Duct, And Other Tapes.

[Khandro]

Why does duct tape not stick to itself on the roll?

[sandyRoe]

It does. Otherwise it would just be a tangled mass. :-)

[Sipowicz]

It does, when you peel it off you are unsticking it! (Is "unsticking" a word?)

[woofgang]

I think it doesn't stick as tightly on the rell as it does when you use it because care is taken not to apply pressure when its wound.

[woofgang]

ha, reel not rell (what;s a rell?????)

[Khandro]

Rephrasing the question; Why does the sticky side not stick to the non-sticky outer side ?

[Sipowicz]

It does, that's why it's not flapping about.

[boxtops]

It does..... otherwise you'd be climbing over the stuff in B&Q.

[Khandro]

Grrrrr! My duct tape is silver on the outside and has white sticky adhesive on the underside, the white side will stick to almost anything, but why did it not stick to the silver side when it was on the roll, is it treated will silicone for example?
I'm trying to find an adhesive that will stick paper to the silver outer side.

[Khandro]

Yes, of course it stuck to itself temporarily when it was on the roll, but it came away cleanly. Ditto sellotape etc.

[SirOracle]

Would double sided sellotape not solve your problem Khandro ?

[The Builder]

Until I read on, K, I thought this was going to be one of those wonderfully Zen questions.

Yes, it's treated with some kind of release agent ............. is the rather prosaic answer ;o)

Wallpaper, or just sheets of A4?

[Khandro]

SirOracle; Thanks, that would be a good idea, but the duct tape is already on the object, and double-sided would not now stick to it.
I find Evo-stik and PVA won't adhere, the best so far, but not 100%, is UHU glue-stik.

[SirOracle]

Khandro. You haven't said what exactly your problem is ( large or small amount).
If it is only a small amount then perhaps the solution may be to remove the duct tape and replace it with double sided sellotape.
I will sit back and await The Builder's solution,as he is the undisputed expert on these problems.

[Old_Geezer]

I think you are asking why it unsticks from its own outside so easily when it doesn't from other surfaces. I do not know but suspect it was developed to do that. Maybe the outside is very unsmooth or something ?

[Khandro]

It's a small modern 9" oval mirror on a stand (my wife's). It had a white plastic film as a backing which had started to peel off due to it standing on a window cill in sunlight. I removed most of the backing that I could, and consolidated the back by neatly applying 4 strips of 2" tape. I would now like, for appearance sake, to fix to that, a piece of thin decorative paper.
As Builder says, it has a release agent, and if I knew what that was, I might find a way to neutralise that. I now wonder if any type of paint might act as an intermediary.

[Old_Geezer]

Maybe if you took a blade and roughened up / cut into the surface it'd be more easily stuck to ? Or take some abrasive paper to it.

Alternatively can you not remove the problem duct tape ?

[gingejbee]

Are new mirrors prohibitively expensive in your part of the world?

[boxtops]

That's a bit terse, ginge - why buy a new mirror if the rest of it is perfectly OK?

[gingejbee]

boxy: because it sounds as if a new mirror might be less expensive and a whole lot less trouble!

[The Builder]

Yes, more or less anything can be neutralised, with the right primer.
The problem I see with painting, is that the outline of the tape will always be seen. It's never going to be very attractive.

Before diving into primers and adhesives, what do you think of something like this..........

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Self-Adhesive-Felt-Baize-Fabric-Mini-Rolls-MEADOW-/400745586939?pt=UK_Crafts_Cardmaking_Scrapbooking_Glue_Tape_EH&var=670290682231&hash=item5d4e4c60fb