Catherine's Review	Rebecca's Review	Penny's Review	Karen's Review	Renee's Review

Review by Catherine

Preserve Your Memories II Protective Spray Coatings are products that I had never heard of before this review. I was intrigued as soon as I read the packaging, and interested to find out if these sprays work as well as the manufacturer claims. After checking out the website www.precision-blue.com, I was impressed and intrigued. I couldn’t wait to test this product.

Two different formulas of Preserve Your Memories II Protective Coatings are available: an Aerosol spray and a Non-Aerosol spray. I was very pleased to see that both of the sprays are environmentally friendly, as I try to limit my use of Aerosol sprays. I was sent one 6 oz. can of each formula. The packaging states that the coating can be applied to a number of different media, including: “Newspapers, Inkjet and Laser Prints, Inkjet Digital Pictures, Metals, Pencil Art, Plastics, Chalk, Children’s Marker Art, etc.”. My first impression of this product, I have to admit, was one of disbelief. Honestly, how could one simple product do all the things that this claimed to do. It is Acid Free, UV Protection, Non-Yellowing, Water Repellent (or water proof if coated on both sides), and eliminates fingerprints. Those are amazing claims. After using this spray, I am definitely impressed, and willing to believe all of them.

The first thing that I wanted to test was the claim that the Preserve Your Memories II spray could make photos water resistant. My husband had most of his family photos destroyed in a couple of different floods throughout the years, and has very little left. I think that as scrapbookers, we are always afraid of losing our precious memories, pictures, and scrapbooks to fire or water damage. I decided to test the claim of water-resistance by spraying my photo with the Non-Aerosol Protective Spray, then spraying water on top of the photo. As you can see, the water that I sprayed onto the photo just pooled up into little droplets, or ran off the side of the photo.

I let the water sit on the photo for about ten minutes, then I wiped the photo dry. I was amazed to see that not one mark was created on the photo by the water. That alone makes the product totally worth the price in my opinion. The only marks on the photo were scratches that were there before I sprayed it with the protective coating. And after so much handling, there weren't even any fingerprints on the photo.

For my first project, I actually completed a project that I had started some time ago. I had an altered clipboard that I had begun, and placed a photo on. After only a couple of months, the photo began to fade and discolor, so I never completed the clipboard. It has been sitting to the side for quite a while waiting for a specially printed photo that wouldn’t fade, or for a product such as Preserve Your Memories II. I printed the original photo on my inkjet printer, adhered it to the clipboard and added a few extra embellishments. Will the photo fade? Only time will tell. But after the first test that I put this product through, I am willing to bet that it won’t.

 

Family Photo Clipboard
Products used:
Cardstock (Prism Papers)
Patterned Paper (BasicGrey)
Rub-ons (MME-Bohemia)
Ink (Colorbox Fluid Chalk Inks - Clearsnap)
Paint (Making Memories)
Brads (Making Memories; Cactus Pink)
Wooden Letters (Hobby Lobby)
Flowers; Clear Shapes (Making Memories)
Protective Spray (Preserve Your Memories II – Protective Coating)
Ribbons (Unknown)
Adhesive (Adtech Permanent Bond Glue Runner; Adhesive Tech A Fine Line PVA Glue)

For my next project, I decided to use the Aerosol Protective Coating on a regular scrapbook layout. I wanted to see how fast the spray would dry on a variety of different surfaces that are usually present on a scrapbook page. The coating dried very quickly on the paper; and only slightly slower on the photo and surrounding embellishments.

In the past, I have had problems with my layouts being ruined because I accidentally dropped ink on them, or one of my children decided to use them for writing practice. I decided to test the claim that one could write on the surface protected by the Preserve Your Memories Coating and wipe it off. I used one of the Staedtler Watercolor markers and made a mark across the page. With a damp paper towel, I was able to completely erase the mark I had made. Very impressive!

 

Wild Side
Products used:
Cardstock (Prism Papers)
Patterned Paper (Creative Imaginations)
Chipboard Shapes (Rusty Pickle)
Stamps (Technique Tuesday)
Ink (Colorbox Fluid Chalk Inks - Clearsnap)
Paint (Ranger Dabbers)
Acetate Shapes (Heidi Swapp)
Journaling Stickers (7gypsies)
Protective Spray (Preserve Your Memories II – Protective Coating)
Adhesive (Adtech Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

After doing this review, every doubt that I had in my mind has been erased. I am amazed at the things that this spray can do. The protective coating that results from using this spray not only makes paper, pictures, and a variety of other surfaces water resistant, but also smudge resistant, scratch resistant, fingerprint resistant, and “stray mark” resistant. All of the things that in the past ruined layouts, would no longer be an issue if everything were coated with the Preserve Your Memories II Protective Spray. I also discovered another use for the Preserve Your Memories II Coating. After a metallic ink that I used wouldn’t dry on chipboard, I didn’t want to dig out my heat gun. So I sprayed the protective coating on my chipboard piece, just to see what would happen. Once the coating dried, the ink was sealed onto the chipboard and would no longer smudge. On a final note, although the Sprays have a slight odor to them, which may bother some, the odor goes away very quickly once the coating has dried. I used the spray outside mostly, and the odor did not bother my sinuses or allergies at all.

I just cannot say enough good things about the Preserve Your Memories II Protective Coating Spray. I believe it is a wonderful addition to every scrapbookers tool supply. At just $9.95 for a 6 oz. bottle, you just cannot lose; even if you only use it on your most precious photos. The protection and peace of mind one could discover through using this spray is definitely worth the price. Ask your nearest retailer to stock it, or order it from the website today!

---

Review by Rebecca

I have to admit, there are times when I look at products and wonder, "Hmm, what would I use that for?" That thought crossed my mind once or twice when I received the Preserve Your Memories II sprays. However, after reading about this product I started to wonder why I hadn't known about it before now!

For my review I received two-6 oz. cans of Preserve Your Memories II. The differences between the two are that one is a finger pump non-aerosol while the other is aerosol and there are different application processes and drying times. However, the benefits and features of the two products are the same.

I gathered a few items that I had in my "Projects To Do" box and decided they would work great for this review. The first was a canvas that I wanted to decorate. This canvas was going to feature some paint, a sheet of patterned paper and a charm. I had intended on using Mod Podge or an acrylic sealer to coat my project when it was done. Instead, I used the Preserve Your Memories II as a sealer. The product dries in less than two minutes, is acid free, includes a UV Blocker and is non-yellowing. The product also protects like a laminate, is water repellant and eliminates fingerprints.

For my canvas project I decided to use the aerosol can. I placed my canvas on newspaper and started my "sweeping motion" while holding the can about 5 inches above the canvas. The project was dry when I touched it a couple minutes later. I was impressed that there was no visible layer of spray or coating on the canvas like I get when I use Mod Podge. I started to think that maybe I didn't spray enough; which is hard to believe since I seem to go overboard on these things. So my way of testing was to see if the canvas was water repellent. I poured a 1/2 teaspoon of water directly on the patterned paper on the canvas. This was a gamble because if I had not used enough of the spray then I would end up with a water damaged canvas. I let the water sit there for a few minutes and then wiped it off with a towel. Guess what? The canvas was still perfect! There was no water damage to the patterned paper! Now, that is impressive!

Canvas with water on it

Canvas
Products used:
Preserve Your Memories II Aerosol
Canvas (Master's Touch)
Patterned Paper (Dove of the East: China Journey Asleep in Spring)
Paint (Heidi Swapp Acrylic Paint: Pumpkin)
Charm (Dove of the East: Jade Amulets)
Ink (Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Black Soot)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

I found some memorabilia that I wanted to preserve so I decided to spray those. This time I used the finger pump non-aerosol spray. When I first started to spray the can I did have some of the product end up on my hand. I'm not sure how that happened but the top of the finger pump ended up coated with spray! I cleaned up the pump (and my hand) and finished my spraying. I am more familiar with spraying this sort of product in an aerosol can than in a pump can. It is difficult to explain, but it was just one of those things that sticks out as being "different" than I was used to. After three minutes the game tickets were dry to the touch. I tried the same water test and the tickets were water resistant. I tried writing on the tickets with some markers and the markers wiped off.

Ram Fan
Products used:
Preserve Your Memories II Non-Aerosol
Cardstock (Prism Prismatics: Butter Cream)
Patterned Paper (BasicGrey: Infuse Concentrate, Condense; Prism Papers: Pigskin)
Chipboard Letters (Heidi Swapp Schizophrenic: Kelly Green)
Flowers (Prima Marketing: Got Flowers)
Pen (Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen)
Ink (Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Black Soot, Brushed Corduroy)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

Preserve Your Memories II is an easy product to use. I did spray my items in my garage with my garage door open but there was a distinctive smell with this product. However, after a few minutes the smell did dissipate.

The Preserve Your Memories II website states that the product "provides a protective, water repellant acrylic coating that takes on the texture of the material being coated." I agree completely with this claim and I can see the importance of this product to protect all the precious work that scrapbookers create. The 6 oz cans of spray sell for $9.95 and the website claims that one 6 oz can coats approximately 30 - 8.5x11 sheets. I believe that $9.95 is a minimal price for a product that can protect your layouts and projects!

I have adhesive, tools, embellishments and lots of other supplies in my scrapbook supply closet. I am very happy to now have Preserve Your Memories II to add. I am looking forward to coating my mini albums, layouts, canvas projects and all my projects I want to keep safe. I highly recommend that scrapbook artists purchase a can or two of this product to ensure your memories are preserved!

---

Review by Penny

For this review I received two 6 oz. cans of Preserve Your Memories II acrylic coating spray in both the aerosol and non-aerosol varieties ($9.95 each).

Prior to preparing for this review I believed the spray would primarily be an excellent protective tool for heritage scrappers, which is something I do not do. Since using the spray and visiting the Precision-Blue website ( www.precision-blue.com ), however, I have been just amazed at what this spray can do!

Preserve Your Memories II is a patented non-yellowing, acid free acrylic coating spray that is easy to apply and even easier to admire. It is made in the USA and VOC exempt so it won't damage the ozone layer.

The spray works on paper, vellum, plastic, metal, marker and pencil art, chalks and newspapers. It is easy to apply. Hold the can several inches above your project and spray lightly across until the whole project is covered. You want to avoid a thick or uneven application, though if this does happen it should not ruin your project. My initial tests dried to a fine glossy finish within a couple of minutes. The odor during application is minimal and fades quickly.

Preserve Your Memories II reduces color fading and blocks UV rays. The coating is water repellent so even if it gets wet it will be fine. The website shows an awesome demonstration of dunking treated newspaper into a bucket of water for a few seconds. It comes out absolutely perfect while the untreated newspaper turned to a soggy mess.

You can spray inkjet printed photos to preserve their color. Wiping an untreated photo with a wet cloth will remove the color from the photo and cause the ink to smudge and blur while a treated photo is completely unaffected by the water or the rubbing.

It also creates a write-eraseable finish! You can even use a Sharpie marker on a treated surface and wipe it away with a dab of household rubbing alcohol. Think about creating a mini album for a child or a chore chart with a treated surface and you can write on it and erase it over and over again. The write-erase quality would be perfect for teachers.

For my first project I applied the non-aerosol spray to a colored picture:

Title: "SRE"
Supplies:
Cardstock (Prism "Frosted Yellow")
Patterned Paper (Scenic Route)
Monograms (Tinkering Ink)
Arrow stickers (Heidi Swapp)
Buttons (Buttons Galore)
Distress Ink (Ranger)
Adhesive (Ad Tech Permanent Bond Glue Runner)
Chipboard (American Crafts)
Preserve Your Memories II fixative spray (Precision-Blue LLC)

I applied the aerosol spray to a part of a magazine ad for my second project:

Title: Just Move
Supplies:
Cardstock (WorldWin DoubleMates)
Patterned Paper (KI Memories, Love Elsie)
Marker (Zig Writer)
Brads, Stickers (Stampin' Up!)
Acrylic Paint (Ranger)
Stickers-alphabet (3 Bugs in a Rug)
Other: magazine ad, bubble wrap, star brads, ribbon
Adhesive (Ad Tech Permanent Bond Glue Runner)
Preserve Your Memories II fixative spray (Precision-Blue LLC)

The application instructions suggest testing a small area of your intended surface before spraying to coat. I did find one paper application that did not pass this test: a computer-generated store receipt. With spray the paper turns dark gray instantly.

The uses continue to be discovered but it has already been causing a buzz in the craft industry, and I think you can see why! I'm excited to find out what else I can spray! Seriously, if this isn't already on your wish list, stop by the website and view the demonstration videos and project gallery. With a 30-day money back guarantee you can't go wrong.

---

Review by Karen

Preserve Your Memories II is a coating that protects your photos, newspaper and paper projects. The coating comes in a 6 oz can that is either an aerosol or pump spray. For my review I received both types of sprays. Typically, I don’t like sealing sprays. They are messy and smelly, not to mention time consuming. While looking over the information sent with the cans, the company claims that the product is "acid free, non- yellowing, dries in under 2 minutes and it has a pleasant smell".

I decided to try out the aerosol spray by spraying random photos and scraps of paper. I noticed several things. First I had difficulty getting a coat that didn’t seem to have large “dots”. I noticed that when I sprayed thin papers, newspaper or thin patterned papers, the product seemed to soak through the paper, but only in some areas. When I sprayed the product on to my photos it left a texture on the photos, as if it didn’t completely absorb. I also noticed that it temporarily discolored my photos, and in places it permanently left spots. This was most noticeable on dark areas of the photographs, as in my husbands navy blue shirt.

Once I felt that I had a basic grasp of how the aerosol spray worked, I repeated the same test with the pump spray. The results were similar; however I found that I liked the pump better than the aerosol can. The spray produced with the pump is a large and covers almost an entire 4" x 6" photo in one spray. Of the two types of cans, I can definitely see me reaching for the pump spray again and again.

After testing, I moved on to the photos that I wanted to use in my projects. We were asked to create at least one layout using the spray. However, I feel that this shortchanges this product. I really see its strong suit being home décor or mini albums where the papers and photos are exposed and not placed behind page protectors. Feeling as strongly as I do about this use for the Preserve Your Memories II spray, I went around my house and sprayed all the photo projects that I have made. In the layout that I created I sprayed the photos before applying them to my page.

Title: Explore Yellowstone
Products used:
Patterned Paper (American Crafts)
Letter stickers (American Crafts)
Stamp (Technique Tuesday)
Ink (StazOn)
Finishing spray (Preserve Your Memories II)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

But in the project below, I waited until the luggage tag was complete before spraying both sides. I love the water resistant quality that the Preserve Your Memories II spray has. I have wanted to make photo bag or luggage tags for a long time, but didn’t want to mess with Mod Podge or contact paper for sealing the tags. Preserve You Memories II spray is so fast drying that I was able to coat my tag several times, both front and back, in one scrap session; which is unheard of with Mod Podge.

Title: K bag tag
Products used:
Patterned Paper (Heidi Grace)
Stickers (Heidi Grace)
Letter stickers (Doodlebug)
Finishing Spray (Preserve Your Memories II)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

I am truly happy that I was introduced to this project. While I’m not convinced that each home-printed photo needs to be sprayed, I know have a way to preserve the photos that are used in home décor or mini books. I love that there are no more finger prints, or the fear of drinks being spilt while the kids look at their mini books. These things are soon to be forgotten problems.

Here’s the bottom line, this product dries quickly, is easy to apply and it does what it says it can do. I can see the value of always having a can or two on hand! Again, I prefer the pump spray over the aerosol, but there is truly nothing different about the formula in both cans, it’s just the way that it’s applied. This is a unique product that fits a nitch that wasn’t being thought about in the scrapbook industry. I hope that every paper crafter, from the scrapper to the altered artist, will try this product. It’s a good one!

---

Review by Renee

As the world goes more and more digital, large numbers of scrapbookers are printing their own pictures using ink jet printers. Others find themselves wanting to preserve family ephemera such as newspaper articles, ticket stubs and even candy wrappers in their scrapbooks. Have you ever wanted to find a way to truly preserve these memories or protect your ink jet printed pictures from damage? If so, Preserve Your Memories II is a product definitely worth trying.

Preserve Your Memories II is a product that declares itself as the next generation of preservation. It comes in both an aerosol and non-aerosol version. For this review, I received a 6 ounce can of both sprays. The information available on this product indicates that the product coats paper, ink jet printing, vellum, , plastic, copper, metals, marker art, pencil, chalks, autographs, digital scrapbooking, newspaper and inkjet canvases. The product coats the project and preserves it. It provides UV protection and takes on the texture of the material being coated. According to the product materials, the spray is acid free, dries in less than two minutes and is non-yellowing. It also protects like a laminate and is water repellant.

For my projects, I tried both the aerosol and non-aerosol variations. The non-aerosol version is a pump spray bottle. Both products were easy to use and fairly easy to control. I preferred the aerosol variety personally, as it was slightly easier to get an even layer of product on my project. Both sprays dried quickly. As I worked with the product, I did consult the company website. I found the videos on the site to be especially helpful in working with the product.

When I read the accompanying material for the Preserve Your Memories II spray, I got an idea for doing a page about my son's favorite past time, eating candy. About that same time, I found one of his used packages of Fruit Stackers. I decided to spray the plastic stackers bag to test the non-aerosol spray bottle of Preserve Your Memories II. The spray went on easily, and dried very quickly. However, I learned very quickly that it is important to spray a thin even layer of spray. Initially, I got too much spray on the wrapper. But after wiping this off and trying again, I got the right amount on the wrapper. The spray is perfectly clear and really not visible once dry.

Title: Sweet Treats
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics Classic Blue)
Patterned Paper (Imaginisce)
Chipboard Heart (Heidi Swapp)
Chipboard Alphabet (Target)
Foam Embellishments (American Crafts)
Black Pen (Zig)
White Pen (Sailor White Writer)
Transparency (3M)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

For my second project, I used the aerosol version of the spray. I used the spray to coat a sheet of ink jet photos for use on altered rolodex cards. I found this version much easier to control the flow with. The spray flowed easily and dried perfectly clear. Once dry, I was able to cut the photos from the sheet without residue remaining on my trimmer.

Title: Altered Rolodex Card
Products used: Lavender Cardstock
Foam Stamps (Making Memories)
Ribbon (May Arts)
Ink (Ranger Inks)
Paper Flowers (Prima)
Brads (Paper Salon)
White Pen (Sailor White Writer)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

Overall, I found the Preserve Your Memories II very easy to use. The finished product dries clear and has a smooth feel. The website is especially helpful for using the product correctly. A six ounce bottle lasts for approximately 30 applications when applied to 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. At $9.95 a bottle, Preserve Your Memories II is a pretty good value as well.

---

Press Release:

Huntington Beach, CA, January 20, 2008 --(From PR.com)-- Creative Imaginations has partnered with Precision Blue, LLC to market their patented clear acrylic coating spray to the photo and crafting industries under the brand name CI SuperSeal.

"Creative Imaginations will distribute PMYII under its own "Super Seal" brand, and will be introduced at the CHA 2008 show, at their booth #1472-73"

For more information visit Precision-Blue LLC