Last year, Post-It brand came out with the Post-It Extreme Notes, which can resist water and stay sticky to a variety of surfaces, including brick and block -- great for punch out and general construction use. This year, they have continued to push the writable surface innovations by introducing the Post-it Flex Write Surface, which allows you the flexibility to use both permanent and dry-erase markers on the same whiteboard surface.
What it does
What does it mean to be able to use both permanent and dry-erase markers on the same whiteboard? Essentially, no matter what marker you have in your pocket at the time you can use it on this whiteboard, and the thing that sets this whiteboard apart from all others is that permanent marker can be removed from the whiteboard with ordinary tap water, without leaving any staining or ghosting. Standard dry erase markers erase with a dry rag as you would expect. Because it is Post-it they have also included a sticky backing to the dry erase board. The material comes rolled like a wall covering, so you can cut it to size if you want, peel the protective backing and adhere to drywall, wood, glass, or even steel.
Why I like It
I like this product for a few reasons:
First, it is almost inevitable on a construction job site that someone will eventually use a permanent marker on the whiteboard. It just happens way too often.
Second, back in olden times, we would get thin line tape in order to make a grid on whiteboards for scheduling or tracking activities. Or, even worse, we would make the grid out of dry erase markers and have to carefully erase in between the lines. With this product, you can use a permanent marker to make the gridlines and a dry erase to infill your activities. Using a dry rag you will only remove the dry erase maker and the permanent marker will remain until you use a wet rag.
Third, you can buy a large sheet (50 feet x 4 feet) and cut it down and have multiple writing surfaces. With the ability to stick them to a surface, remove, and stick to a different surface multiple times, this could also be used to stick to doors for punching out rooms.
The downside
Price. Pricing starts at $50 for a 3’x2’, $160 for 8’x4’, and $949.99 for the 50’ x 4’ roll. There are cheaper “standard whiteboard” options out there, but none with the range of features that Flex Write offers. If you find yourself using whiteboards on a regular basis this could be a great investment, especially for those in the construction profession.
Full disclosure: Post-it by 3M sent me samples to test and review.
