WHICH PRINTED ADHESIVE TAPE TO CHOOSE - BOPP OR PVC?

What is actually the difference between an adhesive tape made of polypropylene (PP) and a tape made of PVC? And if you know the difference, can you recognize the tapes, too?

Why is this important? Because these tapes have fundamental qualitative differences.  For a regular consumer, there is probably not much point in considering this, but for you as a professional consignor, the selection of the right adhesive tape is fundamental.

PVC adhesive tapes:

PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride and it is the backing material for glue – natural rubber. It is highly resistant, flexible and especially tear-resistant. The tape unrolls evenly and quietly. It is suitable for taping up cardboards with a heavy consignment or other heavy objects (carpets, etc.) or it can also be used for marking specific zones on concrete floor. Rubber adhesive adheres well to all types of cardboard as well as to other materials. Here you can find a selection of PVC tapes in our e-shop.

BOPP adhesive tapes:

PP is the abbreviation for polypropylene. An adhesive tape made of this material is slightly cheaper than that made of PVC. It is ideal for light to medium-weight consignments. It is high tack and firm, but they is not suitable for temperatures that are too high or too low. If you have an unheated or non-air-conditioned warehouse, the tape may melt. Three different adhesives are used for polypropylene tapes – the so-called hot melt adhesive (synthetic rubber), natural rubber and acrylate adhesive. The adhesive also influences the loudness of tape unrolling. A vast majority of these tapes is louder than PVC tapes. There are also special so-called low-noise tapes with natural rubber, which unroll as quietly as PVC tapes.

Adhesive tapes made of these materials are not recognizable at first sight, but there are several simple tricks for determining the material.

A test with a ballpoint pen

Unroll a piece of the tape and stick it for example onto a desk. Tighten the tape and then pierce it with the ballpoint pen or another pointed object.  

  • If the adhesive tape is torn or tears off completely, it is a PP – polypropylene tape. 
  • If only a hole is made, it is PVC.

You can also carry out a second test – a stretch test

Unwind a piece of adhesive tape and stretch it. With increasing pressure, a PVC tape will gain a milky colour, a PP tape will maintain its original colour.  It is that simple. If you have any other ideas for how to identify the material, please write to us. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Donation to the organization Médecins Sans Frontières
Donation to the organization Médecins Sans Frontières

Charitable donation to the organization Médecins Sans Frontières.

Christmas and New Year opening times
Christmas and New Year opening times

Dear Customers,

We are here for you until 23. 12. 2024 and again from 2. 1. 2025.

A hotmelt adhesive tape
A hotmelt adhesive tape

A hotmelt adhesive tape is a popular and versatile tool for solving various tasks in the field of packaging and industrial bonding. This type of adhesive tape is characterized by its strong adhesive, which is activated upon contact with the surface and provides excellent strength and resistance to moisture, heat, and pressure.

Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)
Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)

Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) is a thin, transparent and flexible film used for packaging various products. BOPP is made from polypropylene. Polypropylene (PP) is a polymer that is made from petroleum fractions, specifically the propylene fraction. Propylene is extracted from crude oil or natural gas and then chemically modified using catalysts at high temperatures and pressures. This combines the propylene molecules into long chains to form a polypropylene polymer.

The stickiness of the tapes when the temperature is reduced
The stickiness of the tapes when the temperature is reduced

The season of lower temperatures is coming and with it the annual problem of tape stickiness. Let us remind you to at least pre-temper the adhesive tapes you will use that day to room temperature.

Winter special offer of printed adhesive tapes
Winter special offer of printed adhesive tapes

We offer BOPP adhesive tapes with one colour print at special " winter" prices.

Price increase
Price increase

The prices of chemical products are increasing significantly.

New - Printed textile adhesive tape called Duct tape or duck tape
New - Printed textile adhesive tape called Duct tape or duck tape

Interestingly, this tape wasn't invented by an expert but a simple woman.It is said that Mrs. Vesta Stoudt wanted to have a waterproof textile tape to seal boxes of ammunition. She worked in the ammunition facility during World War II and saw that sealing ammunition boxes with a thin wax paper tape was not going to work. In the beginning, nobody wanted to listen to her. So, she wrote President Theodore Roosevelt a letter explaining her idea. Roosevelt was so enthusiastic he passed the idea on to a company that later became the famous Johnson & Johnson.

The water-activated tape is celebrating its COMEBACK
The water-activated tape is celebrating its COMEBACK

We would like to inform you today about a new trend in sealing consignments. Can you still remember the lick-and-stick tape? The paper tape, which adhered only after being water-activated? As your parents would tell you, everything returns one day :). This water-activated tape, too, is currently becoming increasingly more popular and is celebrating its COMEBACK.

How to work with a water-activated adhesive tape?
How to work with a water-activated adhesive tape?

With a water-activated tape, you need water-activated tape dispensers, which differ depending on the business premises. From simpler ones to electronically controlled ones for large business premises.

New inquiry form for labels
New inquiry form for labels

The world of labels is very varied, and when someone says the label, they do not always think exactly the same as a colleague. The possibilities are great and we would like to realize our customers' ideas as accurately as possible.

A polypropylene adhesive tape of a tape made of PVC?
A polypropylene adhesive tape of a tape made of PVC?

It is, of course, possible to say that it is only an adhesive tape and for a normal user, the various differences are unimportant. But for a professional, who deals with the preparation of consignments or or with organising distribution on daily basis, these questions are relatively essential, so that everything would function perfectly.

Polyethylene as the material for marking tapes
Polyethylene as the material for marking tapes

Its primary use is in packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes, containers including bottles, etc.).

Polypropylene adhesive tapes and ecology
Polypropylene adhesive tapes and ecology

Compared to PVC, PE (polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene) contain less problematic ingredients, they have reduced potential for leachate formation and considerably lower potential for dioxin formation in case of fire, and they are linked to lesser technical problems and costs during recycling.

Polypropylene and adhesive tapes
Polypropylene and adhesive tapes

Polypropylene (PP) is an important thermoplastic material, which only consists of carbon and hydrogen. PE and PP plastic materials are universal and cheap and can be used as material alternatives for nearly all applications made of PVC. Polypropylene is easy to shape and can be used for a wide range of products.

Drawn polypropylene foils (OPP and BOPP)
Drawn polypropylene foils (OPP and BOPP)

Polypropylene foils are being drawn and are thus far more stable. For this purpose, the foil is conveyed across cylinders, which accelerate in the machine direction.

Sandwich printing of adhesive tapes
Sandwich printing of adhesive tapes

Sandwich print, indelible print, print under adhesive, durable print between tape and adhesive - these are some names of the technology of this print. You corporate print is protected between the foil and the adhesive and cannot be deleted.

Pantone colour swatch in the printing of adhesive and non-adhesive tapes
Pantone colour swatch in the printing of adhesive and non-adhesive tapes

Direct colours are defined in colour swatches and thus precise identification of a specific colour is achieved. The Pantone swatches, which were introduced in the year 1963, have undergone long development and now the entire library contains 1761 colours in chromatic order. They are a colour standard that is recognised worldwide.

Adhesive tapes with hot melt adhesive
Adhesive tapes with hot melt adhesive

Due to positive reactions of our customers to non-printed tapes with the hot melt adhesive, we are extending the use of this adhesive to printed tapes as well. When ordering a printed tape, you can newly choose between the classic acrylate adhesive or hot melt adhesive.

Polyvinyl chloride - PVC as a material for the Manufacturing of adhesive tapes
Polyvinyl chloride - PVC as a material for the Manufacturing of adhesive tapes

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the third most-used plastic material on Earth, right after polyethylene and polypropylene. It was first synthesized in the year 1935. It is insoluble in water, oils or concentrated inorganic acids and bases.

The aging of adhesive tapes
The aging of adhesive tapes

All adhesive tapes age and change their properties. These are consumer goods, which should also be taken into account when planning a specific amount to order on consignment.

The loudness of diffrent adhesive tapes when unrolling
The loudness of diffrent adhesive tapes when unrolling

For a common user, who tapes up one to two packages per month, or even less, the loudness of the adhesive tape in unrolling is not an essential question. But for professionals, who manage a distribution warehouse of a company that sends several dozen or even hundreds of packages a day, which may be one of the key questions when selecting the type of adhesive tapes.

Machine coil of adhesive tapes
Machine coil of adhesive tapes

Besides the manual use of adhesive tapes, it is also possible to use them in machine packaging of cardboard boxes.

Flexo printing technology
Flexo printing technology

In the case of the adhesive tape printing has to be first the material basically defined. It´s printed almost exclusively with flexographic printing technology and the decisive factor is the volume of the order. For large quantities of BOPP adhesive tapes, the foil is first printed on a jumbo roll without adhesive. On the printed foil on the side of the pressure is then applied the adhesive.Therefore, this technology is also called inter-layer pressure or sandwich-pressure, because the color is between the foil and the adhesive.  For smaller volumes of BOPP, for PVC or paper tapes, the material is already prefabricated (adhesive is already applied) and it´s cutted into smaller rolls.The material is then printed and cut to the final size of the tape.

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