Adhesive tapes

Nowadays, adhesive tape has become an indispensable tool in warehouses, logistics, offices and even in homes. There are many different types of adhesive tapes, each for a different purpose: sealing tapes, insulating tapes, warning tapes, double-sided tapes and many others. Today we will take a closer look at adhesive tapes together. What are the uses of adhesive tapes? What are adhesive tapes made of? What are the most common types of adhesive tapes?

Adhesive tapes

The construction of all adhesive tapes is very similar in the basic design. The adhesive tape is composed of a certain substrate that forms the characteristic properties of the tape, such substrate can be for example plastic, fabric or paper. Another integral part of adhesive tapes is the adhesive, which completes the adhesive’s characteristic properties and must, above all, maintain a permanent adhesion. The most commonly used types of adhesives are rubber and acrylic.

An important feature and one of the reasons why adhesive tapes are so popular is their ease of use – there is no need to heat or wet them, just press them to the surface.

Cutting adhesive tapes

Adhesive tapes can be classified in several ways, for example by their intended use or by the material they are made of.

How are adhesive tapes divided by use?

Depending on the purpose, tapes can be divided as follows:

• Wrapping
• Painting
• Assembly
• Insulation
• Reversible
• Warning and signalling

The properties of the tapes depend on their application. For example, paper painter’s tape is an environmentally friendly product, can be easily torn by hand, can be used to cover floors or window sills, is easy to remove and the adhesive leaves no residue on the surface.

Packing tapes are particularly useful in transport – for sealing, securing, closing and packaging various shipments. These tapes are characterised by their high durability, come in a wide variety of widths and can be made of different materials (PVC, PP, paper). There is often also the possibility of printing and personalising the packaging tapes.

Insulating tapes are perfectly suited for electrical wiring and electrical conductor insulation as they are characterised by their excellent insulating properties. The mounting tapes are very strong and adhere strongly to all types of surfaces, they are also very durable. These tapes are very versatile and can be used for various purposes, e.g. for sealing doors and windows, for various repairs, fixings, etc.

Double-sided adhesive tapes are a versatile tool in the home, office and warehouse. They can be used in a variety of ways, for bonding different types of materials such as posters, flooring, carpets and much more.

What materials are used to make adhesive tapes? How can we divide adhesive tapes by material?

Tapes can also be divided, for example, according to the substrate material (carrier material) or the type of adhesive used.

The backing material has the task of carrying the adhesive material and the binder. This also determines the tear strength and stretchability of the adhesive tape.

The most commonly used types of carrier material for adhesive tapes are:

• PP(Polypropylene)
• PVC(Polyvinyl chloride)
• Paper

In addition to these most commonly used materials, there are other backing materials such as cotton, non-wovens and viscose for textile tapes and metal (e.g. aluminium adhesive tape) for adhesive tapes, which are mainly used in industrial, commercial and construction applications.

PP	PVC	Paper
Advantages
Tear resistance	High tear resistance	environmentally friendly
high instant adhesion	highly durable	up to 100% recyclable
cost-effective	quiet unwinding	quiet and easy unwinding
easy unwinding	Moisture and temperature resistant	can be unwound by hand
Available with hot-melt, acrylic or natural rubber adhesive	can be easily printed	very good immediate and permanent adhesion
Disadvantages
does not have good long-term adhesion	not environmentally friendly	low flexibility
loud unwinding (but there is also a quiet PP tape for noiseless unwinding)	more expensive than PP and paper tapes	opacity
Application
for light to medium weight boxes that are not stored	for medium to heavy cartons, also suitable for storage	Light to medium heavy cartons, reinforced up to heavy boxes

Adhesive tapes can also be differentiated according to the type of adhesive, the most commonly used adhesives are the following 3:

• Hot-melt (Synthetic rubber) – synthetic adhesive, adheres to many surfaces
• Acrylic adhesive – synthetic adhesive, permanently adhesive
• Natural rubber – strong and durable, leaves no residue, eco-friendly adhesive option

Hot-melt	Acrylic adhesive	Natural rubber
Benefits
High initial adhesion (bonds quickly and adheres instantly)	Continuous adhesion and good tack (particularly suitable for long distance transport)	High adhesive strength, fast adhesion
cost-effective	high transparency	environmentally friendly
good sealing properties under normal conditions	Suitable for longer storage and outdoor use due to high UV and ageing resistance (max. 1 year)	wide range of applications thanks to many variants of strong and weak adhesives
easy unwinding	easy unwinding	good temperature resistance
Disadvantages
Low UV and ageing resistance (max. half a year)	limited recyclability of cartons	Low UV and ageing resistance (max. half a year)
loud unwinding	temperature sensitivity	yellowing on prolonged storage
temperature sensitivity	weaker initial adhesion	possible colour differences due to natural product

When selecting adhesive tapes, it is important to consider the purpose for which the tape will be used, in order to select a tape that is strong and durable enough or, on the contrary, easily peelable and manually tearable. It is also a good idea to consider the material of the adhesive tapes, if the purpose allows it, we can often reach for more environmentally friendly options.