Movable nail on track toward success

It all started with one little mistake: The year was 1983, and an adhesive technician forgot to close the cover of the adhesive mass kneader when he went on his lunch break. When he returned, the solvent had evaporated. What was left was a firm, viscous mass that could be removed easily. And so the principle of the movable nail was born: adhesive that can be removed from the wall without a trace.

Chemical structure

Today, the tesa Powerstrip® is available in 28 countries; the assortment consists of four different strips, 30 hooks, and six affixing systems. In Germany, tesa’s market share of 44.5 percent makes it the undisputed market leader for self-adhesive hooks.

Over the years, the cutting-edge strips have developed into real all-around solutions: Their holding power rose by 50 percent, to 1.5 kilograms. That means that the Powerstrip can bear 1,500 times its own weight. In addition, the strips are now crystal-clear and UV-stable.

The undisputed market leader

The newest Powerstrips® consist of several resins and styrene block copolymers. These molecules are responsible for the combination of firm hold and easy removal: Alongside the 70 percent of them that is made up of soft, elastic molecules, they also have hard, fixed particles as well.

Before a Powerstrip® is stretched, its chains of polymers have a great deal of freedom of motion, and the strip adheres correspondingly well. As soon as the strip is stretched, its adhesion disappears almost completely and the strip can be removed without a trace.

Today, tesa has numerous patents having to do with the strong strip – but it surely won’t stop there: The developers see new potential, particularly for applications on various subsurfaces.