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From time to time application tape will tear when you least expect it. When this happens the graphics can be trashed. Frustrated sign makers want to know the cause of these mishaps. There’s no one single answer that this happens.

Application tape can tear when it is unwound for a variety of reasons. Here are some of the possible causes:

• Application tapes that are cut on baloney slicers are prone to damage. A nick in the cutting blade usually causes a nick in the paper – a perfect place for a tear to begin.
• Baloney cutting can also generate so much heat that the glue of the tape melts and smears on the outside end of the rolls. This can bond one layer of tape to another and result in tearing.
• The pressure of the cutting blade compresses the edges of the roll causing one layer of tape to stick to another.
• Regardless of who handles a roll of application tape, use some tender loving care. Damaged ends of tape rolls can result in tearing.
• Old tape can block up on the roll making unwinding the mask difficult if not impossible. So what is blocking? Have you ever discovered an old roll of masking that has been tucked away in a junk drawer for years? The bond of the adhesive grows so strong to the facestock the tape is fused to itself. The result is a big block of tape.