Like measuring, painting requires two plans and one execution. It’s a massive job, therefore you want to be certain that every specific thing is worked out before making the first stroke. Choosing the right interior paint, colours, and painting techniques is essential to getting the best results. However, painter’s tape is the real trick to finishing your work in a professional manner. Regardless of experience, painter’s tape will assist keep messes at bay and guarantee a clean painting finish. It’s a crucial component of the majority of painting jobs since it creates a distinct line between colour transitions and keeps paint off undesirable surfaces.
All of the most recent home renovation products for enhancing your home are tested by the engineering specialists at the Good Housekeeping Institute. On a variety of materials, including primed sheetrock and sensitive paper, we take into account things like ease of application, the cleanliness of the paint edge, and if it peeled the surface it was glued to when removed. The removal of the tape was next examined to determine whether (and to what extent) the surface was disturbed. The following are the top painter’s tapes for all jobs, in our opinion, based on analysis of approximately 100 data points from lab tests:
- Frogtape is the best painter’s tape overall. Decorative tape for delicate surfaces
- Best Price Tape for painting: Painter’s Mate Painter’s tape in green
- Frogtape is the best multi-surface painter’s tape. Multi-Surface Artist’s tape
- The most widely used tape for painting is Scotch Blue Original Multi-Surface. Artist’s tape
- Scotch Rough Surface Painter’s Tape is the best painter’s tape for textured walls.
- Scotch Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape is the best tape for delicate surfaces, such as walls.
How to choose the right painter’s tape for your job:
Incorrect painter’s tape usage could lead to poor lines or even cause the wall behind it to be removed during removal. Consider your particular work while choosing painter’s tape to get the greatest results.
- Wall finish: It’s important to choose a tape that is appropriate for the surface it will be applied on. Multi-surface tapes may rip delicate materials like wallpaper or recently painted walls, but they will adhere better to tougher surfaces. When in doubt, choose gently.
- Width: In order to protect the most surface from errant brush strokes, wide tape between 1.5 and 2 inches will be your best solution unless you’re painting a small area. Wider tape might cost a little bit more, but it’s easier to pay a few dollars more now than it is to go back and fix any mistakes!
- Timeframe: Consider the length of time you anticipate needing to complete your task. The majority of tapes specify how long they should be left in place before being removed. It’s crucial to follow this advice to prevent the product from performing negatively, such as prematurely peeling or leaving residue on surfaces after removal.
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Don’t be fooled by the name; although being intended for use on fragile surfaces, this painter’s tape performed well in our testing, earning it a high ranking. In our lab experiments, we discovered that the mildly adhesive paper tape was simple to work with—from pulling it off the roll and adhering it to the wall to the final removal. This made it suitable for both straightforward lines and more intricate designs. It can remain in place for up to 60 days before painting after it has been applied to drywall that has been papered or primed. The tape was removed, leaving behind precise, sharp lines.
The tape is available in widths of 0.94, 1.41, and 1.88 inches and may be used to cover a lot of territory inside a home, including primed drywall, fresh paint, finished wood, wallpaper, veneer, laminate, and vinyl. However, you’ll probably be better off using a stronger adhesive for unfinished or unprimed surfaces.
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Despite its medium stickiness, Painter’s Mate Green is soft on surfaces and simple to use from application to removal. A few dollars less per roll than other painter’s tape options of the same width, it is a multi-surface crepe paper tape that may be used on painted surfaces, glass, wood, metal, and vinyl. The tape may not give the smoothest edges, though, since we discovered some bleeding and feathering after removal in GH Institute tests. The widths of this tape are 0.94, 1.41, and 1.88 inches.
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You’ll need a tape for harder surfaces that has just the right amount of adhesive to hold it in place without damaging your wall when you remove it. When it comes to surfaces, Frogtape Multi-Surface finds a happy medium between cured paint, untreated wood, metal, glass, stone, and carpet.
In studies conducted by the GH Institute, we discovered that this tape’s thickness and stickiness—while making it more difficult to work with—actually worked to its advantage by enabling it to adhere to stronger surfaces. It still left sharp edges and was quite simple to apply and remove.
You have plenty of time to finish your project because it can stay on surfaces for 21 days, but if you’re working in full sunlight, that time limit is reduced to only seven days. The tape comes in widths of 0.94, 1.41, and 1.88 inches.
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Scotch Blue Original Multi-Surface Painter’s Tape has acquired a devoted following and is currently the number one best seller on Amazon. Walls, trim, tile, and glass are just a few of the typical domestic surfaces that our medium adhesive crepe paper tape adheres to.
This tape is available in multi-packs that save money for big jobs in widths up to 2.83 inches, which is about an inch wider than most other options. In testing conducted by the GH Institute, this tape was easy to rip off the roll, stick to the wall, and peel off, however engineers did observe feathery edges, some bleeding, and peeling on delicate surfaces.
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Brick, stone, and concrete surfaces are going to need extra glue to attach to them. The strong adhesive from Scotch Rough Surface is designed to stick to sturdy surfaces while remaining simple to use. Available in widths of 0.70, 0.94, 1.44, and 1.81 inches, it is a crepe paper tape.
According to user reviews, this tape adheres well to somewhat textured surfaces and provides the crisp lines they want with no bleeding. But this tape shouldn’t be used on typical interior surfaces like painted drywall, plaster walls, and wood trim because doing so could damage those materials when it’s removed.
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For sensitive surfaces like wallpaper, this soft tape is a good choice because it is among the simplest to shred, stick, and remove. In laboratory studies, the minimal adhesion left the walls intact following application, but with varying results: When the tape finally fully peeled off the wall, it revealed a little feathery paint edge rather than the crisp line you’ll usually be seeking. The tape occasionally pulled off the wall prematurely.
It comes in widths of 0.70, 0.94, 1.41, and 1.88 inches and is designed for interior usage on softly textured drywall, wallpaper, finished or engineered hardwood, cabinets, and veneers.
Conclusion:
Overall, clean paint lines and splotchy work can both be caused by poor painter’s tape. Despite this, the cassettes we examined performed closely together, indicating that there weren’t any noticeable disparities between them; each tape received a score that was within 10 percentage points of the others. It’s critical to comprehend your need for the painter’s tape before making a choice. Not all painter’s tapes are created equal; some have a very adhesive substance, while others might have a more soft adhesion to prevent sticky residue from ruining the surface.