It's junk. It does not even stick to well itself! I put it over some doo r hinges to protect them while I was painting the door. The tape would not release after one day. I needed to use any means possible to get the paper off. Then mineral spirits to get the glue off the hinges.
The original blue tape is more expensive, releases well, and, is cheaper th an the Duck brand you include the cost of your time.
My $.02
Len
Ok, you have to pay attention to what the specs say. Duck blue tape indicates that you can apply up to 14 days before painting. That's BEFORE painting. Even Frog tape says to remove the tape before the paint dies. Many of these painters tapes have an additive in the adhesive that reacts with the paint to seal the edge and prevent seepage. If you wait until the paint dries you will have more difficulty with removal. And or if the tape was not flat against the object being masked paint can seep under the tape and cause more severe removal issues.
I have never used Frog tape but it looks good in the commercials. But if they want you to remove the tape BEFORE the paint dries, that is bad. Handling tape with wet paint means paint on the hands and fingers and on everything that you touch. It also means that to put two coats of paint, which I normally do, I would have to remove the tape and then re-tape for the second coat. That is not going to happen, I will rely on cutting in the paint edge with a brush, a lot less work and cost than taping twice.
I find that it's best to remove tape after the surface is fully set but before the paint is fully cured. After the first day the chance of things going bad go up quickly. Any second coats should be applied well before this. I generally pull the tape the evening I paint as I'm cleaning up.
I have done my fair share of painting, probably 20+ complete home interiors and I am not a painter.
I'll share a few tricks. If you wait for the paint to dry the tape will take some with it, the paint needs to still be soft to some extent. Experience will help you decide when to pull the tape.
A Quality paint will cover with one coat. So while cheaper paints are cheaper than quality paints they cost you in time. If it does not cover on the first coat you will know this before the paint completely dries. The second coat is easy to apply when the paint is still soft but not sticky.
As far as paint on your hands and fingers and everything you touch, Don't touch anything but the tape and do nothing else until the tape is completely removed. While this may sound like more work you have the other choice of working on cleaning the tape off what it would not release, as you have witnessed. Pull the tape when you can focus your attention, even the pro's get paint on their hands.
In April we had the carpet removed from out staircase and had dark hard wood treads and primed wood risers installed. The installer caulked all cracks and joints. I followed up with a quality oil based simi- gloss enamel on top of the caulk lines and the primed risers. I masked the joints at the ends of the treads and risers and where each met the other both on top of the tread and under the tread. The tape came off with in 3 hours of me painting. No mess other that a bit of paint on my hands. I started removing at the top and worked my way down. Because the risers were still wet I held on to the ball of tape and descended only one time, I did not want to risk kicking the risers. I immediately wiped my hands with a rag and mineral spirits and then washed my hands. If you are dealing with latex, just wash your hands.
And you also have the option of freehand cutting in, that is easy around door jams and walls. Small spaces like a stair case, ;!) better use tape.
Twenty years ago I'd have done just that. Now I just toss the latex gloves instead of handling chemicals.
Hey you are smart! For some reason I wear the gloves when staining but not with the painting..... too obvious I guess. LOL
Although in Houston my hands are swimming in sweat after 30 or so minutes. After a day of painting I think I would have prune hands.
For latex I rarely use gloves but use the $5/100 (on sale) HF nitrile gloves for anything else.
I buy a box of nitrile for my size of hands and my beloved. Neither of us need some of the chemicals we deal with now days. Paint to be included. Sometimes it is bio grade. One never knows what flows or grows in 'wild' water. Might be micro flukes or worms.
Martin
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