Is 3m Painters Tape Color Blue Patented

While choosing the right painter's tape may not seem like a major conclusion, nosotros'd fence information technology'due south as important as your paint color selection. Painter's record itself isn't a huge investment—you tin buy a solid gyre of record for around $3. Your biggest investments are the hard work and fourth dimension spent, which tin be ruined if the painter's tape you employ allows the paint to bleed through or amercement your surface with sticky residue.

To assistance yous make the right choice, we spent weeks testing nearly a dozen painter's tapes, judging their agglutinative properties, ability to create a clean paint line, smudge- and scuff-proof texture, and more. And no, none of these tapes were masking tapes—keep reading to find out why.

Above all tapes tested, the bright green FrogTape Multi-Surface Painter'southward Record (available at Amazon) stands out as the best overall for its ease of use, durable withal gentle agglutinative, and extremely clean paint lines against both drywall and crown molding. While the FrogTape Multi-Surface performed the very best, in that location are all the same many we recommend for painting and beyond.

The Duck Professional Painter's Tape (available at Amazon) ranks every bit our best value record for providing an like shooting fish in a barrel-to-apply paint experience at an affordable price. And for a tape option that functions well beyond its pigment realm, the 3M ScotchBlue Original Multi-Surface (bachelor at Amazon) proved to exist ultra-adhesive for uses like mapping out floor or labeling objects during a renovation.

Here are the best Painter's Tapes we tested, ranked in order:

FrogTape Multi-Surface Painter'south Tape
FrogTape Pro Grade Painter's Tape
Duck Professional Painter's Record
Duck Clean Release Painter'south Tape
Bates Choice Painter'southward Record
3M No Remainder Duct Record
3M ScotchBlue Original Multi-Surface Record
3M Scotch Delicate Surface
3M ScotchBlue Abrupt Lines Multi-Surface
Pro Tapes Scenic 728 Painter'southward Tape
Tesa Universal Painter'due south Tape

Person pulling off green painter's tape from wall after painting — Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

Person pulling white painter's tape off of roll — Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

Person applying painter's tape onto wall to paint over — Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

How We Tested

Person painting inside tape lines of green painter's tape on a drywall sheet with a paint brush and red interior paint — Credit: Reviewed / Felicity Warner

The Tester

I'chiliad Felicity Warner, and I'm a home team staff writer here at Reviewed. I've reported on how to properly pigment the interior of your home by speaking with industry experts on the practise's and don'ts, and I've had my fair share of feel in the DIY world, taking readers along on a DIY home project and informing consumers on the dangers of sure at-abode projects.

The Tests

Person painting over crown molding on a drywall sheet with 3-inch painter's tape strips, all labeled with sticky notes. — Credit: Reviewed / Felicity Warner

While painter's tape may be the least expensive purchase in your painting project, it plays an of import part in protecting what is the most valuable—your abode'due south interior and the expensive paint yous're applying. For over a week, I tested up of a dozen unlike painter's tapes in great detail through several comprehensive tests.

I showtime tested the ease of vehement the record off the curlicue. In real-life scenarios, y'all'll demand to take hold of the tape, tear abroad a slice, and apply within a affair of seconds, so the efficiency of fierce off even pieces is a fundamental gene.

Perhaps one of the most important features of painter'due south record is how it performs when painted over. I measured out equilateral tape triangles on Gold Bond drywall panels, painting inside and on top of the record triangles using Behr Marquee'southward Reddish Red Satin Enamel Interior Pigment & Primer with an angled paint brush. I also tested the tape against crown molding past applying small tape pieces and painting along the crown molding edge using the aforementioned paint and brush.

To test the tape's durability, I applied and removed tape pieces x times over on drywall and carpet surfaces, seeing how the adhesive held up later all that habiliment and tear. I also applied tape pieces on a common walking path of hardwood floors in my domicile, allowing three people in my household to walk over information technology with both bare feet and shoes for two days. Lastly, I tested the tape's ability to absorb permanent marker writing and if information technology smudged or bled through at all.

What You Should Know Almost Buying Painter'due south Tape

A expert or bad painter's tape tin can be the difference betwixt a clean paint line and a splotchy job. This being said, the tapes we tested performed within a small margin of each other, meaning the perceived differences aren't dramatic—the tapes all scored inside about x percentage points.

What Type of Record to Use When Painting?

Before deciding on the painter'southward tape, information technology's important to empathise what you need the painter's record for. Non all painter'southward tapes are made the same—some will have a very adhesive material, while others may have a more gentle adhesion to ensure the surface won't exist ruined by tacky residuum.

For example: If you're painting on wood or glass, you lot'll want a frail tape that won't ruin your surfaces. If you're painting the exterior of your home, you'll need tape with a stiff agglutinative.

How Wide Should Your Painter'south Tape Exist?

We tested tapes that varied in width from .75 to one.88 inches. Size didn't play a part in our testing, but you lot may want a wider tape to account for your specific painting needs.

For example: If you need to paint in hard-to-accomplish spots or merely desire to give yourself some wiggle room in case paint splatters, an actress-wide tape is your all-time option.

Painter'southward Tape vs. Masking Record

Painter's tape and masking tape are often used every bit interchangeable items. To fix the tape straight, they actually aren't. While they wait and experience the same with the crepe paper backing, they are each best used for their intended purposes.

Painter's tape is made specifically for paint jobs, to provide clean paint lines and leave no residual.

Masking tape provides the aforementioned adhesion as painter's tape, but won't guarantee you lot a clean paint line or residuum-gratuitous surface after peeling. Some improve uses of masking tape include labeling or mapping measurements out during a dwelling house renovation.

Other Painters Record We Tested

Run across the tester

Felicity Warner

Senior Staff Author, Audience

@fwarnz

Felicity Warner is a Boston-based author, covering all things timely and trending with Reviewed's Audience Development team. In her spare time, Felicity enjoys thrift and vintage shopping and perfecting the art of latte-making at abode.

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