New "Extreme" Post-its Can Stick Anywhere, Come Rain, Wind, or Snow

Post-it Notes are a great way to organize thoughts and write down reminders on paper, but once you move beyond the office, they're not always hardy enough to do the job. You can't get a Post-it to stick on the side of an exterior wall, or somewhere where it's going to get wet or face any kind of wind. But, as Co.Design notes, people who work in kitchens or in construction and manufacturing still need to be able to leave notes and label items, despite the rough conditions. Now they can.

The company that makes Post-its, 3M, just came out with an iteration of the sticky notes made to withstand harsh conditions and rough surfaces. Post-it Extreme Notes can stick to your fridge, containers in the freezer, construction tools, wood, and on a sink. Essentially, the Post-it Extreme Notes are designed to go where regular Post-its can't.

The paper is coated to make it water resistant, and the adhesive is much stronger than the kind that holds the classic notes to your stack of office papers. The water-resistant coating also keeps ink from running, so if you put your sticky note out in the rain or near a spraying sink, you'll still be able to read it. (You can't stick the notes on already-wet surfaces, though—it's just that if you stick them on a dry surface, they won't fall off once they get wet.)

According to Willem Bastiaens, the 3M lab manager who Co.Design spoke to about the new notes, they're even durable enough to last through a hurricane. One of 3M's sales teams left a set of the extra-sticky notes outside a building during Hurricane Irma, and according to Bastiaens, they survived the storm still attached to the wall. The company also tested the notes on construction sites around the country during extreme weather, making sure they could stick for at least a month no matter what the season.

Even if you aren't working outside all day, you can probably still find a reason to use an extra-sticky Post-it Note, whether it's labeling your lunch in your fridge or paint swatches on your walls. You can even use them to stick notes to your fan—if they can withstand a hurricane, they can certainly withstand a room fan. The only surface they're not designed to stick on? Paper.

[h/t Co.Design]