Things That Suck

Magic Tape

Initial posting: 2021-07-13

This is literally the inspiration to this entire series of articles I call Things That Suck, and it is one of the last ones I am getting around to.

There are a couple types of tape that should be forever banished to history: duct tape and this stuff. I'll save duct tape for another time. Professionals don't even use duct tape for taping ducts!

I have no idea why everybody buys this tape. 9 times out of 10, I'll bet this is used for taping something to a surface like glass or a wall or a desk.

The problem is that this tape gets brittle over time and when you go to remove it, it tears. When you try to remove the piece that's remaining on the surface it was stuck to, it doesn't come off on one piece. Instead, you end up tearing chunks off a little bit at a time. It can take forever to remove it.

There are only two reasons you should ever use this tape.

1. Tape pieces of paper or pages together that will be photocopied. Reflective tape causes imaging problems with photocopiers. This tape doesn't reflect as much.
2. If you need to write on top of the tape, this tape has a frosted surface that even allows you to write on it with a pencil.

Otherwise, for all other purposes (which is most), please use the Scotch brand Transparent Tape. I would love to see the day when Costco sells cases of the tape in the red box rather than this horrible stuff in the green box.