Practical Sailor's gear and boat reviews take the guesswork out of your buying decisions.

Volume 30
Number 23
December 2004

The Tale of the Tape

Recent problems with 3M's blue tape remain a mystery, but there are some good alternatives available at reasonable prices. Intertape's ProMask Blue is a top option, and the real bargain is electrical tape.

The masking tape test specimens lined up and ready for action; from left: 3M's No. 2090 Blue Painter's Tape, 3M's No. 233+ green tape, 3M's No. 256 green tape, 3M's No 218 Fine Line tape, Intertape's ProMask Blue, Intertape's ProMask Green, Intertape's plain masking tape, and the ubiquituous generic black electrical tape.

Early last summer, we received a letter from a reader in Florida indicating that he'd experienced problems while using the popular blue tape from 3M to mask his cabinhouse and protect it from the teak treatment solution he was using on his boat. We published that letter in our August 15 issue, and then as the weeks wore on, additional letters came in.

Several readers who wrote us claimed similar problems. In essence, the blue tape, when pulled off, was leaving a "gooey, adhesive residue," even after just a couple of days. (For the record, the product in question is called Scotch-Blue™ Painter's Tape for Multi Surfaces No. 2090, which is…

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