Learn How Stikins ® Labels Make Connections For British Science Week

Today marks the start of British Science Week. This year’s theme is “connections” so we’re looking at the ways that Stikins ® name labels are good at making connections.

Create Connections That Stick With Stikins ® Name Labels!

Stikins ® name labels are good at all kinds of connections – from reuniting lost items with their owners to raising funds for schools. Here’s a list of all the different connections you can make with our name labels.

Reuniting lost items with their owners.

Name labels (re)connect belongings with their owners. They clearly identify who owns an item, which makes it easier to return lost items. Stikins ® labels are bright white name labels, which we print with a bold black font. This contrast helps the personalisation to stand out. You can personalise your labels with one or two lines of text. This provides space for a name as well as an extra piece of information. This could be a friendly message (Please Return To) or something that makes it easier to return an item. For example, a phone number, (short) email address, school name, room number, or class / year group.

Connecting with belongings.

In order to reunite a lost item with its owner, a name label must be attached to that item. There are various ways to attach name labels including sewing and ironing. Stikins ® labels are stick on name labels. This means they use an adhesive to stick onto items. We use a unique, super strong adhesive that allows our name labels to work on fabric items (like school uniform and clothes) and other belongings (like lunch boxes, water bottles, stationery, and P.E. kit).

You might be surprised to learn that we don't really know how adhesives make things stick together. We know they need good cohesion (stick together internally) and adhesion (stick to an external surface). Good cohesion requires strong forces of attraction. This means the particles in a cohesive substance are strongly attracted to each other. No single theory explains adhesion but possible explanations include:

• Adsorption: van der Waals forces develop when neighbouring particles in an adhesive and a surface interact, which creates a force of attraction.
• Chemical: a chemical bond forms between an adhesive and a surface. This is due to attraction between particles OR the sharing or transferring of electrons between atoms.
• Diffusive: adhesive particles move into the surface (and vice versa) while remaining connected to their source.
• Mechanical: an adhesive moves into empty spaces in a surface and hardens to form a physical interlocking between adhesive and surface.
• Electrostatic: electrons transfer between adhesive and surface, creating areas of positive and negative charges, which are attracted together.

Connecting sales of name labels to school fundraising projects.

We run a school fundraising scheme that allows schools, nurseries, and other children’s groups to earn commission on sales of Stikins ® name labels. Our school fundraisers can then put this commission towards their fundraising targets. We give each school fundraiser a unique fundraising number and award 30% commission on every order that quotes this number. We send out commission once a year in November, with a minimum payout of £10.00. All each school has to do is tell parents about Stikins ® labels and the fundraising number they need to quote. We provide free fundraising materials, including leaflets, posters, vouchers, and samples. You can find out more in our School Fundraising section.