Erasable File Labels Starter Kit by Label Once

File labels are something that we have probably all dealt with, I know that personally I’ve found myself either trying to remove or reapply labels, because I made a mistake when writing on them, and it is usually a frustrating exercise.  The folks at Label Once came up with the Erasable File Folder Labels that I picked up from Organize.com as a way to deal with the re-labeling frustration that we have probably all dealt with when it comes to our home office supplies.

Inside the Erasable File Labels Starter Kid made by Label Once

The Erasable File Label Started Kit comes with 80 sticky labels that measure 3.44″ by .59″ which are made to fit your standard letter size 3rd cut (folders with the left, center, right tabs) folders.  Additionally you also receive one Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent Marker (not to be confused with the Fine Point Sharpie Pens) and one Label Once permanent marker ink eraser.  The labels have a slightly glossy finish on them, which made me initially think that writing on them might be difficult and require a long waiting time to dry, but fortunately this was not the case.  In my writing tests I found that you initially need to wait about 3 seconds for the ink to dry on the labels, which I think is completely acceptable.

Writing Sample on the Erasable File Folder Labels

The above close up of the labels shows you the thickness of which the Sharpie marker writes on the labels, and you can see in the bottom right hand corner of the erasable labels, there is a non-erasable “Label Once” logo printed.  As I said, you should wait about 3 seconds to let the ink completely dry on the labels before you peel them off and apply them to your folders, or you can just apply them to the folder and then write on them.

The Erasable File Folder Label After Using the Permanent Ink Eraser on the Writing Sample

The process of erasing the ink from the erasable file folder labels is fairly easy, but it does take a little more pressure than I had first assumed it might.  I guess the visual of black marker on a glossy white background put me in the mindset of using a dry erase white board, but luckily the ink on these labels does not come off THAT easy or they wouldn’t be very useful.  After coming to terms with my misguided thought process, I applied a bit more pressure with the eraser, and I saw the ink begin to come off.  Much like a typical pencil eraser, you get the little shavings of rubber fuzz as you work to remove the written text, so you will want to be sure that if you are using a pocket type folder, rather than a regular folder that just opens and closes, that you don’t get the eraser shavings stuck inside the folder.

I really like these erasable labels and think they are great for the environment so you don’t have to use so many labels or destroy folders trying to replace the labels.  These seem like a great item to have on hand for any home office.  For some reason I can’t find these Erasable File Folder Labels on the Organize.com website even though I just ordered them recently, but they do also currently have Erasable Hanging File Folder Labels For Index Tabs, Erasable Labels for Binders, and Erasable Storage Box Labels available.

© 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

Avery White Shipping Labels with TrueBlock Technology

Its hard to do much thats exciting with shipping labels, but to tell you the truth, what Avery has done with their TrueBlock technology is pretty cool as far as office supplies go.  Id even say that because of what Avery has done with these Shipping Labels these are environmentally friendly in their own way.

The cool part about these Avery shipping labels is that you can use them directly over a shipping label from any box or package that you already have and the printing from the old label wont show through.  I tried this on an old box that I have and the results were definitely impressive because in the past I’ve tried to reuse boxes like this, but couldnt because the old address showed through, and when I manhandled the box and tried to peel the label off, I ended up ruining the flap.

An old box with an old shipping label waiting for the new Avery label

So lets take a look at how these Avery labels actually work.  Above is a photo of an old box that I have with an old shipping label that I’ve obviously blacked out with a Sharpie and then blurred with Photoshop.  The Avery labels supposedly will cover this label and not show any remnants of the old printing on the old label.

Back side of the Avery Shipping Label with TrueBlock technology

I think the thing that makes these labels so hard to see through is that be back side of them has a dense gray background to block you from being able to see through the typically more transparent regular labels.  One interesting thing about these labels though is that they do have a little bit of a smell to them, nothing overpowering, but something that I’ve never noticed in a label before.

Avery White Shipping Label TrueBlock applied to an old box

It is probably hard to tell from the photo, but once the label was applied over the old shipping label, it was literally impossible to see through to the old one.  Again, I’ve had this problem before when I tried to sell some items on eBay, I figured Id try to reuse an old box, but I ended up destroying the old box trying to remove the label, these Avery Labels have be absolutely convinced that I can now reuse boxes with no worries of the old label showing through.

Again, shipping labels dont usually strike me as something that would qualify as being a cool or unique office supply, but the minor addition of a darker backside on the label not only make these labels much more practical, but they also help the environment by making old boxes or envelops reusable.  Definitely check out these Avery labels with TrueBlock technology if you are in the market for some new shipping labels, and if you have some old boxes that you want to put to good use again.

© 2009, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

The Post-it Durable Filing Tabs, pack of 66

I took a trip to Staples the other day to see what cool new office supplies I could find, and the good people at 3M and Post-it  didnt let me down.  I picked up these Post-it Filing Tabs, they said “New” on the package and I dont remember seeing them before so Ill assume that they are in fact new.

Post-it Durable Filing tabs in their dispenser

Sometimes when I buy office supplies, I honestly dont have an immediate use for them, but in the back of my head I know that it is something that I should have on hand just in case.  That was my initial reaction when I saw the Durable Filing Tabs at Staples, I didnt know exactly what Id do with them, but they just seemed like they are something that any organized person should have on hand.  For about $5 I figured, I had nothing to lose so I picked up a pack to see what they were all about.

Side view of the filing tab dispenser

The Post-it Durable Filing Tabs come in a set of 66, you get 22 of each color, red, blue and green.  With all this talk of them being “durable” its probably worth addressing that portion of the name.  These are noticeably thicker and stiffer than your regular Post-it tabs, so there is definitely a physical quality about these that give the user a good deal of confidence that these can stand up to any abuse that they might encounter as they protrude from the edges of wherever you decide to place them.  I also found that they seem to be quite durable in regards to their stickiness.  I did a stick and unstick test on these and found that even after 30 applications and removals, they still managed to stay affixed to the surface of the page that I stuck them on.

The Post-it Durable Filing Tabs put to use in my notebook of "important" stuff

You know you have a cool office supply item in your hands when it only takes you the length of time to drive home before you figure out exactly what you are going to use them for.  I decided that these would be great additions to some of my Levenger Circa notebooks to help segment out some of the sections without needing to use some of the thick tabbed dividers that they sell because they can take up about 5 pages worth of space.  Having these tabs helps to conserve some of that valuable space in your Circa notebook, so these are a welcomed addition there.  They also just help to act as sub-dividers within the tabbed section of my notebook as well.

Writing samples on the Post-it Durable Filing Tabs.

I thought it might also be helpful to try out a bunch of different pens on the writing space of these tabs, so the above picture shows how the following pens performed on there.  Below is the list of samples that you see from left to right:

• Uniball Jetstream .7mm ballpoint
• Uniball Style Fit gel ink .28mm red
• Pilot Hi-Tec-C .3mm blue black
• Pentel Slicci .4mm midnight blue
• Bic Ballpoint Black medium point
• Post-it Flag Plus .7mm gel
• Pilot Razor Point Red EF
• Basic R\roller ball refill black
• Sharpie Pen Red
• Uniball Signo DX .38mm blue black

The only two pens that I had a hard time with on these tabs were the Post-it Flag Plus Gel (surprising that their own pen doesnt work so great on these) and the basic roller ball refill.  These two pens just didnt seem to want to get the right amount of traction to start writing with, but all of the other pens wrote nicely on these.  Not a big deal in my mind if a specific pen didnt work on the tabs though because its not like you are writing a novel on the tabs, you can suck it up and just use a different pen to write out the 2-3 words on your tabs and move on.

At the end of the day I think these are great office supplies to have on hand to help you be just a bit more organized.  If you cant get to your local staples to pick these up, Amazon also has them for you here.

© 2009 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.

3M &the Post-it Brand offer Post-it pockets for your organizing needs

The 3M company and their Post-it brand is one of the first that always comes to mind when I think about office supplies.  This new product from them has the familiar characteristic of being a re-stickable (if thats a word) item which is something they have proven to be a leader in manufacturing.  It is different from their Post-it notes though in the fact that this is an aid for organizing rather than being a stationary product.  Much like the other 3M Post-it products that I have reviewed, these have been given to me courtesy of my contact at Post-it…you know who you are, so thank you!

The Post-it brand pocket hung on the inside of my desk cabinet door. Notice the Post-it Flag+ Permanent Marker that I have affixed to it as well.

The Post-it brand pockets come in multiple sizes and colors, but for the purposes of keeping things simple I’ve only photographed the “classic blue” color in the bill size (5 3/8″ x 7 3/8″) since conceptually they are identical.   They also come in an antique gray and vintage pink color in “letter size” (8 7/8″ x 11 7/8″) and “receipt size” (3 7/8″ x 8 7/8″). 3M and Post-it do a great job when it comes to marketing their products, they seem to have a little micro site set up for each product and it does a great job of showcasing them all.  The microsite for the Post-it pockets can be found here.

The back of the Post-it pocket has two padded sticky strips that run the length of the pocket which you just peel the adhesive backing off of before affixing to whatever smooth and flat surface you wish to use these on.  All sizes of the Post-it pockets also have a convenient lightly shaded strip on the front bottom that allows you to label the pocket with whatever name best represents the items you will be storing in them.  In my case I used my previously reviewed Post-it Flag+ permanent marker to write on here, and it dried quickly, and showed no smudging when I ran my fingers across the ink.  You can also see that the adhesive on the back is strong enough, and the material of the pocket itself is sturdy enough to hang the marker from so it is always handy.

This size is perfect for a standard letter size envelope, however you can also put a multitude of other items in there including receipts, food delivery menus and even CDs will fit.  As I’m writing this I’ve also just realized that this pocket would make the perfect home for storing my Yankee tickets for the hand-full of games that I still have left…the uses for these pockets are probably endless.  I’ve posted mine on the inside of my desk cabinet like this because it really is great at helping me keep clutter off of my desk that would normally accumulate there.  Although my traveling at work has been pretty limited as of late, I can confidently say that if I did start traveling on a more regular basis, I would love having this at my desk to stick up on a wall for collecting my receipts for expenses since I usually tend to stuff them in a drawer or pocket and forget where they are.  This seems like it would be the perfect solution for that problem.

The Post-it brand pocket, holds up very well to frequent sticking and unsticking.

Obviously  you will just have to take my word for this part (or you can assume that I lie too) but the photo above shows the Post-it pocket after I stuck and removed it from my cabinet 50 times.  I am very impressed with its performance in this area.  The thing that is most impressive is that when you first stick it on and remove it, it does not have “overly stuck on” feel to it where you need to pry it off, yet it is still firmly affixed to the surface.  Even after sticking it on and removing it 50 times, the pocket feels very firmly affixed to my cabinet.  I also took it over to my refrigerator where it has more of a textured and glossy surface because I figured this might pose a challenge for a heavily used sticky adhesive, but to my surprise it was up to the job and showed no problems after sticking and unsticking it 4-5 times there.  Once I was satisfied with this test (and I should probably say impressed by, not just satisfied) I returned it to its now permanent home, my desk cabinet door.

If I had to offer up one minor suggestion for improving these even further, I would look to change the adhesive backing that you peel off of the sticky foam on the back of these.  This isnt even a 3M or Post-it specific issue, but as a guy with short finger nails, I always find it difficult to peel off backing on products like this when the backing is cut to the same exact size as the adhesive part itself.  I think that most manufacturers of items like this would see a huge increase in customer satisfaction with the addition of a tiny tab that slightly over extends the adhesive portion so that the backing is easier to peel off, sort of like the extra tab on the foil top of a yogurt container.

Overall these Post-it pockets take a simple concept and implement it with the high quality that 3M and Post-it are known for in their line of office supplies.  I cant imagine a home or office that wouldnt benefit from having a few of these on hand to help organize the little things that pile up around the house or desk.  It looks like Staples is one of the only places currently carrying these, they offer the 3 pack with one of each size pocket here for $12.99, which based on the quality and durability of these is a great deal in my opinion.  If you are strapped for cash though, no worries because a few of these will be included as an option in my next giveaway thanks to the kind folks at 3M and Post-it.

© 2009, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.