At one point in time, you may find yourself in need of, or using adhesive tapes. It is sad to note that most people never discover how to use them properly, and end up wasting it. Alternatively, people often get very poor results using such tape.
Here are a few general tips worth considering to avoid continuous waste of your tape, and to ensure that you have a positive experience.
- Before applying the tape, ensure that the target surface is completely clean and dry, with no debris that might affect the strength of the adhesive.
- Start unwinding the tape from the role and in case it came with a release liner, be sure to remove it at this stage. Be careful to not contaminate the adhesive during unwinding by touching it with your bare hands. This will remove all the oils on the adhesive and will compromise its ability to adhere to the surface.
- While applying to the surface, use some pressure for maximum bond strength. Don’t leave any gaps between the surface being bonded and the tape, as this can allow for the entry of air or water, which might end up compromising the quality of the adhesion, thus shortening the lifespan of the tape.
- For adhesive tapes made with acrylic, you should be advised that the dwell time the tape needs before it can achieve maximum adhesion with the surface ranges between 1 and 24 hours. To get the most out of this dwell time, it is highly recommended that you apply some pressure using another tape over it or using clamps.
- For larger applications or if you just want better adhesion application results, you can try using a primer or an adhesion promoter. These will allow you to deliver very good results when bonding the surfaces.
Observing the above tips should enable you to use adhesive tapes correctly for best results.
