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Badge Magic is THE DEVIL!!!


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On ‎7‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 12:47 PM, Treflienne said:

 

 

Hand sew any patch that you think you might someday move or remove.   Comes off without leaving all the marks that machine-sewing does.   (Looks better, too.)   Best way to hold the patch in place while sewing is with masking tape -- since straight pins don't do well with the thick plastic-backed patches.

Hand sewing needles do not do well with those heavy plastic backing either.  I broke countless needles trying to get them through the backing, which is one reason I bought the sewing machine.  I use a clear filament thread, so you do not see any stitching, and you can adjust the size of the stitch so it is easy to remove if and when needed.

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The goo-gone cleaning environment needs to really clean as the possible. I found the partially removed adhesive turns into an instant dirt magnet. I also found that applying it from the inside of the shirt to help loosen up the patch. The adhesive was scrapped off the shirt with a sharp plastic knife repeatedly between additional applications. The de-goo'd spot was then repeated, gently washed with Dawn dish detergent to remove the goo-gone resident.  What a hassle, the and spot is never perfectly clean, as mentioned earlier.

Now I locate the patches with only a little BM and then have a local seamstress sew them on.

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  • 1 month later...

I think Badge Magic is a BSA semi-hazing, rite of passage. 

Most people fall in love with the magic of Badge Magic, only to be horrified by the evils of the black magic later.

THEN everyone says “oh yeah, that stuff it horrible”, but only AFTER you have learned this for yourself. It seems no tells you to avoid it upfront. 

Snipe hunting, anyone?

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On 7/6/2018 at 3:34 PM, MikeS72 said:

Hand sewing needles do not do well with those heavy plastic backing either.  I broke countless needles trying to get them through the backing, which is one reason I bought the sewing machine.  I use a clear filament thread, so you do not see any stitching, and you can adjust the size of the stitch so it is easy to remove if and when needed.

Try heating the badge up with an iron set on low.    makes the plastic nice and soft

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4 hours ago, Oldscout448 said:

Try heating the badge up with an iron set on low.    makes the plastic nice and soft

I position all of my patches using Elmer’s washable glue. My wife uses her sewing machine to make the accessible ones permanent. The glue washes out in the first laundry cycle. (After my first/only effort in sewing with her machine, it was placed off limits and I am forbidden from touching it).

The patches not easily accessible to the machine, like the pockets, she sews by hand, using a method I think she called appliqué (?). The needle never passes through that patches plastic, only the threads around the outside. It looks a bit tedious.

Fortunately, I have no patches like that, but my son and daughter are learning how to do it.

I had to sew my patches on myself as a youth, and I don’t remember having to deal with this Kevlar style backing. 

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On 7/6/2018 at 3:34 PM, MikeS72 said:

Hand sewing needles do not do well with those heavy plastic backing either.  I broke countless needles trying to get them through the backing, which is one reason I bought the sewing machine.  I use a clear filament thread, so you do not see any stitching, and you can adjust the size of the stitch so it is easy to remove if and when needed.

For hand sewing, do not attempt to push through the entire patch. Instead "catch" a bit of the border only. Imagine sewing "from behind", and as the needle pushes through the shirt fabric, loop it under and through a few threads on the backside of the patch border.  this also has the benefit of completely hiding the stiching behind the patch.

I guess my method has a real name. Thanks HT.

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On 7/6/2018 at 3:34 PM, MikeS72 said:

Hand sewing needles do not do well with those heavy plastic backing either.  I broke countless needles trying to get them through the backing, which is one reason I bought the sewing machine.  I use a clear filament thread, so you do not see any stitching, and you can adjust the size of the stitch so it is easy to remove if and when needed.

I just push straight throught the patch, using a rather skinny needle and also a thimble if needed.  If the needle starts to flex, back off and try to push straight.   I don't think I have ever broken an hand-sewing needle,  though I have broken lots of sewing machine needles.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I haven't had any troubles with a normal sewing needle as long as I keep the stiching just along the inner trim of the patch I'm sewing. It's simple and quick; even the larger POR patches only take about 10 - 15 minutes to sew on nicely.

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  • 5 weeks later...

And now, a few kind words for Badge Magic....

9/26/2018:  Lighthouse for the Blind-St. Louis (LHB), a nonprofit that provides manufacturing and packaging services, has acquired the assets of Bellevue, Washington-based Badge Magic.

Lighthouse for the Blind-St. Louis, also known as LHB Industries Inc., assists individuals who are legally blind through employment, education and support services. It derives sales revenue through its Quake Kare brand of emergency survival products, and RapidFix and Tear Mender adhesives. In addition, it has two manufacturing, assembly, warehousing and distribution plants where it produces medical kits, catheters, aerosol and liquid paints, and other products for business and government customers.

 LHB expects to add at least 2 new employees because of the acquisition, officials said. It currently employs 48 people who are legally blind. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2018/09/26/st-louis-nonprofit-buys-washington-adhesive.html

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  • 2 weeks later...

I used badge magic a couple of times.  It isn't great for patches that need to be exchanged (like rank) but I have had decent results (better than my sewing) with patches that are more permanent (Council, etc). I have rehabbed several donated shirts by getting the patches off with goof off and then taken the shirts to the dry cleaners to have the residue removed.  Most of the shirts came out almost good as new.  

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