What are all these colorful tapes used for?

Speaking of tape, I believe everyone is familiar with it. In daily life, tape can be regarded as a universal tool. When we deal with damaged items, reinforce splicing or pack heavy objects, tape can come in handy~

Tape is one of the most common office supplies.

Source: pixabay

Tape is very common in our lives and almost occupies every detail of daily life. Whether it is offline hardware stores or online stores, we can buy all kinds of tapes we want with a simple search.

However, when using tape, the editor discovered a problem. Why do some tapes leave a lot of sticky substances when they are torn off after use, while some tapes can be torn off cleanly? And why can some tapes stick firmly to certain objects, but immediately "fail" to stick to other objects?

Before answering these questions, let us first understand the history and specific principles of tape.

1. The history of tape

Adhesive tape, also called adhesive strip or adhesive paper, is a combination material consisting of a base material and an adhesive.

What is the substrate? We can think of it as a carrier of the tape, and the adhesive is the source of the tape's stickiness.

The adhesive used in early tapes was mainly natural rubber, but now various polymers are commonly used, usually acrylic glue, whose main component is butyl acetate.

Molecular structure of sec-butyl acetate Source: Wikipedia

Adhesives can stick to objects, and the principle is related to the interaction between molecules.

The molecules of the adhesive can form bonds with the molecules on the surface of other objects. These bonds can "bind" the molecules firmly, thus achieving a bonding effect.

The origin of tape can be traced back to 1928. An American named Richard Drew developed an adhesive that was both lightweight and quick to bond. It could be glued with just one press after being applied. Later, he applied it to a transparent plastic film and invented the transparent tape.

Several common tapes

Source: unsplash

Today, tape has become an indispensable item in life. According to different uses, people have invented various types of tapes, which are widely used in daily life and all walks of life.

Tape, a well-deserved packaging "artifact"

Source: pexels

There are many types of tapes. According to their structure, they can be divided into single-sided tapes, double-sided tapes, etc.; according to their types, they can be divided into industrial tapes, medical tapes, electronic tapes, etc.

2. How much do you know about common tapes?

Transparent tape

The most common tape in our daily life is single-sided transparent tape, which is made of transparent PET or BOPP film as the base material, coated with acrylic glue, and then divided into strips and small rolls.

Common sources of transparent tape丨pixabay

Transparent tape has a wide range of uses, strong stickiness, and is easy to use. It has good water resistance, steam resistance, and aging resistance. I recently discovered that some people actually use transparent tape to mold patterns, which is also very interesting.

Yellow tape

When we receive express delivery after online shopping, we often see yellow tape. This tape is usually made of OPP material.

Yellow tape

Source: unsplash

There is basically no difference between yellow tape and transparent tape in use, because the adhesive is yellow, so the tape is yellow. Yellow tape is mainly used in industries such as sealing and packaging fixation because the color is more conspicuous and easy to identify.

Double-sided tape

The use of double-sided tape is also very common. Double-sided tape is made of paper, cloth and plastic film as the base material, and then added with adhesive. According to the viscosity of the adhesive used, it can also be divided into oil-based double-sided tape, water-based double-sided tape, hot-melt adhesive tape and reactive adhesive tape.

Double-sided tape

Source丨Editor

Double-sided tape is made by applying double layers of adhesive on the BOPP film, and then applying a release agent on both sides of the tape to prevent the adhesive from adhering. For special use environments, double-sided tape is more convenient to use than transparent tape.

Medical tape

Medical tape is mainly used for fixing infusion needles and other materials and treating wounds during hospital operations, so it has high requirements for adhesion. At the same time, considering that medical tape needs to be in contact with the wound, it also needs to have good air permeability.

Medical tape is mainly made of non-woven fabrics, PE and cotton cloth as the base material, and is coated with medical hot-melt pressure-sensitive adhesive.

Bandage (back) and medical tape (front)

Source: pixabay

Non-woven fabric, also known as non-woven fabric, is made of polypropylene. Non-woven fabric is a kind of non-woven fabric, which is not made by weaving, but by reinforcing various fiber materials under high pressure through needle-pressing machinery or combing. Its strength is lower than that of real textile fabric. Non-woven tape has good air permeability, light weight, and does not feel strong when torn off, but it is not waterproof.

The main material of PE is polyethylene, which has certain waterproof properties. PE tape is mainly used for surgical wounds, fixing infusion needles, etc.

Cotton material is a woven fabric made of cotton yarn. Cotton tape is softer and stickier than non-woven fabric, but it shrinks easily and is not easy to tear off.

Medical tape is used to fix the infusion needle during infusion. Source: Wikipedia Pressure-sensitive adhesive is a type of adhesive that is sensitive to pressure and does not require other solvents or media. It can be quickly bonded by finger pressure. In addition to medical pressure-sensitive tape used for bandaging, there are also pressure-sensitive tapes with medical functions, which are made by mixing medical ingredients with pressure-sensitive adhesives and can be applied to the affected area, such as common pain relief creams, detoxification patches, etc.

Medical tape has a wide range of uses and is easy to use, but care must be taken to keep the skin clean and dry. It should not be used if the skin is damaged or bleeding.

Electrical tape

Electrical tape, as the name implies, is a tape used in electrical work. Its biggest feature is insulation, and it is often used to wrap pipes and wires.

There are two main types of electrical tape, PVC and vinyl. In addition to good insulation, electrical tape also has long-lasting adhesion and good resistance to high temperatures and high voltages.

Electrical tape source: Wikipedia In general, different tapes have their own uses. Depending on the usage scenarios, we can flexibly use different tapes in combination.

Let’s go back to what was mentioned at the beginning. Whether the tape is sticky enough when it is torn off after use often depends on its material and the length of time it is used. So what can we do if the tape leaves sticky marks after use?

The editor recommends using high concentration (more than 75%) of alcohol. Alcohol is ethanol, a common organic solvent that can dissolve most adhesives. In addition, Fengyoujing also contains a high level of organic solvents, which can also be used to clean the marks left by the tape, with very good results.

After reading the above content, do you have a better understanding of tape?

Source: Beijing Science Center