Blue Tape vs. Green Tape: What's the Best Painters Tape?

An essential part of any painters’ toolkit consists of painter’s tape to mask off wall trim floors, windows and other objects. Painter’s tape makes any painting job go smoother by helping you produce clean, sharp lines and professional results. Long gone are the days of simply grabbing a roll or two of inexpensive beige masking tape, which had a tendency to bleed and rip apart upon removal. Today, painters can choose from a variety of specialty painter’s tape products on the market. For many paint projects, the choice typically boils down to what is the best painter’s tape.

When to Use Blue Painter’s Tape

The market has yet to provide a 100 percent painter’s tape guaranteed not to allow bleeding or ripping. Remember, you do not have to limit your options to what is the best painter’s tape. However, the following scenarios highlight how blue painter’s tape can make your life so much easier:

1. Exterior painting – On a hot sunny day, use this tape to mask off glass, window frames, door frames, and other building components located in direct sunlight. Avoid using green painter’s tape because of the higher tack strength or you may end up scraping off tape and removing adhesive that has baked onto the surface of wood, metal, vinyl or glass.

2. Interior tile and hardwood floors – When painting interior baseboard, blue painter’s tape has a cleaner release and provides better protection from bleeding.
3. Interior Natural Wood Trim – Blue painter’s tape offers protection for cabinets, wainscoting, crown molding, windows frames, and other interior elements. It also helps you create smooth lines.

Simply put, when it comes down to what is the best painter’s tape, for most paint jobs, blue tape will provide adequate protection against bleed-through. You will also appreciate the cleaner release during cleanup, and it cost less than green painter’s tape.

Green Painter’s Tape for Extra Protection

When the project requires a strong seal, choose green painter’s tape, especially when applying lacquer or solvents. This product also works best for wall striping and other designs that require sharp lines. Although you can use blue painter’s tape to cover interior trim for wall painting, you would be hard press to find a better alternative to minimize possible bleeding. However, avoid applying green tape on fresh paint because the adhesive could pull the coating right off the surface.

When painting wood window frames, green tape perform better than blue tape. The tack strength keeps the tape from sticking to glass, especially in cold weather. When you are ready to remove green tape, exercise care because it may be stronger than most tape, but it can still rip when removed. Green painter’s tape costs more than blue tape, but the performance justifies the additional expense.

Other Considerations When Choosing Painter’s Tape

Now that you have some basic information on what the best painter’s tape is, keep the following considerations in mind: Clean the surface and use a flexible putty knife for applying painter’s tape. This tool does a better job of sealing edges, scoring corners and cutting the tape square. In addition, keep in mind that the product is not perfect, so you should expect to have some ragged edges. You can minimize this problem by making sure that you press the painter’s tape firmly into place. When you remove the tape, use a damp rag wrapped around your putty knife to clean spots where paint has infiltrated underneath.

If you have any questions about what is the best painter’s tape for your painting project, or decide it’s time to bring in the pro’s to complete your painting project for you, schedule a free estimate with the experts at Five Star Painting. After a painting project, your carpet may need a good cleaning. Ideally, you've covered it with protective tarps, but regardless, you've probably moved some items with lots of dust on and around the surface of the floor. It could be time for a good carpet cleaning. If so, reach out to our fellow Neighborly brand, Rainbow International.