Common Types of Tape for Business Uses

Whether your work in packing, processing, manufacturing, electronics, or any other industry where you pack, mount, or repair items, you’ll use tape nearly every day.

Tape is an essential tool for day-to-day business operations, helping you deliver packages securely, fix breakages, or bond objects together.

You’re probably aware there’s more than one kind of tape but the list of types is more extensive than most people realize.

Double-sided tapes are normally made from paper or foam. They are coated on both sides with a pressure-sensitive adhesive, allowing the tape to stick to two surfaces at once.

Double-sided tape has multiple purposes but is especially useful for bonding, mounting, and fashioning objects.

It bonds particularly well to plastic, wood, and paper surfaces. If you work in construction, you might choose double-sided tape because it offers a cleaner, neater alternative to glue.

This kind of tape is highly versatile and customisable, with a broad range of sizes, thicknesses, lengths, and widths for business owners to choose from.

Duct tape, made from polyethylene or PSA, is one of the most widely recognised types of tape.

It features a shiny silver surface and is used across multiple industries but is especially prominent in the packing and HVAC industries.

The benefits of duct tape include:

Your business might choose to use duct tape to securely seal corrugated cardboard packages or repair minor cracks and breakages.

Gummed packing tape, also known as Kraft tape, is made from paper and water-activated adhesive.

It is used across multiple industries for packing items of various sizes and weights, although heavier items will require reinforcements.

Depending on the weight of a box, you’ll need to choose a different grade of gummed packing tape to seal it securely.

Gummed tape is popular in manufacturing, electronics, security, food, health care, and many other industries because of its durability and tamper-evident nature. Because this kind of tape is difficult to peel away, any unauthorised attempts to open the package are easily identifiable.

Box tape or BOPP packing tape is a common and inexpensive tape option used across multiple industries.

It is highly customisable with various prints, thickness, widths, and colours to choose from.

Box tape is made from polymer or pressure-sensitive adhesive and offers a medium-strength hold.

Manufacturers and packers often use this tape to securely seal corrugated cardboard boxes or poly mailers.

An enormous range of tapes exists on the market today, ranging from lightweight paper or polyester tape to heavy-duty PVC varieties. Most tape is activated via water, heat, or pressure.

Each type of tape comes with unique benefits, such as extra durability, scuff resistance, electrical insulation, transparency, customisability, heat resistance, and much more.

Your choice of tape will depend on the industry you work in and how your business operates.