Talk:Blu Tack

"its original purpose is unknown"

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've gone and removed it, because it's a rather odd thing to say, and probably needs to be clarified with a source. — Matt Crypto 19:48, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Along the same line, I replaced 'The product was discovered' with 'The substance was invented' since the former supports the 'found on an alien planet' metaphor. --204.11.228.96 23:12, 30 September 2007 (UTC) (first wikipedia edit, btw.)

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)

Did you read the page? That's what it already says. MichaelMaggs (talk) 07:56, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

Use in earthquake preparedness

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.

Invention of Blu Tack by ‘Alan Holloway’?

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)

--

New information on the Coltrane67/Alan Holloway Saga

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)

Many thanks for that information. It's fascinating, and I appreciate you sharing it. Unfortunately I don't think that it's possible to solve the quandary by ignoring Wikipedia's rules on Reliable Sources, whether by way of a footnote or otherwise. The best we could hope for, I suspect, is for a second edition of the book or for some other reliable source to pick this up and to re-publish it. MichaelMaggs (talk) 20:02, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi Michael, What I've done is added the uncontroversial words "of the Bostik product..." to the statement about the inventor being unknown.

I also propose we clarify the first sentence to something like, "A precursor product to Blu-Tack was originally developed by a sealant developer in 1969", which I believe is legitimate and uncontroversial, as the accidental product was not the exact Bostik product, and also indicates that it was not at Bostik (without making a specific claim of the company or the inventor). I also would propose we might be able to edit the footnote wording after the existing Ward reference in some way.--Fh1 (talk) 22:55, 26 December 2020 (UTC)

That sounds fine to me. Not sure how the footnote should best be worded. It could be deleted of course but that would remove the reference to Alan Holloway entirely. MichaelMaggs (talk) 09:40, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi Michael, it's been a few months with no objections from any other editors, so I have clarified the wording in the history section to distinguish between the precursor and Bostick productions. I also read the guidelines on external links, WP:ELMAYBE ("Links to be considered... 4. Sites that fail to meet criteria for reliable sources yet still contain information about the subject of the article from knowledgeable sources. 5. Links to Wikimedia sister projects with relevant material.") I believe Alan Holloway's letter to James Ward dated 1 July 2016, qualifies for inclusion as an external link, as it is important information not available elsewhere. So I have put it under External Links rather than as a footnote, with a link to this page (after all, discussion pages are technically external to the encyclopedia itself, and it is possible to link to Wikimedia sister projects). If you feel this is not correct, you can remove.Fh1 (talk) 23:33, 12 April 2021 (UTC)

Suggestion to re-introduce text from Alan Holloway under "Ignore All Rules"

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)

Generic name?

We say that Blu-Tack is a pressure-sensitive adhesive, but that umbrella term includes other types of adhesive. What is the generic name for this product? I read online that in the United States it can be sold as "Plasti-Tac, Fun-Tac, Sticky Putty, Sticky Tack, Quick Tack, Mounting Putty, or Sticky Gum". Are those all brand names? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 21:47, 25 February 2024 (UTC)