Masking Tapes

Masking is a key step in every painting job. It is the best defense against accidental brush strokes, drips or overspray. Choose the correct masking tape as this will speed up the work with a professional finish, reducing time on touching up and, in summary making any painting job whole lot easier. As with all products there are a wide variety of types of tapes and qualities of masking tape for painting. Cheap masking tape or unbranded bulk tapes will save you money but will cause headaches and cost time. Trade quality tape will not shred like inferior manufactured tape widely available in the market. Shredding is when the tears whilst being unraveled from the roll. Other examples of cheap tape performance are their failure to perform as per the manufactures designs. This can present itself in many ways such as adhesive over or under sticking to the substrate and leaving adhesive residue behind after removal, or lack of line sharpness. Selecting the correct tape relies on two main criteria. The first is the type of surface being masked, multi surface applications require a medium adhesion level and this applies to most types of paint or finished surface. For delicate surfaces such as wallpaper or dry to touch fresh paint a low tack or low adhesion is required. For rough surfaces such as brick, concrete and wood a high adhesion masking tape would be required. The second is the number of days needed to complete a job. For more extensive work it makes sense to pick a masking tape that can be left up for longer periods of time but still removes cleanly. The difference between high quality and less expensive masking tape is the strength of the adhesive which determines the amount of time it can be left before removing. This ranges from approximately 4 hours for basic trade tape and up to 14 days for 3M Scotch Masking Tape. Trade1st list high quality trade specification masking tape with a 4 hour safe release and a variety of masking tape widths these are 0.75 inch, 1 inch, 1.5 inch, 2 Inch and 3 inch. This tape is ideal for skirting boards, architraves, window frames, plaster, light fitting and other non-delicate surfaces. Also available are low tack masking tapes, this can be also called delicate surface tape and are ideal for safe release for up to 12 hours. Low tack masking tapes has extra low adhesion and this ideal for masking wallpaper, unpainted wallboard, freshly cured paints, graphic or stripping and other delicate surfaces, low tack masking tapes come in widths of 1 Inch, 1.5 Inch and 2 Inch. 3M Scotch Masking Tape for painting is recognised as a high quality tape using the optimum combination of materials for a professional complete finish. 3M Scotch Masking Tape use the thinnest possible backing, this reduces paint build-up and leakage underneath the tapes edges, therefore leaving better paint lines. Benefits of using 3M Scotch Masking Tape include backing that stretches less when unraveled, when a tape stretches the adhesive can be damaged and result in paint leakage and less sharp lines. They use high quality adhesives that have the correct adhesion level through-out their application. Trade1st list 3M Scotch Masking Tape, Scotch-Blue 2090 Multiple Surfaces Painters Tape this is a medium adhesion level tape and is suitable for most surfaces included plaster board, painted wood and glass. 3M Scotch Masking Tape 2090 is the original blue tape and removes cleanly for up to 14 days, even in direct sunlight. 3M Scotch Masking Tape 2090 sizes listed are 1 Inch, 1.5 Inch and 2 Inch. Also listed on the site is 3M Scotch Masking Tape 2060 for hard to stick surfaces. This is green in colour and can be removed cleanly for up to 3 days. It features a high adhesion level and is designed for use with lacquer coatings or in cool temperatures. It is also ideal for rough surfaces such as wood, concrete and brick. 3M Scotch Masking Tape 2060 sizes listed are 1 inch and 2 inch. To reduce masking tape application time Trade1st list a hand masker tape applicator. This gives flexibility and allows you to accurately apply tape to smooth surfaces and is compatible with all masking tape up to 2 Inches wide sold on the Trade1st site. A fast and easy-to-use tool, that places tape precisely onto trims and woodwork resulting in professional paint lines. For fast coverage and protection for large areas such as windows, doors floors speed masking system are ideal and consist of tape and either paper or polythene and come complete with a ready to go dispenser.