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I have 2 colors that just crack everytime i crease them on the fold. Night of Navy and Eggplant Envy. I love SU cardstock and I won't buy anything else, but this just drives me nuts. GOSH! :lol:
Anybody else have this problem, and is there something I can do about it?
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I find out about quality problems, backorder situations and other misc. by reading posts on SCS. I heard about stamp set backorders recently before SU addressed the problem on the SU website.
Please let your demo (or DS if you are a demo) know about the problem with your cardstock as soon as you can. It will help us all if SU knows about this asap. I love SU....don't get me wrong...but they can't fix what they don't know. Thanks for the heads up.
Oh, I'm glad it just wasn't me. Keep us posted if anyone hears anything.
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I read somewhere that even paper has a "nap" or grain like fabric and you need to cut it the right way. I am wondering if it got "mis-cut" at the factory? I thought it was me too!
I got a pack of Gable Green and it felt thin and flimsy and the one edge had little slivers of the paper flaking off, like it had a bad cut. Hmm, I think the quality control people need a wake up call.
Ronda
The SU cardstock seems to have a grain going in the 11 inch direction of the paper. Are you cutting it in half (so it's 8 1/2 by 5 1/2) and then folding?
Are you scoring the paper before you fold it?
Because SU paper is so thick, it's a blessing and a curse. It's wonderful to feel, but had to fold :?
Try scoring before you fold. ANother reason it is probably cracking is becasue it is winter. Yep. The dry air dries out the paper. I would tell DS becasue paper should be kept in a proper climate control, which they may need to adjust at the new warehouse. Mine is fine after a couple days here on my tropical island! We won't even get into the MOLD situations I endure!
It's uncanny how often I have a question and immediately find someone else asking the same question here! I've never really understood the way "cutting with/against the grain" works. I cut my Pink Passion into a 10" x 4" strip to make a pocket card, and it cracked when I folded it. Is that a "grain" problem? If so, I guess I'll have to live with it because I love the card design!
Several of my fellow stampers and I began experiencing this same problem while making our Christmas cards. I had bought 3 packs of real red and wound up using an old pack that I had from before because the new ones were so bad.
My friend had 8 packs of Gable Green that "shredded" also and contacted Stampin Up about the problem.
They mentioned that the cardstock had grains, and said that they didn't consider the problems we were having as "defective". Our SU demo told us that we could still use it for LAYERING!!! That's a lot of layers!
We were very disappointed with the response we received from SU and our demo.
I agree with Heather] that it may have been mis-cut at the factory. It seems to have started once they moved to the new warehouse. Could it be a storage problem (temperature, moisture, etc.)?
Hopefully they'll get this taken care of because cracked, frayed edges don't make a very good impression!
I got a pack of Gable Green and it felt thin and flimsy and the one edge had little slivers of the paper flaking off, like it had a bad cut. Hmm, I think the quality control people need a wake up call.
Ronda
I just got two packs of Gable Green and it had the same kind of edges. I took my stipple brush and tried to get the "flakes" off. I also remember the Real Red cracking on the crease when I did Valentines last month. I can understand about the cooler, drier winter air, etc. I stopped buying the "contraband" paper from a local "buy by the pound" for two reasons: color selection and the cracking on the crease. Now I buy all SU paper...hope they fix this problem...
Wow! Great feedback from everyone! Here's the trick...score the paper with the scoring blade on your paper cutter. If you don't have the scoring blade, use a straight edge and the stylus tool.
Then regardless of the way the grain is going, it shouldn't crack!
Wow! Great feedback from everyone! Here's the trick...score the paper with the scoring blade on your paper cutter. If you don't have the scoring blade, use a straight edge and the stylus tool.
Then regardless of the way the grain is going, it shouldn't crack!
Just be careful not to press too hard and score too deep -- mine splits whenever I do!
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Hi all!! This post may be a bit on the technical side - sorry in advance!
I feel compelled to reply to this post as I have worked in the paper industry for the past 11 years; not at a paper mill, but at a paper distribution company. Okay, so I'm a bonafide paper geek and here is your Paper 101 class for today.
You are all correct that paper has a definite grain direction which is determined when the paper is being manufactured in huge rolls. These huge rolls are then cut into sheet sizes of 20 x 26, 25 x 38, etc. and finally "sheeted" into the finished size of 8.5 x 11 (or whatever). It is very possible that the finished size is not grain long (with the 11"), but grain short (with the 8.5") - this does make it much harder to fold and will not give you the crisp, clean edge you want. The scoring blade will help, but it may not be as perfect as you'd like. Paper mills will not deem this as a defect to the paper (I know from experience).
With regards to moisture or temperature control, most paper from a paper mill is either in ream packaging, carton packaging or skid packaging - all very well protected. Paper is rarely just left to sit out in an open box or on a shelf. I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that SU probably has a climate controlled area for their paper with the amount of inventory they probably have on hand. With that said, temperature or humidity issues with paper usually come into play when paper is put through a laser printer, ink jet, printing press, etc; it will make the paper curl or get ripply. It really should not effect the folding abilities.
Okay - wake up - let's go back to reading about something more interesting than paper.
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of the crowd...score it before folding. Also try using a bone folder when pressing, it helps to do the folding in gradual stages...going slowly seems to help too. If you have this sort of problem with a lot of your card stock you might try using a humidifier in your stamping area.
Sandie
I've also heard that if you fold it and it cracks, put that fold to the inside of the card. Make the inside the outside - does that make sense? You now have a nice edge on the outside spine of the card, and any cracks are pressed together in the middle and less noticeable.
Not that this addresses the quality issue... I haven't experienced defects to the degree that some of you gals have. HTH - shelly
I've had that problem too with cracking. I usually just take my bone folder and smooth down the cracks. Seems to work ok for me. Thanks for all the tips! I thought I was the only one.
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I read somewhere that even paper has a "nap" or grain like fabric and you need to cut it the right way. I am wondering if it got "mis-cut" at the factory? I thought it was me too!
HeatherJ
I think this is what has happened. On occasion I will cut my cardstock the "other" way (length-wise) so that the score is on the top. When I would do this every other time it would crack like many are complaining about it doing now on a side score. Currently the colors that I've now noticed cracking/splitting on the side score, I've tried to cut long-ways, and the scores are perfect. This has to mean it was cut differently at the factory than it has been done in the past.
I've seen several threads about this concern too. From what I've heard, SU knows about this problem and is not considering it a defect, but is researching it to make adjustments.
I have been using SU cardstock for several years and can honestly say that I always use a bone folder (is there any other way?), have humidifiers going in the house during our midwest winters, and a dehumidifier on all year long in the basement. Basically, my home is temperature and moisture controlled.
This problem may only be occuring with certain colors, apparently to different degrees - and that's why not everyone has experienced it. I really don't feel that there is a quick fix - at least not for the problems that I've encountered. I've even wondered if there is something chemically different about this paper, for instance, a new dye solution, etc. . . . . I strongly feel that this is a SU issue - not the result of anything that we the users are doing wrong.
One thing I tried was lightly "sanding" the frayed edge with the SU sanding block but it only turned the block red and made the cardstock so thin I was afraid the card was going to break in half.
Scoring the cardstock before you fold it could be a good temporary fix but is not efficient when making a lot of cards. If it came down to scoring as a permanent solution, I would feel the need to find a cardstock replacement.
Paper certainly isn't the most exciting topic, but it's a major one when it effects the quality of our finished product. After all, aren't most if not all of us addicted to stamping??? :lol:
Hopefully SU will find a solution as they really do have wonderful cardstock under normal circumstances.
what is up with SU cardstock lately????
