What is taping?

Tape is available in many different qualities and versions and usually consists of two parts: the carrier and the adhesive layer.

Types of adhesive layers

Solvent adhesive: solvent adhesive is a strong type of adhesive and offers long-term adhesive strength. It is therefore recommended for longer storage periods or for closures that must be able to resist humidity, dust and temperature fluctuations.

Acrylic adhesive: this adhesive is based on water and can therefore also be recycled. It is the most transparent adhesive and is perfect for closing coloured and/or printed boxes. In the case of acrylic adhesive, the first tack (immediate adhesive strength) is less than that of other adhesives.

Hotmelt: this adhesive is made of a synthetic rubber. Hotmelt has a good initial bond, is environmentally friendly and is able to resist humidity well. It is less suitable for temperature fluctuations and is particularly suitable for short-term use.

Gum layer: is activated by means of moistening and provides a very good bond. It ensures that the two components are ‘melted’ together, creating a permanent bond.

Types of carriers

The most used types of tape are PP, PVC Tape and Paper tape.

PP Tape is a high quality tape with a very high tensile strength. It is also a cost-effective tape. PP (polypropylene) is characterised by its high longitudinal and latitudinal resistance. PP tapes are easy to unwind and are suitable for closing light to heavy boxes, depending on the type of adhesive. The Acrylic and hotmelt types of adhesive are mainly combined with PP carriers.

PVC Tape can be torn off by hand, is humidity resistant and is ideal for printing. As PVC tape cannot be stretched in a longitudinal direction, the material is well suited for closing boxes with a high cover tension.

Click here for more information about PP and PVC tape.

Paper tape

Paper adhesive tape is the environmentally friendly solution for closing your boxes. After use, the entire packaging box, including tape, can be recycled.

Due to the direct and strong bond, paper adhesive tape is particularly suitable for heavy and/or valuable packages. Paper adhesive tape can be subdivided into two types: self-adhesive and gummed.

Click here for more information about paper adhesive tape.

What is the best solution?

Many important factors play a role in selecting which packaging tape is most suitable, such as:

• What will you be using the packaging tape for?
• How heavy is the load?
• How great is the cover tension?
• Are your boxes of different sizes? Or if you are working in series.
• What are the ambient factors, such as humidity?
• Do you want good protection against theft?
• Do you want to print on the tape?
• How do you want to process packaging tape: manually, or mechanically?

Which packaging tape is best for you, can be determined in consultation with our experienced specialists. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

Equipment and machines

Packaging tape or adhesive tape can be applied manually, with a table dispenser, or mechanically by means of a case sealer.

Manually: often in combination with a hand tool. In cases of larger numbers and/or repeating dimensions it is recommended to work with an automatic dispenser or machine.
Tabledispenser: when using a table dispenser, the cut-off length of the adhesive tape can be set in advance, which means that the correct length is issued eacht time and cut off automatically. This will save tape and time.
Mechanical: when using a case sealing machine, it is easy to close thousands of packages each day.
Click here for more information about semi-automatic tape machines.
Click here for more information about (fully) automatic tape machines.

Are you looking for tailored advice or do you want more information? Please contact us. Our product specialists are looking forward to helping you!