r/Tools • u/ManOfDemolition • 21h ago
Help me with Finding the perfect masking -labelling tape.
Hey everyone. For a while I have been looking for the perfect masking tape. Have now bought and tested over 15 different ones but none cover all my wants. If you have any recommendations or have insights I’d love to hear.
There are a few things I’ve been looking for. 1-No long therm residue. 2-Light color. 3-Opacity 4-Good resistance and retention. 5-Writability and smooth texture
Breaking them down:
1-No long therm residue.
(When I stick it to products, walls, tables I want it to be easy to remove without marks. Some tapes miss the mark on this as their chemical degrade and or react with the polymers I stick them to)
2-Light color.
Yellow, orange, green light blue. Work best. The standard blue is hard to read with black text on it in low light conditions.
3-Opacity
If its too translucent the graphics, texture and text from the material below come through making it harder to read.
3-Good resistance and retention.
Some tapes do have good stickyness but their adhesive breaks down and-or corners lift over time. With some masking tapes this is a feature as it falls of on its own. However I want the maximum retention possible.
5-Writability and smooth texture
Some of the tapes have a hydrophopic coating on them which makes writing with even permanent markers on them impossible. And others for example the 3M blue tape have a rough surface texture which makes writing harder as well as wearing down felt tips very fast. Also some with too smooth textures take way too long to dry. Smearing or contaiminating your hands.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Cheers!
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u/illogictc 20h ago
I have a question. What is the specific use case? You've done very well explaining exactly what you're looking for, and putting out some negatives you've seen, which should help a lot. I'm just wondering if perhaps masking tape in general isn't the best thing for this specific task.
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u/ManOfDemolition 20h ago
Labelling boxes, taking notes directly on objects, labelling plastic bags, wring on walls-tables.
I've used labelmakers but I hate how many steps you have to go through and how expensive they get. I also prefer larger text to be able to spot it at a distance as well.
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u/English999 19h ago
Cannot recommend this vid enough OP. Life changer for me. Masking tapes start at 26ish.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W0sAR_jI4b8&t=119s&pp=ygUNdHlwZXMgb2YgdGFwZQ%3D%3D
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u/ManOfDemolition 18h ago
Damnn, thanks a ton for bringing a video left for dead in my watch later list to my attention ^ Definitely going through this.
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u/StueyGuyd 10h ago
Do you need writable masking tape, or labeling tape? If the latter, artist and console tapes work well (in my experience), and there's apparently also writable gaffer tape.
Might be worth trying.
Console tape example https://www.amazon.com/ProTapes-Artist-Flatback-Printable-Console/dp/B00DVAZT0C/
Gaffer labeling tape example https://www.amazon.com/Labeling-Tape-Removable-Adhesive-Products/dp/B078ZL9YYN
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u/Fragrant-Cloud5172 DIY 4h ago
There are colored adhesive labels available, like 8 1/2” x 11” size for laser printer. You can also use a marker on them. Made to be removable.
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u/ComprehensiveArm6324 21h ago
I use this. Also comes in lime green.