In order to do a quality, professional paint job, it is vital that you give a lot of attention to the spots which you want to paint, as well as those which you don’t want to paint. To effectively do this, you will need to use the right kind of tape to set the demarcations between the two different spots.



Painter’s tape as is popularly known is a special type of masking tape that is applied on surfaces and is designed in a way that it can easily be removed. The tape serves to prevent paint from bleeding or leaking over into the spots or surfaces which you don’t want to paint.

When peeled off, the painter’s tape comes off smoothly and leaves the spot that was painted in perfect condition without peeling off the paint. It also creates a visually appealing borderline that makes a distinction between the painted and unpainted spots.

Painter’s tape, therefore, allows you to do your paint job confidently, leaving you with minimal paint mistakes that need correction. It also allows you to work at a faster pace as compared to when you carry out a painting project without it.
Painter’s tape has different variations. That is why you need to know how to pick the proper tape that will serve well for your paint job.

So here are a few steps to follow when picking out the proper tape for your painting project:

1.    Determine First How Long The Job Will Take
The amount of time that the paint job will take to both paint and cure will determine which type of tape you will use. On the packing of the masking tape, check on the written details to know how long the adhesive backing will remain fresh and how easily it will lift off and not damage the surface or crack into different pieces.

Waterproof and exterior tapes if used should be removed within a span of 7 days in order to prevent any kind of damage on the surface. If you use a multipurpose tape with a medium adhesive, you should remove it within a span of 14 days after use.

If you are painting a delicate surface or you’re doing a high detail paint job, using low adhesive painter’s tape will be more ideal since they can serve you for up to 60 days. This is, however, dependent on the humidity, the degree of the sun, and the heat.

The information on the tape’s label will give you more details on the time estimates which the tape can serve along with other environmental factors that may affect the effectiveness of the tape.

2.    Determine The Level Of Adhesion
Masking tapes or painter's tapes have varying degrees of stickiness. As such, they may work differently when applied on surfaces. Here are 4 major adhesion strengths that you can choose from:

I.              Low Adhesion
This kind of tape works best on delicate surfaces such as wallpaper, faux finishes, and patterned or decorative paint jobs. These tapes are able to effectively stay in place for a period of a week up to 2 months based on the brand you use.

II.            Medium Adhesive
This kind of tape is suited for indoor surfaces like plaster and drywall. It also serves well on surfaces that can be easily scratched such as glass, stone, unpainted and painted wood, and metal. This tape can remain in place for a period of 2 weeks.

III.           Heavy Duty Adhesive
This type of tape is best suited for outdoor jobs. It serves well to protect stick-resistant surfaces such as brick, stucco, concrete, and lacquered paints. This tape should not remain on a surface for more than 7 days.

IV.          Special Purpose Adhesive
If you have a surface that is fitted with laminate floors or wood floors that are either unfinished or are coated with lacquer or polyurethane, you can protect these floors using rosin paper and a painter’s tape that is specifically designed to work on such materials.

3.    Check On The Width Of The Tape
When taping off windows, moldings, and trims as you paint walls, the proper tape widths to use are 1.41 inches and 1.88 inches. These widths form a perfect edge without excessively covering the surface you are painting.

For corner spots, a narrower tape width of 0.94 inches is more preferable as it easily fits into tight surfaces. Extra wide tape that is between 2 and 3 inches works best for taping ceilings and floors.

Conclusion
Those 3 steps will come in handy in guiding you on how to pick out the proper tape for painting projects. That being said, here are some quality paper masking tapes that you can buy and use for your painting projects.