Adhesive for making Scotch tape

23.07.2020

Scotch is a tacky tape. It is produced as a roll with tacky properties, due to which Scotch tape is a multipurpose product. Scotch tape was the first product, based on which materials with identical properties and an adhesive capacity were started to be produced: pressure-sensitive coatings, insulating tape, double-sided adhesive tape, painter’s tape and other materials.

Presently, adhesive tapes are used in many activities: industry, construction, making packaging and for home use. Depending on the application, Scotch tape has a different tape thickness and base, onto which the adhesive is applied. The base for the adhesive can be paper, a film, a fabric, and other materials.

As a product, Scotch tape appeared first in the 1920s in the laboratory of the American company 3М owing to the effort of inventor Richard Drew. Once, when Richard was painting a motorcar in the shop he noticed that to leave parts unpainted was a bad solution. Then he came up with a brilliant idea to make a special masking tape, which is used to date. By the way, today one can see masking tape of two kinds: single-sided and double-sided. Double-sided Scotch tape is characterised by application of the adhesive composition onto both sides of the tape, which is quite convenient. At that time, Richard needed three years to invent a special tape adhesive. As a result, the team of researchers invented a paper tape. To save on costs, adhesive was applied onto the Scotch tape only on it edges, and so the consumers called the tape “Scotch”, meaning “parsimonious” in English. Later on, the company improved the product and applied more adhesive onto the tape, and the product brand name kept was Scotch. This was the start of the birth of the world renowned Scotch trademark by 3M Company. As a matter of interest, “Scotch” is used in the English and Russian languages as a generic name for tacky tape.

Which kind of adhesive is applied onto Scotch tape?

The advantages of tacky tapes are as follows: high tackiness and ease of use. A special adhesive makes the Scotch tape tacky. Hot adhesive (hot melt adhesive) or dispersion adhesive with constant tackiness are used for this purpose. Primers can be used to enhance the properties of adhesives.

Water-based Lux adhesive for Scotch tape

Modified dispersion adhesives are produced based on acrylic polymers with addition of stabilising and preserving agents. Lux-Х LLC offers several brands of dispersion adhesives for scotch and tacky tapes. The advantages of such adhesives are as follows:

Quick setting.
Adhesives are not toxic.
Adhesive resistance to ambient factors.
After it has dried, the adhesive is a transparent film that is invisible on a surface.
Easy to use with machine equipment.

Hot melt BeardowAdams adhesive for Scotch tapes and tacky tape

To produce Scotch tapes, self-stick coatings and tacky tapes, Lux-Х LLC offers hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) made by BeardowAdams (Great Britain) under the Pressen trademark. A feature of these adhesives is that they are pressure sensitive. After being stripped off the substrate and glued, products with pressure sensitive adhesives can be unstuck and glued on several times. The adhesive remains tacky and does not lose its properties. Pressure sensitive adhesives are based on thermoplastic polymers, resins, oils and antioxidants.

Hot melt adhesives for Pressen™ tacky tapes have the following advantages:

High cohesive strength and heat tolerance
High adhesion to intricate surfaces
Heat and water resistance
The products can be used at low and high temperatures
Broad tackiness range: from low to high
Environmental friendliness and no components causing allergy
Can be used on high-speed equipment
Colour palette: from transparent to amber
Compliance to international standards

Requirements to the adhesive applied onto the Scotch tape

Besides tackiness and high adhesive properties, important characteristics of such adhesives are the following ones:

Adhesive strength and peel off resistance.
Even and good adhesive application. The adhesive should not ooze out to the face side of the material, onto which it is applied. Otherwise, this can cause traces that spoil the looks of finished products.
Heat resistance – ability to stick to warm, cold and moist surfaces.

How is the adhesive applied to the Scotch tape during production?

During production, the adhesive is applied onto the material by using special equipment:

Slot or roller (disk) devices.
Sprayers. Used when contactless application of a coating is required. Such equipment is used for applying adhesive onto absorbing surfaces, which are specific for the production of medical bands or insulation materials.

For the adhesive to stick fine on the tape, following the application of the first layer, a reinforcing material or a primer can be applied onto the tape. This an enhancer of the adhesive properties of the Scotch tape and other tacky tapes. Using this product is not obligatory. The material has a light-yellow color and is in liquid form. The primer can be used with different surfaces. The primer need not be applied thick, but it should slightly cover the adhesive surface.

What can replace Scotch tape?

In spite of that Scotch tape is a convenient solution in packaging, it lacks adequate strength and is not economical. Therefore, producers, by packing their products in cases, can replace Scotch tape with hot melt BeardowAdams™ adhesive when gluing top flaps. More information on ВАМ hot melt adhesives is found here.

Why is it worth choosing a Lux-X adhesive for Scotch tape?

A quality adhesive for Scotch tape and tacky tapes can be purchased from Lux-Х LLC. The company offers cold dispersion Lux adhesives and hot melt adhesives (PSA) by BeardowAdams (Great Britain). By ordering an adhesive from Lux-Х LLC, you are acquiring a guarantee of the quality of finished products and successful collaboration in the future. Before buying an adhesive for Scotch and tacky tapes, get qualified informational support from our specialists by telephone +38 (057) 766 06 36 or by sending an inquiry by the callback option on the Lux-Х website.