As a custom picture framer, there are many things to consider to ensure your custom framing work meets archival standards. The goal is not only to make the client’s art or memorabilia look good; it must also be preserved and protected.

Archival custom picture framing is achieved by using inherently acid-free materials. You must also consider sealing the frame to prevent any dirt or dust from entering.

• What type of glass should you use? Silicate or acrylic? You want to use a glassing with UV filtering.
• What type of frame? Metal or wood?
• Should you use decorative, conservation or museum grade mat board?
• What type of hardware and hanging systems should you employ?

On top of discussing these options with your client, you must also educate them on how to properly store their framed work. Remind clients to:

• Store their framed piece away from intake or outtake vents
• Be aware of swings in temperature and humidity where the framed piece will be displayed
• Keep the framed piece away from direct sunlight

Pro Tapes® can help you with the critical art of archival picture framing. Below, we’ll take a look at three tapes that can help you create archival framing.

For Permanent Picture Framing Solutions

Pro® 410 ATG is the ideal pH Neutral adhesive transfer tape to use for permanent bonding. It can be applied by hand or via dispenser gun.

Pro® 410 ATG has a double coated tissue carrier with an acrylic adhesive. The solvent based acrylic adhesive won’t yellow over time. It has excellent resistance to ultraviolet light.

At 89 oz per inch, it is super strong and ideal for object or memorabilia framing. It is also great for mounting artwork, attaching dust covers and adhering mats.

It’s a highly versatile product and can adhere to a wide variety of substrates such as cloth, paper, vinyl, rigid and flexible plastics and more.

For Fillets, Slips and More for Picture Framing

Pro® Fillet Tape is the go-to adhesive tape to adhere to the backside of fillet or slip.

The premium grade polyester carrier and acrylic adhesive are highly resistant to ultra violet light.  The solvent based acrylic adhesive is pH Neutral. 

Pro® Fillet Tape’s high tack was designed to adhere to metal as well as wood. It’s a fantastic product for creating decorative linings and increasing the depth between the artwork and the glass.

For Hinging the Work to be Framed

Hinging is the process of mounting artwork by suspending it with tabs of tape. Professional picture framers love to use our Pro® Artist Tape for hinging, and here’s why:

Pro® Artist Tape is engineered with SRA technology (Synthetic Rubber Adhesive). This single sided tape is repositionable and removes cleanly. The White color in particular is pH Neutral and won’t yellow over time. It also will not stain or ghost after removal.

Looking for the right tape to suit your needs? Ask the Pros!

We offer many more tape solutions for professional picture framing. Reach out to us, and our experienced customer success team will be happy to help you find the tape that meets your needs. Contact us today at sales@protapes.com.

The post Archival Picture Framing: The Top 3 Tapes You Need appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

What is a Double Coated Tape?

Before we take a look at our top 3 premium polyester film tapes, let’s define what double coated means.

“Double coated” tape (commonly abbreviated as DC) is also known as “double sided” or “double faced” tape. That is, it’s an adhesive tape that has adhesive on both sides instead of just one.

Double coated tapes are also typically pressure sensitive tapes, or PSAs. PSAs consist of a film, paper, cloth, foam, or foil carrier that is coated on both sides with a rubber, silicone or acrylic adhesive. 

The adhesive is protected by a release liner, which is removed when the tape is applied, or left in place until the surfaces to be bonded to are ready to be attached together. Release liners are commonly paper or films, with a silicone release agent.

The primary purpose of a double coated PSA is to stick two surfaces together. Double coated tapes are mainly used for laminating, mounting, splicing, gasketing, sound/vibration dampening, and appliances.

Typically, the adhesive is not visible on the finished product, creating a cleaner and modern design look. This is ideal for many applications, such as signage, windows, skylights, and many more.

Now, let’s take a look at our top 3 premium Double Coated Polyester tapes:

Our Top 3 Premium Double Coated Polyester Tape Products

Our top 3 DC polyester film tapes provide a quick and easy bonding process with moderate temperature resistance. These tapes bond well to a variety of substrates and offer excellent converting and fabricating properties. The polyester film carrier in these premium tapes add dimensional stability and strength.

All three products are exceptionally strong, versatile and effective in a wide range of applications in various markets, such as: 

• Automotive
• Point of Purchase Display (POP)
• Electronics
• Graphic & Fine Arts
• Crafts
• Custom Signage
• Manufacturing
• Paper/printing

We stock jumbo rolls, and have jumbo roll slitting and narrow width slitting converting capabilities that allow us to produce custom sized rolls as narrow as 1/64” to 62”. These tapes can also be die-cut into custom shapes for your unique application.

Pro^® 406 DC Polyester Tape

Our Pro^® 406 is a 3.9 mils double coated polyester tape with an aggressive rubber adhesive. It is supplied on a 0.5 mils carrier of 60# polycoated Silicone treated liner, 1.7 mils liner side adhesive, and 1.7 mils exposed side adhesive. 

Pro^® 406 is ideal for die-cutting and laminating difficult substrates and various webs such as foils and foams. Use it for general purpose bonding and mounting, e.g. nameplates, attachments of decorative trims, cork, felt and sponge materials. 

This tape is also perfect for splicing during printing, papers, plastics, coating webs, films and foils. The rubber adhesive is good for most indoor applications. You can use it for outdoor applications only if the adhesive will not be directly exposed to the environment.

Pro^® 408 DC Polyester tape

Our Pro^® 408 is a 7.5 mils double coated polyester film tape with an aggressive acrylic adhesive. It comes on a 4 mils liner, 3 mils Double coated Adhesive and 0.5 mils PET Carrier. 

Pro^® 408 is pH neutral, which means non-acidic or alkaline. Use it for mounting displays and nameplates.  You can also use it for high speed flying splices on most paper such as newsprint, corrugated paper, plastics, and films and laminating dissimilar metals. 

Pro^® 965 DC Polyester Tape

Our Pro^® 965 is a 7.87 mils double coated polyester acrylic adhesive system. It is constructed with a 3 mils thick Red film liner, and a 4 mils Double coated acrylic adhesive.

Pro^® 965 has a unique resistance to plasticizers. It offers excellent bonding even at elevated temperatures or critical substrates. Use it for mounting decorative profiles, molding, and outdoor signage, laminating metals, panels and plastics parts. 

Questions? The Pro Tapes^® Team is here for you!

Whether you are looking for a polyester double coated tape or a different type of adhesive tape, our experienced Inside Sales team is here for you. We’ve made it our mission for over 40 years to provide our customers with the most innovative solutions that go beyond the products we manufacture.

Reach out to us any time at sales@protapes.com

To discover more adhesive products like these, visit our Building & Construction Market page.

The post Our Top 3 Double Coated Polyester Tapes appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

Pro^® 1502 is made up of a skin-friendly pressure sensitive adhesive, a clear film carrier, alongside a heavyweight release liner making the product excellent for die cutting.

Pro^® 1502 common applications include attaching medical devices & surgical drapes comfortably to skin, holding wigs & various types of hairpieces in place, securing necklines & fashion alterations, along with numerous other general purpose applications.

Pro Tapes® is proud to offer the highest quality products that can help ease the current COVID-19 social distancing requirements.

Pro^® 1502 is the perfect tape for holding up facial coverings without the need for irritating strings or straps, making it a perfect product for hair salons & barbershops.

Pro^® 1502 can be easily applied to the backside of a face covering/mask and applied directly onto the wearer’s skin safely.  

Pro® 1502 removes cleanly from both skin and various fabrics effortlessly.

The post Need a Skin-Friendly Removable Medical Tape? Try Pro® 1502! appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

I have a large and extended family and there’s always a celebration going on, whether it’s a birthday party, baby shower, gender reveal, retirement or graduation.  It so happens that I’m the de facto family party planner and decorator – probably because they know I’m the tape guy, who always has a tape solution! In preparation for such special occasions, I make sure to stock up on UGlu^®.

And I’m not the only one! Throughout this post, you’ll be seeing the beautiful work of one of my colleagues, who used UGlu^® to create a balloon demi-arch for the birthday of another colleague. You can watch her put the final product together in the video below.

So What is UGlu^®?

UGlu^® is a special, double-sided adhesive tape. It’s different than any tape you’ve met before. It comes in different sized patches (and dashes), which let you peel and stick it on to almost any surface. It has a powerful hold on whatever you’re sticking, but it’s also removable, so you don’t have to worry about damaging your walls or most surfaces.

Check out our video here to see how easy it is to put UGlu^® down and peel it back up.

Helium Shortage Letting the Air out of Balloon Decorating? Nope!

Although helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, recent supply chain interruptions have caused shortages in the market.  Due to the shortages, the helium that’s left in the market is given priority towards more critical applications such as semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace and healthcare (helium helps cool the coils of wires that conduct electricity in the magnets of MRI machines), making helium much more expensive for non-essential applications such as balloon decorating.

Lucky for us, UGlu^® adheres well to latex and foil balloons! With UGlu^®, you can make regular latex balloons look like they’re floating -the way helium balloons would- by sticking them to walls and ceilings. Plus, you can hang up other decorations alongside them using the same UGlu^® patches – flowers, lights, posters, photos, and more- to create some really lovely décor.

You can use UGlu^® to create:

• balloon garlands
• balloon arches (or demi-arches like this one by @moonandblooms)
• “necklace” style arches or organic style arches (visit this website to learn the difference)
• balloon hoops (like this one by @elegantballoons)
• balloon sculptures (like this CRAZY Wreck-it Ralph sculpture by @rejoiceeventdesign in our home state of New Jersey!)
• and so much more!

How to Make Your Own Balloon Arch with UGlu^®

You can start off by hooking balloons onto a fishing line the way many tutorials will show you – like this one by ProFlowers on “How on Make a Balloon Arch in 9 Easy Steps.” The steps I take are the same through Step 6.

You take a fishing line and thread it through a needle, then “sew” the fishing line through the tied-off ends of each latex balloon, until you’ve got a nice long line of balloons hanging off of your fishing line. Keep going until you reach the desired length for your arch (or hoop, garland, etc.) Then you tie your fishing line off. It’s a good way to start any arch or sculpture, since you’ll have a balloon “base” to add more balloons on top of.

The Difference with UGlu^®

At this point, most tutorials will instruct you to use hooks to hang your garland or balloon arch up, and to start adding more balloons and decorations with a hot glue gun. Call me crazy, but using a hot glue gun on balloons does not seem safe! Glue guns are dangerous, even low temperature ones. As anyone who’s used a hot glue gun before can tell you, there’s a big chance of burning yourself, dripping hot glue all over the place, and in this case bursting the balloons you’re working on.

With UGlu^®, there’s no risk of personal injury or damage to your surroundings. UGlu^® sticks immediately so there’s no drying time. You just peel the paper liner off, stick it on where you need it, and stick stuff on top. Easy, and safe. UGlu^® is also NON-TOXIC, so it’s safe to use for kid’s birthdays and parties. And it’ll remove cleanly from almost any surface without leaving any adhesive residue behind.

The Trick to Removing UGlu^®

Now’s a good time to mention this: Just how do you remove UGlu^® without leaving residues behind? There’s two methods.

One way is to pick at the corner of your UGlu^®, until you can lift it up and start peeling it back neatly. This video offers the perfect demonstration of this first method.

The second method is to twist whatever is attached to your UGlu^®. UGlu^® is designed to strongly resist upward pulling motions. If you try to pull something straight UP that’s attached with UGlu®, you’ll quickly find out just how strong UGlu^® really is! Instead, you need to twist anything that’s attached sideways, as if you’re going to spin it. UGlu^® will quickly give up its grip this way. This is how you should remove anything that’s stuck to your walls, ceilings, floors, etc. that can’t be removed with the first method.

For balloons, if you’re going to be taking apart your balloon arch by popping it, then you don’t need to worry about removing the UGlu^® between balloons. Just pop away, and throw them out!

Let’s Keep Decorating That Balloon Arch!

So after my fishing line is tied off, I secure my balloon base where ever it needs to go with UGlu^®. You can stick it down to stairs, a table, the wall, the ceiling- anything! Just check out how we started sticking balloon bunches to a wall in this demonstration video:

Here’s a few photos from that process as well:

Once my base is secured in place, I then use UGlu^® to add smaller balloons to my base. UGlu^® helps me add different sizes and colors of balloons to create a beautiful, multi-colored organic arch effect. You can also use UGlu^® to adhere flowers and foliage to your balloon arches and garlands. There’s really no limit to what you can add in! UGlu^® helps me spice up my decoration with my own personal artistic touch.

UGlu^® is versatile – so get creative!

There’s so many additional ways to use UGlu^® to make your party decorating easier, faster and safer. I use UGlu^® on the bottom of table centerpieces to help prevent them from being knocked over. I use UGlu^® to stick LED lights, posters and signs to walls, doors and railings for lovely décor.

Whether you’re a professional party planner or an amateur decorator, you’re making the world a better place through your colorful and joyful designs. Let UGlu^® make your work easier!

And be sure to show us how you use UGlu^® for your next party planning event by visiting this page here – you can upload your photos for the chance to win assorted prizes!

The post How Balloons and UGlu® Go Together for the Perfect Party Planning appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

Those not as familiar with the tape industry may only think of a few types of tape such as: Scotch tape, masking tape, electrical tape and duct tape. What most people may not realize is that there is so much more to tape than those basic common household adhesives. Not only are there MANY more varieties of tape each with a specific purpose, but once you cross over into the “Specialty Tape” realm, the options are practically limitless. We match the perfect adhesive for your purpose and then cut it to the exact shape and size you need for your specific purpose.

How is a specialty tape made?

Each specialty tape is created differently. It starts off with one of our many premium tape products and we make the necessary changes to get the customer’s desired unique product. Need it to be a specific shape? Done. Need it to be permanent on one side and permanent-removable on the other side? Done. Need it to have your logo printed on it in a specific color? Done. We have the solution for you, all you have to do is ask!

How do I know if I need a specialty tape?

Tape is a huge component of almost every industry whether you realize it or not. People may not realize how often they come in contact with products assembled with “Specialty Tapes” such as a die-cut, double sided tape. “Specialty Tapes” are used in everyday products like cell phones, appliances, cars, trucks and even the construction of buildings. Tapes and adhesives can be cut to almost any shape or size and increasingly used as commonly as other mechanical fasteners worldwide. Not to mention tape is much cheaper, lighter and easier to apply than most other fastening mechanisms.

Do you have a need for specialty tape? Not Sure? That’s okay, just give Mickey our specialty tapes expert a call and tell him what you manufacture, assemble, produce, etc… and he’ll find or create the right solution for you!

Submit the form below to be connected with Mickey, our specialty tapes expert.

The post What Makes a Specialty Tape So Special? appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

One example of this early on was in the beverage industry. EHB tape was used to replace screws and rivets in the manufacturing of beer bottle delivery trucks. The beer manufacturers were getting an average of about 12-15% breakage of bottles when delivering the beer because of rattling of the bottles on rough roadways, bumps and everyday driving. Once all the fastening was replaced with the double coated acrylic foam tapes it knocked the breakage down to 1-2% on average… quite a savings!

The advantages with the tape was it absorbed shock much better than other fasteners would. The foam structure of the tape would expand and contract allowing the panels of the truck movement where nuts, bolts or rivets would not. They also worked as sound dampeners to cut down on noise/rattling.

3 benefits that make EHB tapes a great alternative to traditional fasteners

1: More Cost Effective

Pro® EHB tapes can help cut costs in assembly without sacrificing performance demands. Industries like automotive, appliances, electronics, packaging and transportation are all replacing nuts, bolts, screws and rivets with these tapes. These tapes can resist high temperature extremes, reduce product weight or size while delivering better durability than other fastening methods.

2: Easier and More Aesthetically Pleasing

Pro® EHB tapes are easier to and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. You won’t see the tape the way you would nails, screws and rivets. The high performance acrylics can be used outdoors with temperatures ranging from – 40°F to 400°F. These tapes have moisture stable liners and can be easily die-cut or slit to custom sizes to fit every need.

3: A variety of colors, grades and thicknesses

Pro® EHB tapes come in a variety of colors, grades and thicknesses. They combine high adhesion with great shear and stress relaxation while maintaining extremely high holding power. They can perform on irregular or curved surfaces and absorb shock, as well as noise, while maintaining high bond strength.

If you have bonding or fastening applications that require a permanent bond, there are many options. Consider a test of Pro® EHB tapes by requesting more information below. Samples are always available to you at no charge!

The post 3 Benefits That Make Pro® EHB Tapes a Game Changer in the Double Coated Tape World appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

Working at Pro Tapes® and learning about all of our amazing clean removal products, it had really opened my eyes to so many more ways to achieve the same outcome but with much more ease, and effectiveness. Before I would be using “clean removal” products that actually weren’t so easy to remove. Now that I have been introduced to UGlu®, Pro® 46 and Pro Gaff®; the whole game has changed!

Keep in mind there are two distinct ways I utilized these three Pro Tapes® products; one, tape is being used as the actual decoration, and two, tape is being used as a replacement for hooks, nails, glue or screws.

Shall we jump right into it?

Here are my top 4 nail free Dorm & Apartment Hack’s & DIYs…

1: Nail free hanging with Pro Tapes®

2: Decorate Your Dorm Like a Pro®

3: Dorm Hacks on hacks, on hacks using, tape, tape, & more tape

4: Must try Space Saving Tape Hack

How to Apply & Remove UGlu®

The post Tapes Edition: Nail Free Dorm Hacks & DIYs appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

What you need:

• UGlu® Power Patches
• Small storage containers, cups, etc.

Step 1: Find those unutilized spaces!

• Side of dresser
• Side of armoires
• Inside of cabinet doors
• Side of fridge
• Behind doors

Step 2: Apply UGlu® Power Patches to storage container (1 patch per every 2 lbs. of weight)

Step 3: Stick container to those unutilized spaces. Press firmly!

The post Must try Space Saving Tape Hack appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

Hack 1: Fix a Carpet

Ever had a carpet, or area rug that would just slip and slide no matter what? Get some UGlu®, apply it to the corners of your carpet or area rug and stick to floor…viola! No more slipping and sliding!

Hack 2: Quiet Drawers

Loud roommates? Or are you the loud one? “oops”

Apply UGlu® Power Patches to your drawers and cabinets for noise free closing!

Here’s how:

Remove liner from only ONE side of the UGlu® Power Patch

Apply sticky side to inside of cabinet or drawer

Liner side of the UGlu® Power Patch will act as a barrier and reduce noise!
You’re welcome (in advance)!

Hack 3: “Don’t eat my food”

Pro Gaff® is perfect for labeling. It comes in many colors, and is easy to write on. So, label your food if your roommate keeps eating your favorite box of mac and Cheese. Also, an added bonus is, you can write the expiration date on your food too so it’s easy to see when something is near its expiration date!! No one likes a smelly fridge!

Hack 4: Make a Calendar

Last, but not least… Use Pro Gaff® to create a calendar on the side of your fridge for easy customization, and visibility for you and all your roommates. You can put your work or school schedules on there or a cleaning schedule, it’s up to you!

What you need:

• UGlu®
• Pro Gaff®
• Ruler
• Pro Gaff® Dots

 

The post Dorm Hacks on hacks, on hacks using, tape, tape, & more tape appeared first on Pro Tapes®.

Apply UGlu® to your picture frames and apply to your walls! It sticks to cinder block walls, regular painted walls, brick walls, you name it and UGlu® sticks to it! UGlu® is also great for holding up dry erase boards, calendars, chalk boards, clocks, string lights, etc.

UGlu® comes in a variety of sizes, so for larger items, like your dry erase board, you will only need one UGlu® Power Patch in each corner, whereas if you were hanging up a polaroid photo, you will only need one UGlu® Dash.

UGlu® adheres to so many surfaces, such as carpet, canvas, fabrics, plastics, metal, glass, wood, granite, tile, craft foam, ceiling tile, fiberglass, cement, drywall, wallpaper, foam board, laminate and leather!

The post Nail Free Hanging is Possible With Pro Tapes® appeared first on Pro Tapes®.