No, not really. Depends upon if you are buying cheap
gaffers tape verses cheap
duct tape. Cheap
duct tape will de-laminate with time and heat almost on
cue, plus it’s adhesive will become the common
duct tape goo during that period especially when it’s necessary to remove it much less it in being permanent - have to touch it. Common
duct tape while it might become impossible to remove completely is certainly not what anyone would
call perminantly adhered to the surface... just touch it.
Duct tape has grades,
Gaffers tape has grades. For strength in general a
duct tape will have thicker fibers to it than
gaffers tape. Five wraps of even for the most part cheapest
duct tape means something that is not going to rip apart. Five wraps of
gaffers tape might rip apart because it’s usually made of finer strands of fiber. That is until the gooyness becomes a factor. The adhesive in tape frequently will creep in becoming a sort of liquid blob allowing the tape to move about if not the vinyl surface come loose from the rest of the tape. Cheap even some expensive
gaffers tape will also do this creeping at times too.
Gaffers tape for the most part has a better amount of adhesive on a
par with better grades of
duct tape at least on the glue withstanding temperature. Some
duct tape that is more
gaffers tape with a vinyl coating is better than normal thin crap
gaffers tape. Such tape frequently will have a more dull surface and the vinyl is better adhered to the fibers. This tape might not seem as sticky, but that’s more a question of the gooeyness as an adhesive quality.
Here is another thing, adhesive don’t stick to dirt. You try to adhere cheap
gaffers tape to a dirty floor as opposed to gooey cheap
duct tape and it is not going to stick well because the
thickness of the adhesive layer is more refined and does not sufficiently adhere to the surface.
Wash the
deck, provide a for the most part a smooth surface to adhere to and the
gaffers tape sticks just fine and does not have as many problems with heat in re-activating the adhesive. The
gaffers tape’s main selling
point is in it keeping the adhesive on the tape and not left on the surface.
Wash the
deck after the tape is down and the
duct tape becomes a gooey mess. The cheap
gaffers tape will just peel up. What’s better... don’t know, I don’t use cheap tape.
Between the higher priced lines of Permiciel/Pro
Gaff which is the same manufacturer and any type of Spectape or SurTape, you can find
gaffers tape that will adhere to surfaces better, or at least as good as the best of
gaffers tape grades short of the stuff that’s more goo than useful. Same stuff for the most part, different coatings and fiber thicknesses. Normally
duct tape with thinner fibers that are closer spaced together will be the better grades of it. On
gaffers tape, there is a defiant difference in
thickness which is the adhesive most noticeably a part of.
Our
wire rope truss ladders have a longer pipe taped to their bottom so as to make it easier to
roll them up neatly much less allow for standing on them. Of recent days, it has come to importance the need to add some more pipe bottoms to
truss ladders without it. New people were doing this and instruction was necessary. Five layers of
duct tape in three bands across a 12" step than at least three layers of
gaffers tape above it is what we use in this condition. The
duct tape is sufficiently strong to hold a few hundred pounds, the
gaffers tape keeps it in place and able to touch. Simply said, it’s using both types of tape to their greatest advantage. Used to tape 2x2 vendor booth sign posts to tent poles in another past job.
Duct tape in at least a cheap grade or better yet in that above semi-flat best grade was used universally. It both was far strong enough to attach a wind sail to the frame of a tent and given the better grade of tape, even in the hottest of summers, it came off cleanly from the pipe and lumber.
Gaffers tape would also work to some extent but you would need more layers for the same strength - at least 7, and such tape was 15 times more expensive.
On a budget, perhaps
duct tape is not that bad. A semi-flat
duct tape will even take latex paint to some degree. As opposed to buying dollar per
roll stuff, perhaps stuff costing five bucks per
roll might be the best balance. Otherwise a change of brands given you can find suppliers for the other tapes than Permiciel, or Permiciel in it’s better but more expensive grade would work best overall.
Take a wander around the Permiciel website. Believe they offer both
gaff and
duct tape. This would provide more fuel to the opinions to date.
Taping down cable is also frequently better done by either cable ramps, vinal floor runner over it, or Cable Path tape which is
gaffers tape that’s wide but normally the lesser grade of
gaff tape. A floor layer of good
gaff tape might be needed to adhere cable path tape. Beyond all of this, you also start getting into entertainment cable/convention center grade
flat cable. Try putting a round cable five pole twist
plug on the end of a 8/5
gauge flat cable. There is a challenge in something that’s taped to the floor or under carpet yet still fairly
flat.
End results: Don’t use
duct tape on fixtures or anywhere where it’s going to get really warm. Once the thick adhesive bakes onto the surface, it’s not coming off. On the other
hand, cheap
gaffers tape will usually chip off the surface decently. Never put tape on a
fixture but when neophytes do it and you have to get it off you will be glad for
gaff tape. Goofoff while useful for removing adhesive from surfaces in general becomes a gooey mess when the duct or
gaffers tape is still on the surface. This will cause the vinyl to de-laminate making you have to
peel off vinyl, than web fiber than thick adhesive from the surface one gooey layer at a time and a
putty knife won’t work - just your fingers.
Gaffers tape while it won’t de-laminate a vinyl layer since it does not have one, still becomes gooey. In this case, cheap
gaffers tape has the advantage especially when old in removal. The longer the tape has been on a surface, the harder it is to remove. Heating it up can help to remove it unless baked on, but not always neatly.