On my sample quilt sandwich, I used regular staples and I had no problem removing them with a stapler remover and no big holes were left. I would not use them to baste a whole quilt top though because if a machine needle hit one then I'm afraid a lot of damage could be done to the machine. Just not worth it to me. I bet the long armer stapled the ends of the quilt to the machine fabric, the ends are always cut off the quilt anyway.