<p>I have been looking at getting some painters tape to use on the glass plate for better print adhesion, and everything I read suggests the <em>blue</em> painters tape, such as this:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/WNCHm.jpg" rel="noreferrer" title="Blue painters tape"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/WNCHm.jpg" alt="Blue painters tape" title="Blue painters tape"></a></p>

<p>However, this white tape is considerably cheaper:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kp92s.jpg" rel="noreferrer" title="White painters tape"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Kp92s.jpg" alt="White painters tape" title="White painters tape"></a></p>

<p>This looks like normal masking tape to me.</p>

<p>Is masking tape ok, or is the blue painter's tape preferable? If the latter, then why is that so? What is so special about the blue tape? Is it a different material?</p>

[{'answer_id': 9983, 'author': 'darth pixel', 'author_id': 1211, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/1211', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': True, 'text': '<p>Of course, I don\'t know what kind of tapes you have. My experience with blue tapes is, that they seem in general softer and "nicer" than white tapes. Their structure appears denser and they seem to have longer "furs" while the white ones are "dryer" and "sharper"</p>\n\n<p>This surface makes the blue tapes I sourced more suitable as the molten filament catches more furs.</p>\n\n<p>Here are magnified photos of my comparable tapes. Unfortunately, my microscope is pretty lame but at least we can take a look on closeups:</p>\n\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/b3h01.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/b3h01.jpg" alt="white tape"></a>\n<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/zhJeZ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/zhJeZ.jpg" alt="blue tape"></a></p>\n\n<p>This comparison shows the lower density of my white tape better:</p>\n\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wm6Rb.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Wm6Rb.jpg" alt="white over blue"></a>\n<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/nwTLh.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/nwTLh.jpg" alt="white next to blue"></a></p>\n\n<p>to complete the picture here goes angle photos which reveals some more details\n<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Eus0N.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Eus0N.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>\n<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rFzMO.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/rFzMO.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>\n\n<p>above shows that this white tape is made out of flat plastic fiber as they shine when illuminated from different angles</p>\n\n<p>this could lead to another question</p>\n\n<p>is such tape melted in any way in contact with extruded filament?</p>\n\n<p>worth to analyse...</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 9984, 'author': '0scar', 'author_id': 5740, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/5740', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>To answer your question, <strong>it doesn\'t</strong> have to be <strong>blue</strong> tape!</p>\n\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3lFoe.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3lFoe.jpg" alt="White or cream tape on heated bed"></a></p>\n\n<p>To be honest, tape is not <strong>my</strong> favorite bed adhesion solution, there are plenty other options that work better than tape. </p>\n\n<p>Often you\'ll see references to blue painters tape (of a certain brand) to be used as a bed adhesion layer because many people have good experience with that. I have tried several tapes, white/cream to blue from various vendors but found that neither of the tapes satisfied my personal needs. To name a few: cleaning, application, preparation, repair, tear-off, no glossy first layer, color of tape sticking to printed part, etc. did not make tape a favorite bed adhesion solution. Instead I\'ve been printing directly onto aluminium and glass using an adhesive (3DLAC or DimaFix) to stick filament to the bed. Use a wet cloth to wipe residue off, spray can to apply a new layer, et voila, just print, it always sticks! Glue stick is also a possibility.</p>\n\n<p>So while the community screams <strong><em>"use blue tape"</em></strong>, you just cannot use <strong><em>any</em></strong> blue tape from any tape manufacturer. There is no standard to which blue tape has to comply. Generally, speaking from painting experience, many blue tapes release much more easily after use while the white/cream paper tape sticks better and often tears (but this is frequently the tape that is already applied on heated beds of many Chinese printer kits, see image above). Not all tapes are equal: I have used blue tape from a local cheap source that will not stick to the build plate when it heats up, even if properly cleaned. </p>\n\n<p>I\'m more inclined to think that the color of the tape is just a way to distinguish yourself from the market back when the first manufacturer introduced the tape. Now that it is more common, others have adopted the color mimicking the tape they want to copy. It is more about the adhesive than it is about the surface of the tape (as in: "tape is rougher than the substrate you stick it on"), also you read that many people using blue tape need to prepare it by cleaning it (remove waxy layer) and sanding it.</p>\n\n<p>IMHO, you just need to experiment yourself with several solutions and see what works best for you, could be that the white/cream tape from a local source also does the job. So basically, your tape does not have to be <strong><em>blue</em></strong>, it has to <strong><em>work</em></strong>!</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 9987, 'author': 'Trish', 'author_id': 8884, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/8884', 'pm_score': 4, 'selected': False, 'text': '<h1>read first</h1>\n<p>When you use painters tape, you need to level your printer <strong>with</strong> the tape applied. You need to relevel if you change the tape type.</p>\n<h1>Basics</h1>\n<p>It\'s not <em>any</em> blue tape that printers love. There are basically two factors that make a tape useful:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>It has to stick during printing.</li>\n<li>Its surface has to allow the filament to stick to it.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Let\'s look at some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&amp;v=GIEaOdKVCO8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">different tapes</a> and their suitability - from my own experience.</p>\n<h2>ScotchBlue</h2>\n<p>The <em>original</em> blue tape is actually <a href="https://www.scotchblue.com/3M/en_US/scotchblue/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ScotchBlue</a> for delicate surfaces by 3M. It has a good surface to stick to and at the same time an adhesive that does not degrade to unsuitability by heating. The delicate surface one is just as good as the all surfaces type. But don\'t use the outdoor type, it is sealed too much.</p>\n<h2>FrogTape</h2>\n<p><a href="https://www.frogtape.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">FrogTape</a> has an adhesive that has no problems with heating, the surface is sometimes a little smoother. Its green variant is about as useful as ScotchBlue, while the yellow variant is easier to remove - which can be an issue when the printhead is not calibrated correctly.</p>\n<h2>Generic painters tape</h2>\n<p><em>Generic</em> painters tape is a can of worms - there are so many different ones it is hard to describe. I have had very good off-yellow rolls from the dollar store of the \'fine surface\' type - as in the tape had a fine surface - and their adhesive was good and didn\'t degrade too much under heat. The followup roll was a little thinner of material and released under heat so it can be a hit and miss - it\'s ok for starting out though.</p>\n<p>I also tried a roll of UHU painters tape of the <em>easy remove</em> type and it was <em>horrible</em>, as it didn\'t want to stick after the nozzle went over it once even on an unheated bed.</p>\n<h2>Generic blue colored tape</h2>\n<p>I even tried two blue colored tapes from different dollar/hobby stores. One was ok-ish and had a similar result as the good dollar store tape in look, but left a blue shadow on the base of the print after two or three prints. The other was showing similar behavior to other mild-adhesive/easy peel tapes.</p>\n<h2>Conclusion</h2>\n<p>It\'s not <em>color</em> that matters, it is the <em>formulation</em>. If you must use blue tape, spend the extra bucks for quality. Some bloggers <a href="https://3dprinting-blog.com/61-trying-out-different-kinds-of-tapes-for-3d-printing-on/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">compared other tapes</a>, tested <a href="http://www.3dprinterprices.net/kapton-tape-vs-blue-painters-tape/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ScotchBlue vs Kapton</a>, <a href="https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printer-tape-the-best-tape-for-better-adhesion/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">discussed the benefits of either</a>, <a href="http://www.desiquintans.com/bluetape" rel="nofollow noreferrer">discussed the ScotchBlue tape in depth</a>.</p>\n<p>While in general, I prefer to print on the surface of my (blue) BuildTak (clone), I occasionally whip out painters tape on an unheated surface for very delicate prints: I remove the print together with the tape from the surface, which allows better handling. Sacrificing a layer of tape only costs some cents after all while breaking a print is hours and filament for much more  money wasted.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 9988, 'author': 'Joel Coehoorn', 'author_id': 12562, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/12562', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': "<p>The second image isn't exactly painter's tape. Both images are types of masking tape, but the common manila/cream-colored masking tape vs the blue or green painter's tape <em>typically</em> has three features that make it less desirable for bed adhesion:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Stronger glue holding the tape to the bed, that will make it harder to change later.</li>\n<li>Narrower strips, so it's harder and takes longer to place the tape on the bed.</li>\n<li>Thicker, softer material. This is <em>good</em> for filament adhesion, but bad for separating from the filament after the print and accurately leveling the bed.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Again: those are only typical arrangements. You can get blue painters tape at the same narrow width as manila masking tape, and you can get wider or thin manila tape. It's more a matter of what you'll commonly find for sale, and in all probability the manila/cream-colored tape will work just fine.</p>\n"}]
['https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/9981', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/4762/']