ALL IN THE DETAILS: DURABILITY
While business is booming for painting and general construction companies, the labor shortage continues to make it challenging to keep pace with demand. For many companies within these industries, working efficiently means smaller crews and controlling costs without cutting corners.
Because beige masking tape and blue painter’s tape are two of the most commonly used tools in these industries, choosing quality is critical, as the durability of these products can create small efficiencies that add up to big savings over the course of a job by helping crews work quicker while preventing waste and rework. Here’s a look at four key features that affect a tape’s durability — and, in turn, make jobsite tasks go faster and avoid product waste.
- Conformability
The ease with which masking tape can be applied to a surface is often determined by the amount of conformability or stretchability built into the product. Quality masking tapes can more easily stretch and form around curves and angles without tearing while maintaining consistent adhesion and contact. Conformability is particularly important for tasks that involve taping around irregular shapes or inconsistent surfaces and for maintaining crisp, clean paint lines. - UV resistance
Painting and construction sites are subject to varying amounts of direct sunlight. The more sunlight in your work area, the more you and your crew will benefit from masking tapes that are UV-resistant. For outdoor applications or indoor projects with surfaces exposed to sunlight for prolonged periods, this added performance feature keeps UV rays from breaking down the tape’s adhesive properties, thus allowing the tape to remain on surfaces for a longer period. It also prevents the tape’s paper backing from drying out and becoming brittle. Dried out tape can lead to adhesion failure and/or a messy residue both of which mean more time and money spent on extra product and rework. Choosing a UV-resistant tape avoids these issues. - Temperature tolerance.
When working in areas with extreme temperatures, it pays to invest in a durable tape that can perform within your specific temperature range. Just like the presence of UV light can break down adhesion or negatively impact a tape’s paper backing, extreme temperatures can have the same effects. So, check your tape’s label to make sure it is specified for your working conditions to get the best results. - Tear Resistance
Tape shredding — when tape tears upon removal — can lead to costly inefficiencies as you or your crew have to spend extra time picking and scraping at small pieces of tape. Preventing shredding relies partly on a little patience when removing. But a more important variable is making sure to use a premium grade tape made with a high-quality fine structured crepe paper that doesn’t easily tear. Lower quality masking tapes typically cost less per roll, but they’re also less durable, which means the up-front cost savings quickly disappear with time wasted on unnecessary cleanup of tape scraps. A higher quality tape will be more durable for tasks like floor marking to masking.
Durable tape pays you back
Durable, high-quality masking tapes can reduce the amount of time needed to complete taping tasks, maintain quality results and reduce wasted product. Simply put, a masking tape with higher durability will stretch and flex to apply more easily, adhere effectively and come off cleanly, getting you and your crew on your way to the next task.
