable Single Puller 2X2 is a tremendously useful machine for carpet binding. But did you know that the PBB-1X can also apply transition molding to heavy duty entrance mats? It can! This affordable, high-speed binder is a good solution to a variety of carpet needs. 

The PBB-1X

Everyone knows the PBB-1X is great for carpet binding. This bobbinless portable binder is tough, lightweight, and portable. It binds carpet quickly – over 30 feet per minute – and can accommodate various widths of tape with optional folder adjustments. This binder is easy to thread, easy to use, and requires little maintenance to keep it running. It’s Bond’s most economical, heavy-duty, high-speed binder, and we’re very proud of it. 

Did you also know that the PBB-1X can be use to apply transition molding to heavy duty entrance mats? That’s right, it can. This machine glides through thick and tough unitary backings with ease and can attach carpet to rubber transition molding to create entrance mats of any size. How does this work?

How To Apply Transition Molding

In addition to a carpet binder, you will need a few supplies: super glue, seam weights, and scissors. First you cut the carpet to the size that you need, and then you cut your rubber transition molding to fit the carpet, making sure the mitered corners match up. When that is done and you know that everything fits together, you apply the super glue to the transition molding. We carry super glue in 1-pound bottles which is handy for this type of job.

Put a bead of glue right on the flange and use seam weights to press the carpet into the molding so that the superglue adheres correctly and firmly. This takes about a minute. Then you will use your carpet binder with transition guide to sew the edge of the carpet to the molding permanently. It stitches a nice and tight seam into the center of the flange, about 3/4 of an inch into the carpet. When you are done, you will have a finished stitch binding that will last for the life of the carpet as well as a great looking entrance rug. 

If your company makes heavy-duty entrance rugs and needs a machine to apply transition molding, the PBB-1X can get it done. The PBB-2X Portable Bobbinless Double Puller 4X4 carpet binder would also work for this job. Both are backed by Bond Products’ 90-day limited warranty. If you have any questions about the PBB-1X, the PBB-2X, or any of the supplies mentioned, please give our customer service department a call at 1-888-800-BOND. We would be happy to match you up with everything you need.  

 

There are many different types of carpet, but the most common carpet material is nylon. This has not always been the case. In fact, in 1950, 90 percent of all carpet and rug products were woven, not tufted. As the result of enormous advances in science, nylon carpet took over and flipped that number. Today 90 percent of carpets and rugs are made from tufted nylon, with only two percent made from woven fibers. Why is nylon carpet so popular? 

What Is Nylon? 

Nylon is a generic name for a family of synthetic polymers. It’s a plastic with “super-long, heavy molecules built up of short, continually repeating sections of atoms.” Scientists have mixed these polymers with various substances to create products with different properties for various uses, only one of which is carpet. Carpet is an important one, though!

The History of Nylon Carpet

The first synthetic polymer fiber was rayon which was invented in the 19th century by the Frenchman, Count Hilaire de Chardonnet, a chemist who was looking to create an inexpensive substitute for silk. Some decades later, in the early 1930s, Dr. Wallace Hume Carothers, the “Father of Polymer Science,” patented the first truly synthetic fiber while he was working for DuPont and exploring the possibilities of polymer chemistry. He called it Nylon 6,6. Toothbrush bristles were the first consumer consumer use for Nylon 6,6. 

By the mid-1950s, DuPont had developed bulk continuous filament (BCF) nylon which was used to make modern carpet. With this invention, the inexpensive low pile looped carpet took off in popularity because the working class were building homes for their expanding families after the war and this was a decorative choice they could afford. It wasn’t just nylon that was being invented, it was new spinning techniques, dye and tufting equipment, printing processes, and carpet backings. All of these help launch the wall-to-wall carpet trend in interior design. 

Nylon is made from crude oil. Crude oil is used to make nylon intermediates and then hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid which are then transformed into nylon salt. The nylon salt is manufactured into staple fiber carpeting or bulked continuous filament. Carpet mills spin the bulked continuous filament into yarn which is then tufted into carpet. 

The structure of the manufactured fiber is important to its properties. Nylon 6,6 is a harder, more resilient fiber than Nylon 6 because its molecular structure is denser. This makes it better able to withstand both dirt and pressure and a great choice for areas of heavy traffic in the home, the workplace, or in public environments. It’s easier to maintain than other types of carpet, mildew resistant, and non-allergenic. Nylon does sometimes pill, though, and it can be prone to static. 

While nylon carpet does not have the inherent elegance of an Aubusson carpet, it’s incredibly easy to care for and will last a long time under pretty rough foot traffic. It also comes in a wide variety of carpet styles from soft cut pile to short, nubbly berber.  

If you have a nylon carpet remnant you’d like to turn into a rug, Bond Products has the Instabind carpet binding tape you need to complete that project, as well as a variety of rug backings to make sure it stays put on your floor. Nylon lasts practically forever, so a bigger remnant can be cut down and made into smaller rugs that can be put to good use anywhere in your house or garage. That’s the reason nylon is such a popular carpet choice. 

If your business relies on bags to contain and ship product, you need a portable bag closer. Bond offers a bag closer that is fast, lightweight, and reliable. It can be used on a wide variety of bags and for many different types of uses. 

Bag closers are used by packers in many industries. Flour, grain, feed, chemicals, seed, coffee, sugar, salt, minerals, and grocery staples, including dog and cat food, come in large bags that are sewn shut. How is this accomplished? With a bag closer. Not all bag closers are created equally, though. You can find cheap bag closers online, but, as with so many other products, you get what you pay for in terms of quality, ease of use, and reliability.

Bond’s Portable Bag Closer

Our bag closer is a nice little machine, easy to hold and handle. It’s lightweight, simple to use, and requires little maintenance. It works on plain and folded top closures. This bag closer is designed to close bags made of many types of materials, including paper, burlap, cotton, linen, jute, and plastic. It can also close waterproofed materials. 

This bag closer weighs only 12 pounds and is very durable. It’s built tough so that it can work all day long without issue. It operates using a 110 volt motor and an oil lubrication system. It only requires a little practice before the user can produce nice seams across bags of many types. It has a safe plastic handle and can be operated with only one hand, leaving the other free to maneuver the bag into place for closing.

The machine uses straight #25 needles, the same type of needle that the PBB 2×2 or 4×4 use. It sews 11/3 white poly cotton thread and requires two poly cotton threads to operate. 

This closer is on track to be the world’s leading portable bag closer as it’s useful in so many settings: agriculture, transportation and shipping, business, and too many industries to list. It’s useful for initial packing, but it can also be used to close bags that have come open or repair damaged bags at the loading dock, in warehouse and railway stations, in post offices, or in grocery stores. If your business doesn’t ship product but receives product in bags for storage, this is a machine you need because there is always packaging that gets damaged in transit. 

Call us at 1-888-800-BOND to learn more about Bond’s portable bag closer and how it can help make packing and shipping product a quick and easy process for your company. This is a great product, and we are happy to offer it to our customers.

 

Every job has its challenges, but physical work when done over and over, day after day, can take a toll on your body. Carpet binding is a job that requires repetitive motions and can be physically taxing over time. To help minimize the impact of crawling and putting weight on the knees, Bond Products offers our portable binder cart.

The Risk of Repetitive Stress Injuries

Too many people discount the impact that many small, repetitive movements can have on your body. It may not feel like much, but just clicking a mouse over and over can result in pain and movement limitations in your arm and wrist over time. Repetitive stress injuries are very common. Repeating the same motions all day long can cause damage to your muscles and tendons. Carpet binding is much more physically rigorous than clicking a mouse and requires you to put your body weight on your hands and knees which can cause other problems. 

The Portable Binder Cart Makes the Job Easier

The portable binder cart is designed to make jobs that require you to work on your knees using both hands easier and less physically taxing. It will make running your Bond PBL, PBB 2×2 or 4×4, Alpha Mini, or PBL-TX much easier. This cart supports your chest as you work and has a comfortable seat that is fully adjustable to fit your body’s dimensions. It has a lightweight, strong, aluminum frame, 3-inch ball-bearing, polyurethane casters, and durable, waterproof knee pads. 

Using the cart, you can scoot backwards (or forwards) as you work with a simple push instead of crawling backwards and balancing your weight on your knees with every movement. Here’s a demonstration of how this portable binder cart works: 

We think you’ll be impressed at how much simpler binding carpet will be when you use this cart. It can also be used for any other task that you might have to do on your hands and knees like gardening or cleaning,  and it’s great for tile installation as well. 

To make sure the cart will operate correctly, you should check it before every use. Check to see that the seat is correctly adjusted to your frame and that the adjustment screw and bolt are tight. The snap button should also be locked in place, and the casters should be fastened securely. You should periodically clean and oil the ball bearings on the casters for best continuous use, especially if you work in the flooring industry.

The maximum weight recommended for the portable binder cart is 300 pounds. 

If you do repetitive work on your hands and knees and want a tool that will make your job easier, better, and more ergonomic, order a portable binder cart from Bond Products today! 

 

Leftover carpet is one of those ubiquitous items that everyone has somewhere in their house. When having carpet installed, it’s always good to allow for a little extra in case there’s a problem with the installation or if the carpet is damaged later. What do you do with the extra leftover carpet, though? Or the carpet that you replaced that still might have some wear in it? 

How to Reuse Old Carpet 

If you have an old piece of carpet that you do not intend to use for flooring or decorative purposes, there are plenty of life hacks that you can do with the scraps or pieces. Here are some ideas:

Use a piece of old carpet to increase traction under the wheels of your car. If you keep a piece of carpet in your trunk all the time, it could get your unstuck someday by giving your tires something to catch on instead of mud or ice. It’s also much easier to pull out a trunk sized piece of carpet from the trunk and vacuum it than to try to get all of the nooks and crannies with a vacuum attachment. This can double as a picnic rug in a pinch too.

Move a heavy piece of furniture or equipment across your nice floor by putting pieces of old carpet under the legs and sliding them. It will stop you from scratching up the floor while you’re redecorating and save your back too.

Add it to your dog’s kennel or your cat’s scratching post to make your pets more comfortable or entertained.

Keep a piece in your garage or workshop in case you have to kneel when doing chores. Kneeling on carpet is much easier on your knees than kneeling on the hard concrete or the cold, damp ground. 

Put carpet scraps under your plants if you have a tendency to overwater them. 

What to Do with Leftover Carpet

If the carpet scraps you have are new and you’d like to make use of them for projects, there are many other uses too. Many of our customers have used carpet scraps to replace worn or dirty carpet pieces in their cars, boats, or recreational vehicles. With a small investment of time and some Instabind, these spaces can look new again. You do not need to be a rug binding professional either – just some free time, a glue gun, Instabind, a pair of scissors, and a willingness to roll up your sleeves and tackle a project.

Of course, we at Bond Products think that the best use of leftover carpet is an area rug. Binding the edges of a leftover piece of carpet makes a nice piece of flooring for a basement, playroom, patio, treehouse, hall, foyer, or any regular room. Our motto is, “Every hard floor needs a nice area rug.” If you have leftover carpet sitting around, think about transforming it into a rug! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One commonly asked question is: How do you keep carpet edges from fraying? No one wants to invest money in a beautiful piece of carpet only to see it come apart at the edges after it’s seen a little use. There are solutions to this problem of fraying carpet. Here we will walk you through them.

Fraying Carpet Edges

One typical carpet use involves permanently installed wall-to-wall carpet. This kind of carpet is constructed by weaving the threads of the carpet through a rough textured crosshatch mesh and then glueing them to that mesh. Usually when this kind of carpet is installed, the edges are tucked under baseboards and trim where they will not be seen and are protected from fraying. When the carpeted area abuts a section of hardwood or tile flooring, transition strips are affixed to the floor to make the transition look neater. This will also stop the carpet from getting snagged and fraying.

If the carpet is used as a stair runner or an area rug it will not be covered by baseboards or transition strips. You’ll have to do one of two things to keep those raw cut edges from coming apart. The first solution is to treat them with a carpet adhesive or liquid resin. These products can be found at hardware or craft stores and at stores that sell carpet, of course. 

To apply the carpet adhesive, first trim the edge of the carpet with a carpet cutter to create a clean edge. Then apply a narrow bead of the carpet adhesive or liquid resin along the raw edge for several inches. Spread the resin with a paintbrush or a popsicle stick. Keep applying it a few inches at a time until you’ve finished painting the entire edge. Then allow it to dry. 

The second, more attractive solution to stopping fraying of a piece of carpet is to bind it. You can take your carpet in to a carpet shop and have them bind it with a binding machine, or you can bind it with a carpet binding tape such as Instabind. Doing this will turn a carpet piece or remnant into an area rug. 

How Do You Fix Carpet Edges?

It’s very simple to turn a carpet piece into an area rug with Instabind. Bond Products offers many different varieties of Instabind to complement any kind of rug. Instabind is available in up to 50 colors and styles, including:

• Regular binding style
• Faux leather style
• Cotton binding style
• Synthetic serge binding style
• Cotton serge style
• Rope edge style
• Outdoor marine style
• Safety edge style

We also offer an Instabind Starter Kit if you’d like to try carpet binding with a number of projects and styles. Our rule of thumb for selecting a binding is: if it’s a cotton or wool rug or carpet, use a natural (cotton) binding or serging style. If it’s a synthetic rug or carpet, use a synthetic binding or serging style. The highest quality look will still be the cotton one, but the synthetic Instabind looks great too.

To attach Instabind to a carpet piece, you:

Step 1 – Assemble your tools: a hot glue gun, scissors, and clear tape.

Step 2 – Use a carpet cutter and a straight edge to trim off any strings or frayed pieces along the sides of the carpet and make sure that its sides are straight. 

Step 3 – Take the Instabind you’ve chosen and make a clean cut. 

Step 4 – Pull back the paper on the Instabind and begin applying it to the carpet in the middle of one cut edge. Extend the Instabind past the corner of the carpet, and, using the corner as a guide, snip the flat part of the Instabind, stopping at the piping. With the paper turned back, overlap the backing while rounding the corner. Continue around the carpet until you return to the beginning. You can readjust if necessary at this stage in the project. Using your starting point as a guide, make the finishing cut with your scissors and trim any excess strings.

Step 5 – Seal the beginning and ending pieces of the Instabind together with a bead of hot glue. Now apply a ⅛” bead of hot glue between the edge of the Instabind and the carpet and hold in place a few minutes to let the glue set. Continue this process all the way around the carpet. For a more finished looking back, trim the Instabind backing at a 45 degree angle.

Step 6 – Put your beautiful new bound piece of carpet in the place you’ve selected for it in your home.

That’s all there is to it. With the Instabind attached, you should have no problems with your carpet edges fraying!

If you have any questions about carpets, rugs, and what Instabind would work best for you, please call us at 1-888-800-BOND. We will be happy to advise you. 

 

Glue guns are an unsung hero of the crafting world. There are many fun and practical uses for glue guns. Bond Products offers 6 different glue guns and the glue supplies you’ll need to use them. Our catalog also contains some useful add-on products to extend the capabilities of glue guns. Our glue guns are great selling products for good reason!

Why Are Glue Guns a Great Glue Solution?

Glue gun glue lasts over time. It doesn’t break down in the same way water soluble glue does because it’s not water based. It’s a thermoplastic adhesive. It reliably holds its shape and grip on whatever you apply it to over time. This type of glue requires heating, and the glue gun applicator is great for keeping fingers safe and applying the glue to targeted surfaces without making a mess. Glue sticks or plugs are fed into the gun, which melts them and passes them through the barrel onto the surface. There it cools, solidifies, sets, and creates a secure bond.

The Bond Products catalog includes 6 different glue guns, including corded and cordless guns that range from basic models to professional pneumatic and spray gun equipment. Our newer guns come with a lighted on/off switch that is so convenient. We offer a variety of glue sticks, glue slugs, and long nozzle glue gun tip that’s helpful to use when applying Instabind.

All of our glue gun models can be used for carpet applications, but the weekend DIYer who has a quick carpet binding project probably will not want to invest in a pneumatic glue gun. One advantage that our basic model glue guns have is that they are heavy duty and durable and a great size. They fit in the hand very well, making them comfortable to use. Professionals in the carpeting industry also use them when they bind carpets with wide edges and mitred corners.

Glue Gun Crafting

There are also a huge number of crafting projects you can use glue guns for. Some of these are artistic, like making glue-stick snowflakes for winter crafts. Others are household hacks like adding a squiggle of glue to the tops of your hangers or the bottoms of your slippers to make them slip free. Glue guns are good for no-sew sewing projects, and decorating glassware. Your imagination is the limit for glue gun crafting.

If you are wondering what kind of glue gun would be best for your needs, we have a handy guide for that as well. We stand by all of our glue guns as high quality and long lasting. If you’re looking for a great glue gun and glue supplies, give us a call today. We’d be happy to supply you with the perfect glue gun for your carpet and crafting projects.

 

At Bond Products we are proud of our Instabind binding tape. It works wonderfully to bind a whole range of rugs or carpet remnants. Our most popular Instabind choice is the regular polyester binding tape, but for natural fiber rugs, including wool rugs, Oriental rugs, or antique rugs, we recommend using cotton Instabind.

Many Instabind Options

We offer the following Instabind options:

• Regular
• Cotton
• Faux leather
• Synthetic Serge
• Cotton Serge
• Rope Edge
• Outdoor Marine
• Safety Edge

These are all great binding tapes that will make your rug or carpet remnant look much neater after you’ve bound it with Instabind. Some people want a specific look or want the binding to stand out so they will choose the safety edge Instabind, for example. Most of our customers choose the regular Instabind which is a good choice for a rug made out of man made fibers. For wool, Oriental, or other natural fiber rugs, however, we recommend our customers choose the cotton Instabind or the cotton serge style Instabind.

Cotton Instabind

Here is Bond’s rule of thumb: If the carpet or rug is cotton or wool, use natural fiber binding or serging. If it’s a synthetic rug or carpet, then synthetic binding or serging is appropriate. Cotton is still the higher quality look, however. For the highest quality look, cotton Instabind is always the best choice.

You can purchase Instabind in standard 54-foot rolls or custom size lengths for a small upcharge for cutting the roll to size. All of the Instabind choices are available in 30 stock colors from our sisal color swatch card. Because we offer so many color choices, our customers should be able to find a good color match for their carpets or rugs. In most cases customers are best off selecting the closest color match. Some customers like to choose a contrasting color for a more arresting look. However, from a design perspective because the binding tape is narrow, most of the time this looks odd. It calls attention to the binding instead of the carpet.

Of course, if you have questions about which kind of Instabind would work best or look best for your personal application, our customer service staff is happy to discuss all of the options Bond offers and which ones our customers typically use. Please contact us or call us at (888) 800-2663 (BOND) for help. We are open Monday to Friday from 7:45 AM to 4:15 PM to provide any help we can.