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Sorry about the flurry of edits. I was trying to clean up the "Similar products" section to distinguish between similar brands to and common names for the product. Perhaps there should be a generic article on adhesive putties?Emajekral (talk) 21:38, 22 June 2012 (UTC)
Is it Blu-tac or Blu-tack? The header and lede are differently spelled. Marnanel 15:40, Apr 16, 2004 (UTC)
Everything official I could find (including the packet in front of me) says Blu-Tack, and it doesn't seem to vary by country. I've moved the page and updated all links.--Dtcdthingy 21:36, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
The official website says it's "Blu Tack", so I've moved the page. — Hex (❝?!❞) 13:14, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
NOTE: I live in the most North Easterly part of Atlantic Canada and I've never heard of "Zorkai". Quote from the main page - Blu Tack is known as "Zorkai" in north eastern areas of Canada". It might be a Quebec product but I highly doubt it and regardless it ain't popularly known as that. --Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.162.206.32 (talk) 11:35, 22 June 2009 (UTC)
I came to this article to clarify whether to say blu-tacing or blu-tacking, and was surprised that the k was present in the current packaging. Whilst I'm happy to be proven wrong, I'm convinced that it was without the k in mid-80's Britain! Gandru (talk) 01:22, 2 March 2010 (UTC)
I took out:
Interesting info
due to....I dunno, complete stupidity? --Stretch 05:49, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
Worldwide availability, or only in Europe and North America? Andycjp St Andrews Day 2006
What does this mean? Was it discovered in the ruins of a lost civilazation and/or space colony? I see no reason for its "original purpose" not to be the same as the one it is used for today. (I still didn't remove it because perhaps it is true in a way that can be better clarified.) --Lenoxus 19:36, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
I thought one of the original uses (if not purpose) was for cleaning out the gunk you get between typewriter keys (You know the things that we had before computer keyboards)I still use it for computer keyboard cleaning myself. This is even stated on the packaging. I have not added this to the page as I have no source (other than the packaging).. should this be added ??
The following is taken directly from the Bostick Australia Website. "Did you know Bostik Blu Tack was originally developed in 1969 in the UK as an accidental by-product of an attempt to develop a new sealant using chalk powder, rubber and oil?" It was also originally white but changed to blue to prevent people, especially children, thinking it was chewing gum. Source: https://www.bostik.com/australia/en_AU/blu-tack/ (29/08/2021)
Another use is for holding down small items that may topple easily in an earthquake, such as small vases, statues, plates on display stands, etc. I first heard of it when it was recommended for this purpose along with the many other earthquake preparedness tips after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Northern California.
The link to the MSDS is broken and I couldn't easily find it perhaps someone else could 128.250.6.247 14:27, 20 May 2007 (UTC)
Is this substance at all related to the kneaded eraser? Aside from being tougher than the kneaded eraser, the two act and look very similar.67.150.217.132 05:41, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
It looks like someone has been goofing around on this Encyclopaedia. I would strongly suggest a cleanup and verification of contents. --Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.159.15.76 (talk) 03:08, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
Should the fact that there are such ones now called green-tack and red-tack and other coloured tacks be mentioned?--Coin945 (talk) 11:27, 28 February 2008 (UTC)
Well, I don't know but it seems to me that alpha-11-benzomasterbakerpropyl isn't a name of a chemical compound... I'm a chemistry student and I have never seen a "master baker" inside a chemical name... Probably somebody playing with the words? If you're wondering where I got this, try looking up the Drug section at the bottom of the page.
Joonhon (talk) 04:25, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
It was a vandal. I've reverted that edit twice now. — Hex (❝?!❞) 14:34, 27 July 2008 (UTC)
My impression as an American who lived and worked in the UK for 12 years is that adhesive putty is much more popular in Britain than elsewhere. I think nearly anyone who works in a British office is familiar with Blu-Tack, but few in America would be familiar with adhesive putty at all. (I don't know about other countries.) In the UK, it seems to have nearly the same level of recognition as Post-It notes; indeed it seems to be almost a cultural phenomenon. If this is true, should something be said about this in the article? If not, could someone set me straight? G Sisson (talk) 03:07, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
As a British boy in the 80's, Blu-Tac (I'm sticking with that for discussion!) was an essential item - how else would posters for Spectrum games be stuck to the wall? Oh dear... I have the impression (from films, I suppose) that Americans favour poster hangers? Gandru (talk) 01:31, 2 March 2010 (UTC)
I would subscribe to the view blu-tack has a special place in our hearts. What we need is an appropriate citable source. The reference in this article to the popularity and extensiveness of the artistic/unconventional uses section on the British Blu-tack website suggests the appetite (real or not) for such content and thus a status as cultural phenomenon or icon - not that i am authorative user of these terms. So, if you have any good citations to strengthen what is already suggested here, you go ahead and think of how to include or restructure to include this assertion. Otherwise, I think this will have to do for now, wont it? Kathybramley (talk) 20:21, 2 May 2010 (UTC), British thirty-something.
'"White Tack", made by the German company UHU, is similar but, as the name suggests, is white, so coloured so that it doesn't stain walls or show through easily on posters as Blu-Tack does.'
In South Africa, Prestik is white as well (by default anyways), so why does the German "White Tack" get special mention of being white, especially since the name is so self-evident. Removing this special reference. Geqo (talk) 04:29, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
...a trademark? I had a quick look at the Blu-Tack website and didn't notice any of those "®" or "TM" characters, but I think that whether or not it is a trademark should be clarified and then mentioned in the article. 212.84.121.75 (talk) 05:54, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
Yes, Blu-tack is a trademark of Bostik. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cmoinat (talk • contribs) 10:24, 19 October 2010 (UTC)
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Why on the 'Uses' section is there no mention of the fact that its primary use is sticking things to walls? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.82.181.195 (talk • contribs) 15:52, 6 October 2012
According to the Uses section: Blu-Tack can be used as a damping agent for sound and vibration applications, due to its low amplitude response properties.
However, the source "http://www.stereophile.com/content/sound-surprise-loudspeakerstand-interface", does not mention blu-tack, nor its low amplitude response properties. --134.225.160.102 (talk) 01:10, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
If you search the forum on http://www.stereophile.com for 'Blu Tack' , 'Blu Tac' or 'Blu Tak'. Just search each page. There are many references to it's use as a damping agent.
Here are some links. If you do a page search you will find some reference. I haven't asked permission so I'm not going to copy/paste the actual text:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/tweaks-good-bad-or-different
http://www.stereophile.com/content/lets-do-some-referencing
http://www.stereophile.com/content/revisiting-hi-fi-break-1
http://www.stereophile.com/content/new-tweaky-tweaks-1
Another thing I've noticed is that the link for the phrase "damping agent" links to an article about damping in musical instruments but does not link to the soundproofing article which is more relative. I have not yet found an article on wikipedia which refers to this substance from a vibration damping point of view so I think this subsection should be expanded and linked from the soundproofing page. OR vice versa. The absorption section of the soundproofing page does not supply names of specific products.
As a rule of thumb, if you want to suppress cabinet resonances the least, you should support your speaker on upward-pointing spikes or cones. If you want to suppress resonances the most, you should use thin pads of Blu-Tack about the size of a nickel.
There needs to be information about how to remove the stuff, by a solvent or otherwise. 94.30.84.71 (talk) 08:33, 3 October 2016 (UTC)
It’s time to remove from the encyclopaedia the unsourced and probably unsourceable inventor information that was added nearly 10 years ago with these edits. Not only has that information been the subject of an unresolved Citation Needed tag since 2008, it has been publicly queried by the author James Ward in his 2014 book Adventures in Stationery (published in the US as The Perfection of the Paper Clip). Ward states
The name of Alan Holloway was added to the Wikipedia page in November 2007 (although no citation is given). There was indeed a sealant company based in Waterlooville, Hampshire called Ralli Bondite but this was dissolved in 1995 and so employee records are difficult to trace. The Wikipedia user (Coltrane67) who made the original changes has never edited any other Wikipedia page before or since. Is Coltrane67 actually Alan Holloway (or a close relative)? It's impossible to know. (If you are Coltrane67 and/or Alan Holloway then please do get in touch).
There appears to be no pre-2007 published source that supports the Alan Holloway story, and indeed Ward states that the person responsible for the creation of Blu Tack "remains a mystery even to Bostik”. All of the post-2007 internet references I have been able to find appear to derive from the Wikipedia entry itself.
I have amended the text accordingly, using Ward as the reliable source. MichaelMaggs (talk) 11:15, 14 May 2017 (UTC)
--
Hi Michael and others, Alan Holloway died a few years ago (I think it was about 2017). I have been in contact with his family, and they have confirmed that Coltrane67 was in fact Alan's Wikipedia username:
In answer to your question about coltrane67, yes that was indeed [Alan's] wikipedia handle (Coltrane - he loved Jazz, 67 - his house number)
[Source: information provided to me by M. Holloway, personal correspondence, dated 2020-09-25.]
So the information Alan Holloway added to the article in 2007 was in fact written from his first-hand knowledge. But note the following caveat:
Alan Holloway's family have indicated that he did not claim to have invented the Bostik version of the product. Rather, when working at Ralli Bondite from 1966 to 1971 as a polymer chemist, in search of new formulation for gun-grade sealants, he invented a precursor product to Bostik's: a semi-elastic substance which could hold its shape. His co-workers found could be used as a re-usable adhesive to hold up posters, which became the inspiration for the Bostik product. During a visit by some Bostik executive, Alan Holloway was asked to provide a sample of the product, for which Ralli Bondite had no use. The Bostik product was released some time afterwards, with an improved formulation, as Alan Holloway's product bled oil onto the paper after a time.
Alan Holloway's family provided a letter which Alan wrote to James Ward after the publication of "Adventures in Stationery":
1st July 2016
Hi James, some additional data which may help flesh out the next edition.
I was born in 1946 and worked at Ralli Bondite as a laboratory assistant from 1966 to 1971. Prior to this I worked in a similar position for FPT Industries, who made military aircraft rubber fuel tanks and hovercraft skirting. Thus I was well versed in the characteristics of various polymers, which is why Ralli Bondite chose to employ me.
Most of my work was developing new products, under the direction of Chief Chemist Colin David Hall, and in seeking to improve the existing ones. One of the main products was Bondite, a gun grade sealant for use by the building industry. [...]
Most conventional products of the 60s were formulated using 'drying oils' like linseed or tung oils. These oxidised and formed a skin on the surface of the applied sealant. This would crack when the joint opened and closed with building expansion in hot weather. Eventually the sealant would harden throughout its depth and would need replacement. This did not happen with Bondite as the extender oils were mineral and did not oxidise. However, because of this the surface always remained slightly tacky, and over time became discoloured from dust etc. A large part of my time was spent examining and testing various additives with the hope of making the surface 'tack free'.
I had acquired some samples of liquid acrylic pol[y]mers (newly developed by Rohm & Haas). A couple of these were in the form of emulsions, and I decided to investigate incorporation of a small amount into the Bondite. No sooner had I added a small quantity into the z blade mixer, the motor changed tone as it was starting to labour. I turned the machine off and realized that what was once a soft paste was now a much stiffer semi-elastic compound. The change was so dramatic that I showed it to my boss, the Chief Chemist. He commented that it had unusual properties in that it was both semi elastic and could hold a shape, but was easy to re-join pieces together. We both handled it and realized it didn't stick at all to flesh and was easy to remove cleanly from his wooden desk top. I think it was him who put some blobs onto the corners of a small poster and stuck it on the painted wall. Over the next couple of days Colin showed this to Company Managers, just as a 'fun' thing. I can't recall the exact timetable, but I think it was within the next couple of weeks, when we were visited by a couple of executives from Bostik. I think it was because Ralli Bondite & Bostik were considering the possibility of stocking each other's products, because Ralli Bondite had a sister Company called Ralli Seal, who got contracts for supplying and applying sealants on major construction sites. They would sometime use Bostik sealants if specified by the Architect.
Anyway, whatever the reason for their visit, they were shown around the laboratory. During their tour the Chief Chemist demonstrated sticking posters on the wall (and other heavier objects). I was asked to provide a sample for them to take away (don't recall whether they asked or it was offered). I am not claiming that the product I discovered ended up as Blu-Tack, but that it became the inspiration for Bostik. In fact my compound bled oil into the paper after a few weeks or so, a problem clearly overcome with the eventual product when it was launched.
I think the Chief Chemist died November 2012 according to an obituary I found via a web search, so unfortunately he is not be around to confirm these details. I lost contact when I left in 1971, but I think I recall someone saying he eventually became Managing Director of Ralli Bondite.
The Managing Director at the time I left was a Peter Clowes, appointed by the Ralli Brothers Merchant Bank, to replace company Founder Alan Wacers, whom they got rid of! Anyway, well done for producing the book. With kind regards,
Alan Holloway
[Source: letter provided to me by M. Holloway, personal correspondence, 2020-09-29.]
I hope this clears up the confusion. While details of the Bostik product will probably never be known to the world, we at least have the full story on the precursor product invented by Alan Holloway.
Now it does, however, leave us in a quandary. Although the details of the saga have now been revealed, according to Wikipedia policy, James Ward's Adventures in Stationery is the only "reliable" source on information. And Ward basically says the origin is unknown (as he couldn't find out any further information). But now we have the complete story with all its details, Alan Holloway's letter is unpublished, and [according to Wikipedia policy, is thus an "unreliable" source (until/unless James Ward or someone else puts it in print)], even though it is clearly comprehensive and straight from the horse's mouth!!
So the "reliable source" says there is no information, but the supposedly "unreliable source" gives us the full eyewitness story with the complete technical details!!! I will see if there is some way to go forward on this one: possibly in the way of a footnote. [Although we can't get around the fact that the letter is unpublished, one could argue that it is technically verifiable, one would just have to ask all the other persons who worked there at the time. If I'm not mistaken, fact that we have no way of contacting them is probably technically not an impediment to verifiability!] There's also IAR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignore_all_rules
Please PM me if you need to communicate with me on this. Fh1 (talk) 14:29, 26 December 2020 (UTC)
I've done a bit of thinking: I propose re-introducing the text which Alan Holloway added in 2007, with a citation to the above unpublished letter provided by his family, as justified under WP:IGNORE:
"Ignore all rules" (IAR) is a policy in the English Wikipedia. It reads: "If a rule prevents you from improving or maintaining Wikipedia, ignore it." (emphasis in original))
This seems to fit this category. Basically, we know the full details of how the similar precursor product was developed and who invented it, but Alan Holloway's edits were deleted later under the verifiability and reliable source policies.
While Alan's product wasn't exactly the same as Bostik Blu Tack, it was similar. His edits improve Wikipedia, and there is currently no other way than WP:IGNORE to put that information in, as there are no published sources.
If we do this, we would want to do a bit of editing (e.g. remove the first person pronoun "I") and may need to add some kind of footnote to say that yes, the source is unpublished, but nonetheless included under WP:IGNORE.
How do other editors feel about this? Fh1 (talk) 15:13, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
Seems an obvious question, but the article asserts that Blu Tack was originally white in colour. If this is true, why is it called Blu Tack? Was it renamed Blu Tack after the blue dye was added to the formulation? If so, what was it called originally? 109.158.44.178 (talk) 08:06, 3 November 2017 (UTC)
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