Tapes

ProDec offers the most comprehensive range of products for the decorating trade, while ProDec Advance represents innovative products such as the Ice Fusion paint brush and roller collection, Titan roller frame and scraper, plus the Super Cling dust sheets. ProDec Contractor offers up a small range of entry point trade essentials.

Ensure surfaces are smooth and clean

Masking tape adheres well to smooth surfaces such as plaster, wood, metal, glass and plastic. Make sure the surface is free of dust, dirt and grease for both optimum adhesion and a clean line.

Hot spots

If the adhesive surface is exposed to direct sunlight, tape with UV-resistant adhesive should be used to prevent baking on caused by excessive adhesion. Once baked on, it can be very difficult to remove masking tape, especially without damaging the surface underneath.

Wood

With unfinished or finished wood, tapes with low adhesion should be used.

General use:

Masking tape should ideally be removed from a surface before the paint has dried. Once the drying process begins, the paint can form a bridge between tape and surface, so whilst the tape may remove cleanly, the paint film may not break evenly and the line won’t be as sharp as you want.

New surfaces:

If you are using masking tape on a newly painted surface, a low-tack variant is advisable. A new surface is where the paint was applied less than 28 days previously, as it typically takes this length of time for the paint to fully cure or harden and achieve optimum adhesion. For this reason, low tack tape should ideally be removed within 24 hours to minimise the risk of the tape bonding more strongly with the surface and reduce the chances of leaving residue or, worse, pulling the previous paint off.

High Temperatures:

Avoid using any masking tape at all in high temperatures where the heat and humidity can affect the performance unless it’s specifically designed for that environment, such as UV-resistant tape.

Standard masking tape is already designed with the type of medium adhesion that should prevent damage to surfaces, but even this can be too strong for delicate surfaces. In that instance, you should consider a low-adhesion tape.

This can also be used on painted walls because the adhesive isn’t strong enough to damage the paint underneath. We recommend a maximum removal time of 24 hours after application of the tape on a painted wall.

ProDec masking tape is available via many of our stockists, and you can also find them on leading online retail sites.

Owing to the number of products in the ProDec range, not all retailers will stock all our products so it’s worth contacting them before you visit. But if they don’t have what you want, all stockists are able to order any ProDec product and get it for you within a couple of days.

If you’re still struggling to find something, just give us a call, contact us through this form or email us at contactus@prodec.uk.com.