'The Tackifier' Blog by FindTape

The primary tape converter we work with has just opened a facility in Las Vegas, NV which they are just beginning to stock. Not only will this lower the shipping costs for orders shipping to the Western United States, but it will also reduce the time in transit to those locations. Also in our checkout process we now allow you to choose "pickup" as one of the shipping method choices. This means that if you're shipping to the general Las Vegas vicinity you can defray shipping costs by picking it up yourself (the facility is located next to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway 15 minutes north of the Strip). Also, items shipping out of Las Vegas via UPS Ground take just 1 day to arrive to the Southern California area including Los Angeles and San Diego. To see if your items can ship out of the Las Vegas warehouse, just add the items into your shopping cart and then enter in your destination zip code and click on the 'Calculate' shipping button. Beneath each line item in your cart it will then tell you the state it will be shipping from. Also if the product you are looking for is not available yet to ship out of Las Vegas just use the Contact Us Form to inquire about whether or not they'll be stocking that product in Las Vegas and the potential time frame.

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The following are some general recommendations or guidelines to follow when applying a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape:

1. Make sure the surface you are applying the tape to is completely dry and free of any debris before the tape is applied.
2. If any cleaning supplies were used recently on the surface please make sure no residue remains from the cleaning product (if so please use water to remove and then let it dry completely).
3. Unwind the tape from the roll (if the tape has a release liner remove it now). During this step be careful not to contaminate the adhesive by touching it at all with your fingers since it will transfer natural oils over to the adhesive side. Also try to immediately bond the tape to the surface without entrapping air between the tape and the surface it is being applied to.
4. Use some application pressure (it doesn't have to be that forceful) in order to achieve maximum bond strength. Make sure there is no gapping remaining between the tape and the surface it is being applied to which would allow water to come into contact with the adhesive-side of the tape over time. This would deaden the adhesive and shorten the life span of the tape.
5. If the tape has an acrylic adhesive the dwell time the tape needs to be in contact with both surfaces (before it reaches it maximum adhesion) is typically 1 to 24 hours. For best results during this dwell time try to provide some application pressure (e.g. clamps, tape over it, etc.); also if holding an item vertically against a surface try and support the weight if possible.
6. For even better adhesion you can also use an adhesion promoter or primer; can see some options at Adhesion Promoter/Primer on FindTape.com.

Scapa has recently discontinued their 142 economy-grade duct tape which our converter had log roll stock in so they were able to offer it in wider widths. They've recently starting stocking log rolls of Polyken GP2280 (available in black, blue, green, olive drab, red, silver, white and yellow) and Nashua 395 (offered in brown and tan) as an alternative. Both tapes are 9 mils thick and are for general or multi-purpose use and they have similar specifications.

During Permacel’s move out of Wisconsin to New Jersey they located an unsold jumbo roll of P-99 that was made at the end of 2008 which they re-certified (the certificate of conformance is here and the shelf life is dated through 7/14/2010). The tape is on Nitto cores (Nitto Denko is phasing out the Permacel name now). The entire jumbo was cut to a 1" width and that inventory has now been added to the web site here.

Shurtape has recently introduced a new glow-in-the-dark gaffers tape called P-661. It has the same adhesiveness and clean removability characteristic of Shurtape P-665 gaffers, but gives you the added benefit of being photoluminescent after the tape is activated by an artificial or natural light source. It is also hand tearable just like a traditional gaffers tape. It has numerous uses including, but not limited to basic stage safety marking (e.g. exists and stairs).

So my family is always making fun of me for insisting we use adhesive tape to solve every problem, so I decided to actually document what tape I've used over the last couple weeks to see how excessive I've really become.

1. I used some black Polyken 510 gaffers tape to hold the power cord in place on an air compressor. Comes off cleanly and doesn't dry out like rubber bands do.
2. Recently put in a new sliding glass door and it came with a molding piece which was to be put on as finish to the side of one of the doors. I assume it was meant to be glued on (the instructions didn't say), but I used some JVCC DC-UHB40FA-C ultra high bond double-sided tape to mount it (I also used some white gaffers tape to hold it in place while the adhesive bond was setting).
3. On a day-to-day basis the tape I probably use the most is Shurtape JLAR. My 3-year old son is always tearing or ripping something in one of his books and this is great for book repairs. I still have some old rolls left over from when Permacel still made the tape and what I love about it is that they crush-cut the rolls so you could just pull on a length of the tape to break it by hand (no scissors needed). Now that its made by Shurtape is razor-cut like most tape so you can't do that anymore, but hopefully my supply will last a while longer.
4. I've been using 3M EC100 super glue all week to fix ornaments like the purse on this snow-lady. One thing I really like about EC100 is that it doesn't seem to clog up and become unusable after you use it a couple of times like I've had happen with other super glues.
5. I've been using a lot of gaffers tape over the holiday season to hold down cords - here I've used some 4 inch white Scapa 225 gaff tape to cover a green extension cord on my front door. It's a bit wrinkled since I probably should have gotten some help putting it on (it's a little hard applying wider width gaffers and duct tape alone), but you should get the general idea.
6. 3M 109 double-sided poster tape is great for putting up your kid's artwork on walls since it easily removable. In this case I even used some to hold the 109 dispenser up to the wall so I could take the photo.
7. I'm a big fan of the JVCC GLW Glow-in-the-Dark tape and use it on electronics all around the house. I'm always a little surprised when I see reviews of glow tape say it's not very bright. It's definitely not a high-powered light source and wouldn't compare in intensity to say a flashlight, but to darkness-adjusted eye it works great to help you find a remote control in the middle of the night in order to turn off the TV you left on. I haven't mastered the art of photographing a glow product in darkness yet so this is just showing the product in daytime light - pretty boring.
8. Besides the Shurtape/Permacel JLAR, double-sided carpet tape is the other type of tape I used the most often probably. Here I've used some Polyken 105C to hold down the mat rug on a landing outside in the garage.
9. I was having an issue with some file drawers I had on some shelving downstairs. When you pulled the drawer completely out it would overhang the shelving and cause the back of the file drawer to pop up and the heavy drawer overhanging the shelving would then pull it off the shelf (not a very good storage system). I used some extra 2 x 4 pieces to brace the Vaultz File Drawers in place, but I first lined it with some JVCC FELT-06 felt tape to make sure it didn't dig in or scratch the drawers.
10. We just got in some of these Wooster Caution Non-Skid Cleats and figured they would work great on some outside steps I had in the garage. I was going to use the glow-in-the-dark cleats we got in from Wooster instead, but the area I used them on in the garage is pretty dark so I didn't think they would get enough light-activation to work properly. Figured the "Caution" cleats would actually be more visible.
11. To repair a big crack in my garbage can I used some JVCC 762-BD bi-directional filament tape as the first layer and then overlapped it with some wider width Polyken 231 military-grade duct tape. I should probably just call the trash pickup company to get a new receptacle, but this is way more fun.

So not too excessive - is it?

Nashua has recently released two new tarp tapes designed for extended outdoor exposure. Nashua 680004 Heavy Duty Tarp Tape is single-sided black polyethylene film tape which can be used to seal and seam heavy-weight poly tarps. It is designed for 6 to 8 months of outdoor exposure. Nashua 680006 Double-Sided Tarp Tape is a cloth tape with adhesive on both sides which comes on a blue film release liner. It is also used to seam heavy-weight tarps and is suitable for up to 12 months of outdoor exposure. The tapes are available in a 2 inch width and limited inventories of both are now in stock.

Our converter has recently received in tons of overstock high-temperature masking tape from one of the major manufacturers. They've already cut a bunch of it to 2-inch width and it is now available for sale by the case (18 rolls come in a case) for just $23.22 - see JVCC MT-SALE for information and pricing on the tape. A case of 2-inch high-temperature masking tape typically sells for over $100 per case. They also have log rolls available and pricing for widths from 1/4" up to 8" can be seen by looking at the JVCC MT-02 product. The MT-02 product doesn't have any case requirements and all the listed widths can be purchased in single-roll quantities. Thank you.

After running out of our stock of Nashua Big Fix Duct Tape Patch rolls last year we've recently received in more of this overstock item from Nashua. This time both 15-foot and 30-foot long rolls are available for purchase.  Both 12-inch wide silver lengths come in a retail packed box with a convenient side cutter. The duct tape comes on a fast removing paper release liner. It is typically used for repairing holes in items like plastic sheeting and tarps. Also used for quick fixes for car body damage and around doors and windows.

It’s always been easy to order multiple colors of a tape when ordering full cases, but very time consuming when ordering individual rolls. Now we’ve made it much faster. If you want to order single rolls of a tape in multiple colors or sizes, here’s what you do:

Let’s say you’re a hooper and you want to purchase single rolls of the 3/4" JVCC V-36P vinyl tape in all 17 colors it is offered in. Just add one of the items, in any desired color, to your cart. You’ll then see a pop-up window where you should click on "Continue Shopping". At that point all you need to do is change the color selection (the quantity will have already been saved) and click "Add to Cart" again. Do this until all of your desired colors have been placed in your cart.

The “Continue Shopping “ button avoids numerous clicks where you’d have to first get back to the JVCC V-36P product page before placing the new color in your shopping cart. I hope this simplifies the ordering process for those of you who are ordering single rolls of different colors or sizes of the same product.