I'm in the process of repainting the interior of my house, so I've tried pretty much every tool out there in the hopes that they will somehow make the painting quicker, easier, or both. I've also found that a careful tape job is very important to the end result. Slapping up the tape means lots of touch-ups later. I found this tape at a local paint shop several months ago. They had just gotten it, and it wasn't even for sale yet, but I convinced them to sell me a roll they had behind the counter. First, it isn't perfect (is anything?). You still have to tape carefully, aligning it just right and making sure the edge toward the paint is properly pressed down onto a clean surface. There is just no getting around that, especially if you want precision. Because this tape seems to be a form of plastic, rather than blue crepe paper, it won't absorb any paint. This is good in that it is more effective at blocking the paint from getting onto the taped surface, but bad in that if you don't wait long enough to remove it, the paint on its surface will still be wet. As expected, it is more expensive than the blue paper tape. In fact, it is a larger price difference than you might think on first glance. Check the length of the tape on the roll. It is lower than the paper equivalent, which means you are paying more per foot just because of that. It is just like the old trick of reducing the amount of cereal in the box while keeping the price the same. They've raised the price without making it obvious. How is it better? Well, it is a lot better. It is so much better I almost wish they would stop selling the older kind. If they lowered the price a bit, I'd be all in favor of that idea. It tears in a fairly clean line. The paint store manager went to the trade show where the tape was introduced, and told me one of the big selling points was the ability to tear the tape at a 90 degree angle. I've found that it is much easier to get a straight tear than with the paper tape, which is kind of surprising. You would think the plastic wouldn't tear at all because it has some stretch to it. I normally cut my ends with a scissor so that I can get the exact angle I want without deforming the tape, but sometimes tearing is a good choice, and for that, this is better. Just don't expect magic 90 degree cuts like you can get with a scissor because that's not going to happen. It does have some stretch to it, and while I try very hard not to stretch the paper tape because that causes paint leaks, this one is far more forgiving in that respect. That, along with the thinner thickness of the tape and greater pliability, means that you can tape off complex curves that are nearly impossible with paper tape almost effortlessly. It is fantastic for things like wall sconces, for example. The pliability takes a little getting used to because the paper tape is so much stiffer. It almost feels like it is going to fold over and stick all over itself, and this is easier than with paper tape, but luckily it doesn't stick so firmly to itself that you can't easily pull it apart and keep going if this happens. It also means that it "fights" you less when turning corners, like around windows. The paper tape always seems to be trying to pull away wherever it bends, and this tape doesn't do that. Curve, corner, bend; it just zips along like a roller coaster and lies down like it will never come up. 3M has a lot of experience with adhesives. They make a lot of products, but if you squint, you'll notice adhesive is a very common selling point in many of their products. This one is very similar to the old tape, perhaps a little lighter because the thinner tape doesn't require as much force to keep it in place. I was concerned at first that I wouldn't be able to pull up the end when it came time to remove it, or that it would stick to itself strongly enough to turn into a sticky blue ball of twine and waste product, but they've nailed the adhesive on this. It is sticky enough to hang on as long as you need it to, while weak enough so that it can be repositioned and won't get stuck in the wrong places. I probably should have known. My guess is that they spent at least half the product development time fine tuning the adhesive. Very highly recommended, but grab an extra roll because it runs out more quickly than you might expect. Sean Logue, 2016
