Disclosed are stacks of absorbent sheets, such as paper towels, toilet tissue, napkins, facial tissue, and the like. The stacks generally comprise a plurality of absorbent sheets bound by compressing the sheets to form a binding element. The binding element is generally free from adhesives or mechanical fasteners, and acts to bind the sheets to one another and form the 5 stack. The binding element may be disposed along only a portion of the stack or may extend continuously across a first dimension of the stack Binding the stack in this manner generally results in individual sheets arranged in facing arrangement with one another without an adhesive disposed between them and as such the entire sheet may be used once it is dispensed from the stack.