Is FROGTAPE® Worth It?

Plain old brown masking tape used to be all that was available. Not anymore, there are blue tapes, and now green FrogTape®. More expensive than the other two, but is it worth it?

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A quick look on a home improvement store’s website will now show a myriad of tapes for all types of surfaces and uses, and well as extended time that that tape can be left in place before removal, as well as solvent resistance, sharpness of cut lines, and how flexible the tape is. However, for many homeowner uses, the three main tapes that many people are familiar with are kraft (tan), blue, and now, green tape (most well known is FrogTape®, made by ShurTech Brands, Inc.).

Masking tape is used in a variety of industries and can be used for all sorts of uses at home as well. Let’s look at the three main types.

The brown tape that has been around the longest is the cheapest to make, so its price is the lowest. But economy comes at a price - it isn’t very strong, and the adhesive dries out pretty rapidly after the tape is applied. If the masking isn’t removed shortly after installation, it is tricky and undependable to remove.

Blue tapes, most commonly made and distributed by 3M®, have found wide acceptance. More expensive than the previous tan product, it also offers advantages such as strength, thickness and flexibility, visibility, better sealing ability for better paint cut lines, and extended time for removal of the tape. This tape has certainly found plenty of uses in our home and shop.

Green masking tapes are a relative newcomer to the market and have become quite popular for all their enhanced masking abilities. These don’t come without a higher price tag, though. When this episode was filmed, the price for a roll of .94 inch wide by 60 yds. long tape for FrogTape® was $7.74, 3M® blue was $3.86, and tan kraft paper tape was $2.98.

That means the tan kraft tape is 21 cents per square ft., the blue tape is 27¢ per sq. ft., and the green tape is 55¢ per sq. ft.

So, is FrogTape® worth it? You’ll need to decide, but it does deliver on its promise of sealing the edge of the tape better and resisting paint bleed under the edge. It certainly is visible, making it difficult to leave something taped that was supposed to be unmasked. We asked our friend Kenny, who is a professional house painter what his opinion of Frog Tape is. He said, “it’s really worth it!”

Having said that, you can bump up the sealing performance of other tapes by running a light bead of caulk on the edge (say, along the intersecting corner of door casing and the wall), getting the painting done, and removing the masking shortly (within a few hours or less) thereafter.

People have gotten very good results with properly applied tan kraft paper tape for many years. Proper application means carefully placing the edge of the tape where protection from painting is needed and pressing down the edge well over a surface that is smooth, dry, and not dusty. Increased performance can be had with both the tan and blue tapes by putting a thin bead of caulk over the edge, and wiping it down so that only a thin coat of caulk remains. Once dry, painting is done, and the tape is removed within a couple of hours.

FrogTape® stacks the odds of success in your favor by having a superior adhesive that seals the edge better and can stay in place longer without the adhesive drying out or seizing the surface it is applied to. Having said that, no tape does well being exposed to direct sunlight for several hours or even days.

The bottom line? Use the tape best suited for the job, including how fast you can remove the tape - the sooner the better. As for us, we’ll use FrogTape on critical trim jobs, but will use the blue tape for most of what we do.

JUST DO IT YOURSELF!

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