I wrote out my Christmas cards last night .....

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

and the glue on the envelopes tasted so awful - eww - I had to keep drinking a diet soda to get rid of the taste. I was reminded of the Seinfield episode where George's fiance was poisoned by the glue on the envelopes of the cheap invitations he made her buy.

Vamp · ‎04-14-2010

I use a damp sponge. I hate to lick that stuff!

WenGirl42 · ‎07-05-2012

We decided several years ago we would only buy cards with self-adhesive envelopes for that reason. Yuck.

brii · ‎06-20-2010

I never lick envelopes. It's really not necessary and it's very gross.

Lucky Charm · ‎03-09-2010

I open my Christmas cards upside down. I'm not kidding.

Years ago, my SIL sent me a birthday card. It was 'grossly' licked closed.

Inside she let her kids do artwork and sign their names. That was cute.

But something made me open it from the bottom of the envelope.

I called her to thank them and she told me they both had 'Hoof and Mouth' disease. Wha???

So ever since, unless the correspondence is from a business (bank, ins. co., etc.) I open from the bottom.

reese2 · ‎03-10-2010

If you've ever toured an envelope/paper factory, you would see the huge vats of glue that are open pits waiting to be collected and placed into the machines that put them on the envelopes. Gross doesn't begin to cover it.

When I left the one I had toured as part of a job I had (staffing), I went immediately to an Office Depot type place and bought several packages of glue sticks. Scotch brand is my favorite, but Elmer's will do. I kept some for myself and distributed the rest to my kids, my parents, my siblings. I have brought one with me to each job I've started until they could be ordered with the other office supplies.

I haven't licked an envelope since 1998.

Edited for spelling.