# How do staples stick together when you buy them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-staples-stick-together-when-you-buy-them/186991 "2003-07-08T13:29:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-staples-stick-together-when-you-buy-them/186991/1 "2003-07-08T13:29:52Z")
The subject kinda says it all. When you buy staples, they come in those long, lined up rows, all stuck together. However, when your stapler uses them, it has no problem getting them apart. You can also pull them apart without damaging anything. Is it some kind of adhesive? There doesn’t seem to be any interlocking parts. I’m baffled. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-staples-stick-together-when-you-buy-them/186991/2 "2003-07-08T13:33:27Z")
It’s a really weak adhesive, similar to the stuff used on Post-It Notes™. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-staples-stick-together-when-you-buy-them/186991/3 "2003-07-08T13:35:44Z")
On most staple strips I’ve seen, if you look closely enough you can see a thin layer of glue. The glue isn’t strong enough to prevent the stapler from dislodging a single staple from the end of the strip. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-staples-stick-together-when-you-buy-them/186991/4 "2003-07-08T13:35:57Z")
[From this page:](http://search.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/03/09/p22s1.htm) > [@](#): > > The stapler as we know it didn’t arrive in offices until 1914. The first ones used loose or paper-wrapped staples and were hard to use. The breakthrough model, a simplified version from the Boston Wire Stitcher Co., came out in 1923. It was soon followed by another innovation: staples that came glued in a strip. The new office devices were called Bostitch staplers, a short form of the company name. The name became so widely known that the company changed its name to Bostitch in 1948. ---
**Author:** ![KaiserWilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@KaiserWilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KaiserWilly)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-staples-stick-together-when-you-buy-them/186991/5 "2003-07-08T21:36:33Z")
If you have ever used a pneumatic stapler you would be able to more clearly see what keeps them together. It does “appear” to be a thin strip of glue but in reality it is an extremely thin layer of clear low adhesion tape that gives way after the plunger strike (when the staple is installed). If you have a stapler that has been around a while look inside it and you may see what appears to be little balls or flakes of cellophane (as opposed to violaphane) On construction staplers the same technique is used but the staples are larger, hence the left over plastic debri is more noticable. Some construction staples use paper. I have two pneumatic staplers and one uses only plastic backed staples and the other will shoot either one as long as the staple gauge is correct. When you go to Home Depot next time look at the nail gun display under staples (If your interested enough in this topic) you will find that you can more easily see what keeps these staples together. Hope this helps. Bis spater, KaiserWilly