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Home Owners Articles Product Reviews Painters Tape Review 3M vs Frogtape Painters Tape Review 3M vs Frogtape |
Products - FrogTape vs 3M Painters Tape A lot of contractors use some type of painters tape on painting projects. Painters tape is used for allowing fast painting and to protect surfaces that are not getting painted. When used the appropriate way, the tape, will allow the painter to make sharp straight lines when painting. There are many different makes, different sizes and different adhesion types. The key element in painters tape is the adhesive. If the adhesive is too sticky then the tape will leave behind a sticky residue and or remove the paint from the surface. If the adhesive is too dry then the tape will allow wet paint to bleed under the tape.Just recently, I purchased a couple of rolls of green FrogTape. On past projects I have used the 3M blue painters tape, but I always wanted to test the claims of FrogTape. With using the 3M tape I have always had some type of bleed through. I am positive that the bleed through was not always the tapes problem but had something to do with my preparation before painting. Since I had some extra cash in my pocket when I was at the hardware store I figured I would pick up a couple sizes of green FrogTape to see how well it performed. Since I am usually in a hurry when I start painting, I don't always thoroughly clean every area of the wall and because of this it is usually the cause of bleed through. These areas are usually places like top of moldings, wall corners, base board, and case molding. It's not that I don't clean these areas, it is that I don't spend time going over them more than once. To do this review and to make it some what a fair comparison to the 3M blue tape, I cleaned the walls and molding no different than I have done before.  FrogTape is similar use as the 3M's blue tape. It pulls off the roll and is easy to tear off and place on the project. However, with the FrogTape I did not have any extra rips where I did not want them. Using 3M's blue tape off their large size roll I usually get tears caused by the adhesion being too strong on the roll for the large sized tape. This ends up wasting a good sized piece. I do realize that if I were to slow down and take my time this may not be a problem, however, I find this annoying that the tape cannot keep up with me. Both products had no problem being pulled away from the project when the tape was not applied exactly where I wanted it. However, the larger 3M tape size had a tendency to tear easier when trying to remove it. The area that I placed the tape on was an already pained surface that had a least a week to dry. Be careful when applying tape to areas that have been recently painted because if the adhesion of the tape is too high it will pull the paint off the wall. Both FrogTape and 3M did a good job coming off the wall in a reasonable amount of effort. I did have both tapes rip in spots but the FrogTape tape seem to rip less frequently. When I removed the tape I used a ninety degree angle away from where you want the straight line. This will allow the painted edge to come up cleanly and not bring up the newly painted surface. After the tape was removed I could see how straight and crisp the line was on the painted surface. From what I could see I was quite happy with FrogTape. It left a better line and there was little bleed through. One thing to note is that when you are applying the tape to the project is to run your finger or finger nail on the edge that will be painted. That will help adhere the tape to the project. Overall I was quite satisfied with FrogTape. I'd like to keep using it to see how well the entire roll does. Is it worth the extra dollars that you will pay for the tape? Well, that depends on how picky you are with your lines. To answer the question I think for the average home owner they should be satisfied with the 3M product. However, I am very picky on my work and I like to see crisp lines the first time. If this product can provide crisp lines then I will be buying more. If not, I will continue using 3M blue tape. Don't get me wrong I like 3M products but if another product comes out that is better and can save me time, then I am willing to pay the extra for crisp paint lines. Set as favorite Bookmark Email this Hits: 555 Comments (0)  Write comment |
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