Racers Tape vs. Duct Tape ?????

[Doug E]

Calling all track gods: I was in Home Depot this morning and stumbled across colored duct tape which got me wondering ... is there a chemical difference in the adhesive used on racers tape vs. that used on duct tape?

If not then I'm going to pick up a roll of the black to use with my new magnetic stripping for this weekend's DE. If so then I'll just wait and by a roll at the track early Sat morning.

TIA.

[GeorgeM]

I got some of the red stuff at Lowes and it's horrible. The glue is all gooey and gets really nasty in the summer heat.

It's strictly for garage use now.

[rs911t]

Doug, I think they're different. The racer's tape comes off without leaving an residue. Duct tape wouldn't be so polite.

[Zeke]

There are different grades of just the silver stuff. A lot of it is just reinforced utility tape. Real duct tape is in the plumbing dept and costs a bit more. To me racer's tape is just colored utility tape in red, yellow, etc. It has also been called 200 MPH tape. I agree, the cheap stuff is nasty. I guess you have to buy and try. I painted my race car.......silver, hah! Lots of choices.

BTW, the military has some olive drab reinforced tape in up to 6" widths. Excellent tape........., of course, for what they probably pay for it.

[89911]

Duct tape will pull off paint. Ask me how I know.

[Early_S_Man]

The toughest, best, stickiest tape available thse days is gaffer's tape, used to rig lighting setups in the film/TV industry ... available from professional photographic supply stores. At $15 - $20 per roll, it's use isn't to be taken lightly, but when you need some tough tape for temporary repairs, that would be the one to pick to keep something expensive from falling off!

[cowtown]

I also just use the colored utility tape. If you spray some spray wax on your door before applying the tape, it comes right off without threatening your paint. I think I picked up this tip in the NASA literature.