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Duct tape

May 05, 2023

"Duck taping" redirects here. Not to be confused with Duck typing.

Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesives, and the term 'duct tape' has been genericized to refer to different cloth tapes with differing purposes. A variation is heat-resistant foil tape useful for sealing heating and cooling ducts, produced because the adhesive on standard duct tape fails and the synthetic fabric reinforcement mesh deteriorates when used on heating ducts.

Powdered aluminum pigment gives traditional duct tape its silvery gray color

Duct tape is generally silvery gray in color, but also available in other colors and printed designs, from whimsical yellow ducks, college logos to practical camouflage patterns. It is often confused with gaffer tape (which is designed to be non-reflective and cleanly removed, unlike duct tape).

During World War II, Revolite (then a division of Johnson & Johnson) developed an adhesive tape made from a rubber-based adhesive applied to a durable duck cloth backing. This tape resisted water and was used to seal some ammunition cases during that period.[1]

"Duck tape" is recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary as having been in use since 1899[2] and "duct tape" (described as "perhaps an alteration of earlier duck tape") since 1965.[3]

History

 
Wheel fender extension to keep down lunar dust improvised using duct tape during the Apollo 17 mission

The first material called "duck tape" was long strips of plain non-adhesive cotton duck cloth used in making shoes stronger, for decoration on clothing, and for wrapping steel cables or electrical conductors to protect them from corrosion or wear.[4] For instance, in 1902, steel cables supporting the Manhattan Bridge were first covered in linseed oil then wrapped in duck tape before being laid in place.[5] In the 1910s, certain boots and shoes used canvas duck fabric for the upper or for the insole, and duck tape was sometimes sewn in for reinforcement.[6] In 1936, the US-based Insulated Power Cables Engineers Association specified a wrapping of duck tape as one of many methods used to protect rubber-insulated power cables.[7] In 1942, Gimbel's department store offered venetian blinds that were held together with vertical strips of duck tape.[8]

Glue backed or impregnated adhesive tapes of various sorts were in use by the 1910s, including rolls of cloth tape with adhesive coating one side. White adhesive tape made of cloth soaked in rubber and zinc oxide was used in hospitals to bind wounds, but other tapes such as friction tape or electrical tape could be substituted in an emergency.[9] In 1930, the magazine Popular Mechanics described how to make adhesive tape at home using plain cloth tape soaked in a heated liquid mixture of rosin and rubber from inner tubes.[10]

In 1923, tape pioneer Richard Gurley Drew at 3M invented masking tape, a paper-based tape with a mildly sticky adhesive intended to be temporarily used and removed rather than left in place permanently. In 1925 this became the Scotch brand masking tape. In 1930, Drew developed a transparent cellophane-based tape, dubbed Scotch Tape. This tape was widely used beginning in the Great Depression to repair household items.[11] Neither of these inventions was based on cloth tape.[11]

The ultimate wide-scale adoption of duck tape, today generally referred to as duct tape, came from Vesta Stoudt. Stoudt was worried that problems with ammunition box seals could cost soldiers precious time in battle, so she wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943 with the idea to seal the boxes with a fabric tape which she had tested.[12] The letter was forwarded to the War Production Board, which put Johnson & Johnson on the job.[13] The Revolite division of Johnson & Johnson had made medical adhesive tapes from duck cloth from 1927 and a team headed by Revolite's Johnny Denoye and Johnson & Johnson's Bill Gross developed the new adhesive tape,[14] designed to be ripped by hand, not cut with scissors.

Their new unnamed product was made of thin cotton duck coated in waterproof polyethylene (plastic) with a layer of rubber-based gray adhesive (branded as "Polycoat") bonded to one side.[8][15][16][17][18][19] It was easy to apply and remove, and was soon adapted to repair military equipment quickly, including vehicles and weapons.[15] This tape, colored in army-standard matte olive drab, was widely used by the soldiers.[20] After the war, the duck tape product was sold in hardware stores for household repairs. The Melvin A. Anderson Company of Cleveland, Ohio, acquired the rights to the tape in 1950.[16] It was commonly used in construction to wrap air ducts.[20] Following this application, the name "duct tape" came into use in the 1950s, along with tape products that were colored silvery gray like tin ductwork. Specialized heat- and cold-resistant tapes were developed for heating and air-conditioning ducts. By 1960 a St. Louis, Missouri, HVAC company, Albert Arno, Inc., trademarked the name "Ductape" for their "flame-resistant" duct tape, capable of holding together at 350–400 °F (177–204 °C).[21]

In 1971, Jack Kahl bought the Anderson firm and renamed it Manco.[16] In 1975, Kahl rebranded the duct tape made by his company. Because the previously used generic term "duck tape" had fallen out of use,[failed verification] he was able to trademark the brand "Duck Tape" and market his product complete with a yellow cartoon duck logo. Manco chose the term "Duck", the tape's original name, as "a play on the fact that people often refer to duct tape as 'duck tape'",[22] and as a marketing differentiation to stand out against other sellers of duct tape.[23][24] In 1979, the Duck Tape marketing plan involved sending out greeting cards with the duck branding, four times a year, to 32,000 hardware managers. This mass of communication combined with colorful, convenient packaging helped Duck Tape become popular. From a near-zero customer base Manco eventually controlled 40% of the duct tape market in the US.[17][22] Acquired by Henkel in 1998,[25] Duck Tape was sold to Shurtape Technologies in 2009.[26][27] Shurtape went on to introduce a premium version called "T-Rex Tape."[28] "Ultimate Duck", which had been Henkel's top-of-the-line variety, is still sold in the United Kingdom.[29] Ultimate Duck, T-Rex Tape, and the competing Gorilla Tape all advertise "three-layer technology".

After profiting from Scotch Tape in the 1930s, 3M had produced military materiel during World War II, and by 1946 had developed the first practical vinyl electrical tape.[30] By 1977, the company was selling a heat-resistant duct tape for heating ducts.[31] In the late 1990s, 3M's tape division had an annual turnover of $300 million, and was the US industry leader.[32] In 2004, 3M released a semi-transparent duct tape, with a clear polyethylene film and white fiberglass mesh.[33]

Manufacture

See also: Chemistry of adhesive tapes § Composition

Modern duct tape is made variously from cotton, polyester, nylon, rayon or fiberglass mesh fabric to provide strength. The fabric, a very thin gauze called "scrim", is laminated to a backing of low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The color of the LDPE is provided by various pigments; the usual gray color comes from powdered aluminum mixed into the LDPE. Two tape widths are common: 1.9 in (48 mm) and 2 in (51 mm). Other widths are also offered.[34] The largest commercial rolls of duct tape were made in 2005 for Henkel, with 3.78 inches (9.6 cm) width, a roll diameter of 64 inches (160 cm) and weighing 650 pounds (290 kg).[35]

Common uses

 
Semi-transparent duct tape

Duct tape is commonly used in situations that require a strong, flexible, and very sticky tape. Some have a long-lasting adhesive and resistance to weathering.

A specialized version, gaffer tape, which does not leave a sticky residue when removed, is preferred by gaffers in the theatre, motion picture and television industries.

Ductwork

The product now commonly called duct tape has largely been displaced in HVAC uses with specialized foil tapes designed for sealing heating and ventilation ducts (sometimes referred to erroneously as "duct tapes").

Common duct tape carries no safety certifications such as UL or Proposition 65, which means the tape may burn violently, producing toxic smoke; it may cause ingestion and contact toxicity; it can have irregular mechanical strength; and its adhesive may have low life expectancy.[36][37] Its use in ducts has been prohibited by the state of California[38] and by building codes in many other places.

Research was conducted in 1998 on standard duct tape at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, which concluded that under challenging but realistic conditions duct tape becomes brittle, fails, and may even fall off completely.[36][37]

Spaceflight

Interviewer: And duct tape works in the vacuum of space as well as it does here?
Walker: Oh, yes. Yes, it does. It sticks.

— Charles D. Walker, describing duct tape's use on STS-51-D[39]

According to NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill duct tape had been stowed on board every mission since early in the Gemini program.[40]

NASA engineers and astronauts have used duct tape in their work, including in some emergency situations. One such usage occurred in 1970 when Woodfill was working in Mission Control, when the square carbon dioxide filters from Apollo 13's failed command module had to be modified to fit round receptacles in the lunar module, which was being used as a lifeboat after an explosion en route to the moon. A workaround used duct tape and other items on board Apollo 13, with the ground crew relaying instructions to the flight crew. The lunar module's CO2 scrubbers started working again, saving the lives of the three astronauts on board.

Ed Smylie, who designed the scrubber modification in just two days, said later that he knew the problem was solvable when it was confirmed that duct tape was on the spacecraft: "I felt like we were home free," he said in 2005. "One thing a Southern boy will never say is, 'I don't think duct tape will fix it.'"[41]

Duct tape, referred to as "...good old-fashioned American gray tape..."[42] was used by the Apollo 17 astronauts on the moon to improvise a repair to a damaged fender on the lunar rover, preventing possible damage from the spray of lunar dust as they drove.[43]

Military

In the US submarine fleet, an adhesive cloth tape is called "EB Green," as the duct tape used by Electric Boat was green.[44][unreliable source?] It is also called "duck tape", "riggers' tape", "hurricane tape", or "100-mph tape";[45][46] a name that comes from the use of a specific variety of duct tape that was supposed to withstand up to 100 mph (160 km/h; 87 kn) winds. The tape is so named because it was used during the Vietnam War to repair or balance helicopter rotor blades.[47][48]

Alternative uses

 
Industrial adhesive applied by a maintenance professional demonstrating safe application during an emergency repair scenario.
 
A wallet constructed mainly from duct tape

Duct tape's widespread popularity and multitude of uses has earned it a strong place in popular culture, and has inspired a vast number of creative and imaginative applications.

Duct tape occlusion therapy (DTOT) is a method intended to treat warts by covering them with duct tape for an extended period. The evidence for its effectiveness is poor;[49][50] thus it is not recommended as routine treatment.[51] However, other studies suggest the duct tape treatment is more effective than existing medical options.[52][53] Duct tape is often used in shoe repair due to its resiliency.[54][55]

Duct tape has been used to temporarily fix Apple's iPhone 4 dropped call issue, as an alternative to Apple's own rubber case.[56]

In popular culture

 
USC's Tommy Trojan statue wrapped in duct tape to protect it from crosstown football rival UCLA[57]

The Duct Tape Guys (Jim Berg and Tim Nyberg) have written seven books about duct tape, as of 2005. Their bestselling books have sold over 1.5 million copies and feature real and unusual uses of duct tape. In 1994 they coined the phrase "it ain't broke, it just lacks duct tape". Added to that phrase in 1995 with the publication of their book about lubricant WD-40 book was, "Two rules get you through life: if it's stuck and it's not supposed to be, WD-40 it. If it's not stuck and it's supposed to be, duct tape it". Their website features thousands of duct tape uses from people around the world ranging from fashions to auto repair. The combination of WD-40 and duct tape is sometimes referred to as "the redneck repair kit".

The sitcom The Red Green Show's title character often used duct tape (which he dubbed "the handyman's secret weapon") as both a shortcut to proper fastening as well as for unconventional uses. The series sometimes showcased fan duct tape creations. The series had a feature film based on it entitled Duct Tape Forever and several VHS/DVD compilations of the show's use of the tape have been released. Since 2000, series star Steve Smith (as "Red Green") has been the "Ambassador of Scotch Duct Tape" for 3M.[58]

The Discovery Channel series MythBusters featured duct tape in a number of myths that involve non-traditional uses. Confirmed myths include suspending a car for a period of time, building a functional cannon, a two-person sailboat, a two-person canoe (with duct tape paddles), a two-person raft, Roman sandals, a chess set, a leak proof water canister, rope, a hammock that can support the weight of an adult male, holding a car in place, a bridge that spanned the width of a dry dock, and a full-scale functional trebuchet with duct tape as the only binder. In the episode "Duct Tape Plane", the MythBusters repaired (and eventually replaced) the skin of a lightweight airplane with duct tape and flew it a few meters above a runway.

Garrison Keillor's radio show A Prairie Home Companion included comedic fictional commercials sponsored by the "American Duct Tape Council".

Duct tape alert

 
Duct tape distributed by Skilcraft, whose primary customer is the U.S. federal government

The term duct tape alert refers to the recommendations made by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on February 10, 2003, that Americans should prepare for a biological, chemical, or radiological terrorist attack by assembling a "disaster supply kit", including duct tape and plastic (presumably to attempt to seal one's home against nuclear, chemical, and biological contaminants), among other items.[59][60][61]

The recommendations followed an increase in the Department's official threat level to "orange", or "high risk", citing "recent intelligence reports".[62][63]

According to press reports, the recommendations caused a surge in demand for duct tape.[64]

The media sensation surrounding duct tape was fodder for comedians and satirists. Some referred to it as "duct and cover", a reference to duck and cover.

See also

References

  1. ^ Gurowitz, Margaret (August 11, 2009). "Duct Tape: Invented Here!". KilmerHouse.com. Johnson & Johnson. from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  2. ^ "duck tape". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ^ "duct tape". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  4. ^ Freeman, Jan (March 14, 2010). "Tale of the tape". Boston Globe. from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  5. ^ . The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 21, 1902. p. 15. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. "Considering... that 100,000 yards of cotton duck tape must be wrapped around the cable with neatness and exactitude, it may be imagined that this method of cable preservation is quite expensive."
  6. ^ "Increased Use of Fabrics by Shoe Trade". Textile World Journal. New York. LVII (13). March 27, 1920. from the original on December 15, 2013.
  7. ^ United States National Bureau of Standards; Paul A. Cooley; Ann Elizabeth Rapuzzi (1945). National Directory of Commodity Specifications. NBS special publication. Vol. 178. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 716. from the original on 2013-12-11.
  8. ^ a b Safire, William (March 2, 2003). "The Way We Live Now: On Language; Why A Duck". The New York Times Magazine. from the original on October 19, 2017.
  9. ^ Sommer, Otto (December 1916). "Friction Tape Used for Plaster Strips". Popular Science: 925. from the original on 2013-12-15.
  10. ^ "Rubber and Rosin Make Compound for Many Uses". Popular Mechanics: 856. May 1930. from the original on 2013-12-15.
  11. ^ a b Carey, Charles W. (2009). American Inventors, Entrepreneurs, and Business Visionaries. Infobase Publishing. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-0816068838. from the original on 2013-12-13.
  12. ^ "Couldn't Keep Her Idea Down" 2015-05-06 at the Wayback Machine, 24 October 1943, Chicago Tribune
  13. ^ Gurowitz, Margaret (June 21, 2012). "The Woman Who Invented Duct Tape". KilmerHouse.com. Johnson & Johnson. from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  14. ^ Petroski, Henry (2004). Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design. Random House Digital. pp. 131–132. ISBN 1400032938. from the original on 2013-12-10.
  15. ^ a b Berg, Jim; Nyberg, Tim (2000). The Jumbo Duct Tape Book. Workman Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 0761121102.
  16. ^ a b c Cole, David John; Browning, Eve; Schroeder, Fred E. H. (2003). Encyclopedia of Modern Everyday Inventions. Greenwood Publishing. pp. 22–23. ISBN 0313313458. from the original on 2013-12-13.
  17. ^ a b . Duck Brand. Archived from the original on August 12, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  18. ^ "Genericide: When a Brand Name Becomes Generic". Age of Persuasion. CBC. from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  19. ^ Steele, Randy (July 2003). "Tale of the Tape". Boating: 18. from the original on 2016-04-24. In 1942 research scientists at Johnson & Johnson sandwiched a layer of mesh fabric—cotton duck—between a top layer of green polyethylene plastic and a bottom layer of rubber glue, and pressed them together.
  20. ^ a b Ewalt, David M. (March 15, 2006). "The Other Greatest Tool Ever". Forbes. from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  21. ^ "Heating & Air Conditioning Contractor". 52. Edwin A. Scott Publishing. 1960: 88, 97. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. ^ a b Levinson, Jay Conrad; Godin, Seth (1994). The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 249. ISBN 0395700132.
  23. ^ "John Kahl finds the formula of product, people and partners adheres to success for ShurTech" 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine, 1 November 2014, Smart Business
  24. ^ "ShurTech About Us" 2015-11-27 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Brand, Duck (2 May 2019). "How Duck Tape® was Named". Duck Brand.
  26. ^ "ShurTech Brands". shurtech.com. from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  27. ^ "Shurtape Technologies". shurtech.com. from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  28. ^ Tape, T.-Rex (26 April 2019). "T-Rex Tape - Strong, Weather-Resistant Duct Tape". T-Rex Tape.
  29. ^ "ULTIMATE DUCK TAPE® choice of Black, Silver, White, Clear - Ducktape". www.ducktape.co.uk. 8 September 2016.
  30. ^ A century of innovation: the 3M story. 3M Company. 2002. p. 129. ISBN 0972230203.
  31. ^ "Home Energy Guide: Insulation". Popular Mechanics: 77. September 1977. from the original on 2013-10-13.
  32. ^ The Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance. National Center for Employee Ownership. 9: 14. 1997. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  33. ^ "History". Company Information. 3M. from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  34. ^ Smith, Jenny M. (2007). "Forensic Examination of Pressure Sensitive Tape". In Robert D. Blackledge (ed.). Forensic Analysis on the Cutting Edge: New Methods for Trace Evidence Analysis. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 291–331. ISBN 978-0471716440. from the original on 2013-12-13.
  35. ^ Magazine, The Editors of Discover (2008-07-08). Discover's 20 Things You Didn't Know About Everything. HarperCollins. pp. 134–. ISBN 9780061734335. from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  36. ^ a b "Sealing HVAC Ducts: Use Anything But Duct Tape". Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Energy Performance of Buildings Group. 1998-08-17. from the original on 2007-05-04.
  37. ^ a b Max Sherman, Lain Walker, Can Duct Tape Take the Heat?, Home Energe Magazine, from the original on February 16, 2013, retrieved September 27, 2012
  38. ^ . Energy.ca.gov. Archived from the original on July 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
  39. ^ Walker, Charles D. (14 April 2005). "Oral History Transcript". NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project (Interview). Interviewed by Johnson, Sandra.
  40. ^ Atkinson, Nancy (2010), 13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 10: Duct Tape, from the original on 2013-08-13, retrieved 2013-05-30
  41. ^ Associated Press article 2005-04-20 at the Wayback Machine, referring to the use of duct tape on Apollo 13.
  42. ^ "Moondust and Duct Tape" 2011-08-16 at the Wayback Machine, April 21, 2008, science.nasa.gov
  43. ^ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (17 April 2004). "Lunar Dust and Duct Tape". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
  44. ^ . community.discovery.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  45. ^ Airlift Technologies 2010-12-20 at the Wayback Machine supplier of tape under this name
  46. ^ The Medical NBC Battlebook USACHPPM Tech Guide 244 (May 2000) p 1.13
  47. ^ Vietnam Stories, Army Times (September 1993)
  48. ^ Richard T. Edwards (June 5, 2011). "Vietnam -- Balancing Rotorblades With Duct Tape". 4th Battalion, 77th Field Artillery AFA [blog]. from the original on June 2, 2012.
  49. ^ Wenner, R; Askari, SK; Cham, PM; Kedrowski, DA; Liu, A; Warshaw, EM (March 2007). "Duct tape for the treatment of common warts in adults: a double-blind randomized controlled trial". Archives of Dermatology. 143 (3): 309–13. doi:10.1001/archderm.143.3.309. PMID 17372095.
  50. ^ Ringold, S; Mendoza, JA; Tarini, BA; Sox, C (October 2002). "Is duct tape occlusion therapy as effective as cryotherapy for the treatment of the common wart?". Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 156 (10): 975–7. doi:10.1001/archpedi.156.10.975. PMID 12361441.
  51. ^ Stubbings, A; Wacogne, I (September 2011). "Question 3. What is the efficacy of duct tape as a treatment for verruca vulgaris?". Archives of Disease in Childhood. 96 (9): 897–9. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2011-300533. PMID 21836182. S2CID 206853952.
  52. ^ Focht Dr, 3rd; Spicer, Carole; Fairchok, Mary P. (October 2002). "The Efficacy of Duct Tape vs Cryotherapy in the Treatment of Verruca Vulgaris". Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 156 (10): 971–974. doi:10.1001/archpedi.156.10.971. PMID 12361440. from the original on 2013-06-20.
  53. ^ T, Rick. "10 Medical Uses For Duct Tape". Healthprep.
  54. ^ McCrea, Megan (26 September 2017). "Hiking Hack: How Duct Tape Saved My Sole(s)". Sunset. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  55. ^ . Drew's Shoes. Archived from the original on 2018-11-01. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  56. ^ "iPhone duct tape fix". CNN. 2010-07-13. from the original on 2010-07-17. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  57. ^ Smith, Marcia C. (28 November 2006). "Pranks a big part of football rivalry". The Orange County Register.
  58. ^ 3M Canada Press Box 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine
  59. ^ . Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05.
  60. ^ . Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05.
  61. ^ . Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05.
  62. ^ . Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05.
  63. ^ . Department of Homeland Security. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05.
  64. ^ Meserve, Jeanne (2003-02-11). "Duct tape sales rise amid terror fears". CNN.com. from the original on 2005-12-11.

Specifications

  • ASTM International ASTM D5486 Standard Specification for Pressure-Sensitive Tape for Packaging, Box Closure, and Sealing, Type IV woven cloth backing
  • ASTM D580 Standard Specification for Greige Woven Glass Tapes and Webbings
  • ASTM D4514-12 Standard Specification for Friction Tape
  • ASTM D2754-10 Standard Specification for High-Temperature Glass Cloth Pressure-Sensitive Electrical Insulating Tape
  • MODUK DEF STAN 81-25, EN-Tape Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive (Water Resistant Fabric)
  • McDonnell-Douglas DMS1968E
  • Lockheed LCP-86-1226-A
  • Boeing D 6-8099
  • Ford specification ESB-M3G71-B
  • etc.

Books

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Duct tape.

    May 05, 2023
    duct, tape, duck, taping, redirects, here, confused, with, duck, typing, also, called, duck, tape, from, cotton, duck, cloth, originally, made, cloth, scrim, backed, pressure, sensitive, tape, often, coated, with, polyethylene, there, variety, constructions, u. Duck taping redirects here Not to be confused with Duck typing Duct tape also called duck tape from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of is cloth or scrim backed pressure sensitive tape often coated with polyethylene There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesives and the term duct tape has been genericized to refer to different cloth tapes with differing purposes A variation is heat resistant foil tape useful for sealing heating and cooling ducts produced because the adhesive on standard duct tape fails and the synthetic fabric reinforcement mesh deteriorates when used on heating ducts Powdered aluminum pigment gives traditional duct tape its silvery gray color Duct tape is generally silvery gray in color but also available in other colors and printed designs from whimsical yellow ducks college logos to practical camouflage patterns It is often confused with gaffer tape which is designed to be non reflective and cleanly removed unlike duct tape During World War II Revolite then a division of Johnson amp Johnson developed an adhesive tape made from a rubber based adhesive applied to a durable duck cloth backing This tape resisted water and was used to seal some ammunition cases during that period 1 Duck tape is recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary as having been in use since 1899 2 and duct tape described as perhaps an alteration of earlier duck tape since 1965 3 Contents 1 History 2 Manufacture 3 Common uses 3 1 Ductwork 3 2 Spaceflight 3 3 Military 3 4 Alternative uses 4 In popular culture 5 Duct tape alert 6 See also 7 References 8 Specifications 8 1 Books 9 External linksHistory Wheel fender extension to keep down lunar dust improvised using duct tape during the Apollo 17 mission The first material called duck tape was long strips of plain non adhesive cotton duck cloth used in making shoes stronger for decoration on clothing and for wrapping steel cables or electrical conductors to protect them from corrosion or wear 4 For instance in 1902 steel cables supporting the Manhattan Bridge were first covered in linseed oil then wrapped in duck tape before being laid in place 5 In the 1910s certain boots and shoes used canvas duck fabric for the upper or for the insole and duck tape was sometimes sewn in for reinforcement 6 In 1936 the US based Insulated Power Cables Engineers Association specified a wrapping of duck tape as one of many methods used to protect rubber insulated power cables 7 In 1942 Gimbel s department store offered venetian blinds that were held together with vertical strips of duck tape 8 Glue backed or impregnated adhesive tapes of various sorts were in use by the 1910s including rolls of cloth tape with adhesive coating one side White adhesive tape made of cloth soaked in rubber and zinc oxide was used in hospitals to bind wounds but other tapes such as friction tape or electrical tape could be substituted in an emergency 9 In 1930 the magazine Popular Mechanics described how to make adhesive tape at home using plain cloth tape soaked in a heated liquid mixture of rosin and rubber from inner tubes 10 In 1923 tape pioneer Richard Gurley Drew at 3M invented masking tape a paper based tape with a mildly sticky adhesive intended to be temporarily used and removed rather than left in place permanently In 1925 this became the Scotch brand masking tape In 1930 Drew developed a transparent cellophane based tape dubbed Scotch Tape This tape was widely used beginning in the Great Depression to repair household items 11 Neither of these inventions was based on cloth tape 11 The ultimate wide scale adoption of duck tape today generally referred to as duct tape came from Vesta Stoudt Stoudt was worried that problems with ammunition box seals could cost soldiers precious time in battle so she wrote to President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1943 with the idea to seal the boxes with a fabric tape which she had tested 12 The letter was forwarded to the War Production Board which put Johnson amp Johnson on the job 13 The Revolite division of Johnson amp Johnson had made medical adhesive tapes from duck cloth from 1927 and a team headed by Revolite s Johnny Denoye and Johnson amp Johnson s Bill Gross developed the new adhesive tape 14 designed to be ripped by hand not cut with scissors Their new unnamed product was made of thin cotton duck coated in waterproof polyethylene plastic with a layer of rubber based gray adhesive branded as Polycoat bonded to one side 8 15 16 17 18 19 It was easy to apply and remove and was soon adapted to repair military equipment quickly including vehicles and weapons 15 This tape colored in army standard matte olive drab was widely used by the soldiers 20 After the war the duck tape product was sold in hardware stores for household repairs The Melvin A Anderson Company of Cleveland Ohio acquired the rights to the tape in 1950 16 It was commonly used in construction to wrap air ducts 20 Following this application the name duct tape came into use in the 1950s along with tape products that were colored silvery gray like tin ductwork Specialized heat and cold resistant tapes were developed for heating and air conditioning ducts By 1960 a St Louis Missouri HVAC company Albert Arno Inc trademarked the name Ductape for their flame resistant duct tape capable of holding together at 350 400 F 177 204 C 21 In 1971 Jack Kahl bought the Anderson firm and renamed it Manco 16 In 1975 Kahl rebranded the duct tape made by his company Because the previously used generic term duck tape had fallen out of use failed verification he was able to trademark the brand Duck Tape and market his product complete with a yellow cartoon duck logo Manco chose the term Duck the tape s original name as a play on the fact that people often refer to duct tape as duck tape 22 and as a marketing differentiation to stand out against other sellers of duct tape 23 24 In 1979 the Duck Tape marketing plan involved sending out greeting cards with the duck branding four times a year to 32 000 hardware managers This mass of communication combined with colorful convenient packaging helped Duck Tape become popular From a near zero customer base Manco eventually controlled 40 of the duct tape market in the US 17 22 Acquired by Henkel in 1998 25 Duck Tape was sold to Shurtape Technologies in 2009 26 27 Shurtape went on to introduce a premium version called T Rex Tape 28 Ultimate Duck which had been Henkel s top of the line variety is still sold in the United Kingdom 29 Ultimate Duck T Rex Tape and the competing Gorilla Tape all advertise three layer technology After profiting from Scotch Tape in the 1930s 3M had produced military materiel during World War II and by 1946 had developed the first practical vinyl electrical tape 30 By 1977 the company was selling a heat resistant duct tape for heating ducts 31 In the late 1990s 3M s tape division had an annual turnover of 300 million and was the US industry leader 32 In 2004 3M released a semi transparent duct tape with a clear polyethylene film and white fiberglass mesh 33 ManufactureSee also Chemistry of adhesive tapes Composition Modern duct tape is made variously from cotton polyester nylon rayon or fiberglass mesh fabric to provide strength The fabric a very thin gauze called scrim is laminated to a backing of low density polyethylene LDPE The color of the LDPE is provided by various pigments the usual gray color comes from powdered aluminum mixed into the LDPE Two tape widths are common 1 9 in 48 mm and 2 in 51 mm Other widths are also offered 34 The largest commercial rolls of duct tape were made in 2005 for Henkel with 3 78 inches 9 6 cm width a roll diameter of 64 inches 160 cm and weighing 650 pounds 290 kg 35 Common usesThis section needs expansion with selected cited examples of non industrial and popular improvised uses You can help by adding to it September 2020 Semi transparent duct tape Duct tape is commonly used in situations that require a strong flexible and very sticky tape Some have a long lasting adhesive and resistance to weathering A specialized version gaffer tape which does not leave a sticky residue when removed is preferred by gaffers in the theatre motion picture and television industries Ductwork The product now commonly called duct tape has largely been displaced in HVAC uses with specialized foil tapes designed for sealing heating and ventilation ducts sometimes referred to erroneously as duct tapes Common duct tape carries no safety certifications such as UL or Proposition 65 which means the tape may burn violently producing toxic smoke it may cause ingestion and contact toxicity it can have irregular mechanical strength and its adhesive may have low life expectancy 36 37 Its use in ducts has been prohibited by the state of California 38 and by building codes in many other places Research was conducted in 1998 on standard duct tape at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Environmental Energy Technologies Division which concluded that under challenging but realistic conditions duct tape becomes brittle fails and may even fall off completely 36 37 Spaceflight Interviewer And duct tape works in the vacuum of space as well as it does here Walker Oh yes Yes it does It sticks Charles D Walker describing duct tape s use on STS 51 D 39 According to NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill duct tape had been stowed on board every mission since early in the Gemini program 40 NASA engineers and astronauts have used duct tape in their work including in some emergency situations One such usage occurred in 1970 when Woodfill was working in Mission Control when the square carbon dioxide filters from Apollo 13 s failed command module had to be modified to fit round receptacles in the lunar module which was being used as a lifeboat after an explosion en route to the moon A workaround used duct tape and other items on board Apollo 13 with the ground crew relaying instructions to the flight crew The lunar module s CO2 scrubbers started working again saving the lives of the three astronauts on board Ed Smylie who designed the scrubber modification in just two days said later that he knew the problem was solvable when it was confirmed that duct tape was on the spacecraft I felt like we were home free he said in 2005 One thing a Southern boy will never say is I don t think duct tape will fix it 41 Duct tape referred to as good old fashioned American gray tape 42 was used by the Apollo 17 astronauts on the moon to improvise a repair to a damaged fender on the lunar rover preventing possible damage from the spray of lunar dust as they drove 43 Military In the US submarine fleet an adhesive cloth tape is called EB Green as the duct tape used by Electric Boat was green 44 unreliable source It is also called duck tape riggers tape hurricane tape or 100 mph tape 45 46 a name that comes from the use of a specific variety of duct tape that was supposed to withstand up to 100 mph 160 km h 87 kn winds The tape is so named because it was used during the Vietnam War to repair or balance helicopter rotor blades 47 48 Alternative uses Industrial adhesive applied by a maintenance professional demonstrating safe application during an emergency repair scenario A wallet constructed mainly from duct tape Duct tape s widespread popularity and multitude of uses has earned it a strong place in popular culture and has inspired a vast number of creative and imaginative applications Duct tape occlusion therapy DTOT is a method intended to treat warts by covering them with duct tape for an extended period The evidence for its effectiveness is poor 49 50 thus it is not recommended as routine treatment 51 However other studies suggest the duct tape treatment is more effective than existing medical options 52 53 Duct tape is often used in shoe repair due to its resiliency 54 55 Duct tape has been used to temporarily fix Apple s iPhone 4 dropped call issue as an alternative to Apple s own rubber case 56 In popular culture USC s Tommy Trojan statue wrapped in duct tape to protect it from crosstown football rival UCLA 57 The Duct Tape Guys Jim Berg and Tim Nyberg have written seven books about duct tape as of 2005 update Their bestselling books have sold over 1 5 million copies and feature real and unusual uses of duct tape In 1994 they coined the phrase it ain t broke it just lacks duct tape Added to that phrase in 1995 with the publication of their book about lubricant WD 40 book was Two rules get you through life if it s stuck and it s not supposed to be WD 40 it If it s not stuck and it s supposed to be duct tape it Their website features thousands of duct tape uses from people around the world ranging from fashions to auto repair The combination of WD 40 and duct tape is sometimes referred to as the redneck repair kit The sitcom The Red Green Show s title character often used duct tape which he dubbed the handyman s secret weapon as both a shortcut to proper fastening as well as for unconventional uses The series sometimes showcased fan duct tape creations The series had a feature film based on it entitled Duct Tape Forever and several VHS DVD compilations of the show s use of the tape have been released Since 2000 series star Steve Smith as Red Green has been the Ambassador of Scotch Duct Tape for 3M 58 The Discovery Channel series MythBusters featured duct tape in a number of myths that involve non traditional uses Confirmed myths include suspending a car for a period of time building a functional cannon a two person sailboat a two person canoe with duct tape paddles a two person raft Roman sandals a chess set a leak proof water canister rope a hammock that can support the weight of an adult male holding a car in place a bridge that spanned the width of a dry dock and a full scale functional trebuchet with duct tape as the only binder In the episode Duct Tape Plane the MythBusters repaired and eventually replaced the skin of a lightweight airplane with duct tape and flew it a few meters above a runway Garrison Keillor s radio show A Prairie Home Companion included comedic fictional commercials sponsored by the American Duct Tape Council Duct tape alert Duct tape distributed by Skilcraft whose primary customer is the U S federal government The term duct tape alert refers to the recommendations made by the U S Department of Homeland Security on February 10 2003 that Americans should prepare for a biological chemical or radiological terrorist attack by assembling a disaster supply kit including duct tape and plastic presumably to attempt to seal one s home against nuclear chemical and biological contaminants among other items 59 60 61 The recommendations followed an increase in the Department s official threat level to orange or high risk citing recent intelligence reports 62 63 According to press reports the recommendations caused a surge in demand for duct tape 64 The media sensation surrounding duct tape was fodder for comedians and satirists Some referred to it as duct and cover a reference to duck and cover See alsoList of adhesive tapes Speed tapeReferences Gurowitz Margaret August 11 2009 Duct Tape Invented Here KilmerHouse com Johnson amp Johnson Archived from the original on 11 January 2014 Retrieved 10 January 2014 duck tape Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or participating institution membership required duct tape Oxford English Dictionary Online ed Oxford University Press Subscription or participating institution membership required Freeman Jan March 14 2010 Tale of the tape Boston Globe Archived from the original on October 18 2012 Retrieved September 27 2012 Wrapping on Cables of New East River Bridge The Brooklyn Daily Eagle November 21 1902 p 15 Archived from the original on October 17 2012 Considering that 100 000 yards of cotton duck tape must be wrapped around the cable with neatness and exactitude it may be imagined that this method of cable preservation is quite expensive Increased Use of Fabrics by Shoe Trade Textile World Journal New York LVII 13 March 27 1920 Archived from the original on December 15 2013 United States National Bureau of Standards Paul A Cooley Ann Elizabeth Rapuzzi 1945 National Directory of Commodity Specifications NBS special publication Vol 178 U S Government Printing Office p 716 Archived from the original on 2013 12 11 a b Safire William March 2 2003 The Way We Live Now On Language Why A Duck The New York Times Magazine Archived from the original on October 19 2017 Sommer Otto December 1916 Friction Tape Used for Plaster Strips Popular Science 925 Archived from the original on 2013 12 15 Rubber and Rosin Make Compound for Many Uses Popular Mechanics 856 May 1930 Archived from the original on 2013 12 15 a b Carey Charles W 2009 American Inventors Entrepreneurs and Business Visionaries Infobase Publishing pp 98 99 ISBN 978 0816068838 Archived from the original on 2013 12 13 Couldn t Keep Her Idea Down Archived 2015 05 06 at the Wayback Machine 24 October 1943 Chicago Tribune Gurowitz Margaret June 21 2012 The Woman Who Invented Duct Tape KilmerHouse com Johnson amp Johnson Archived from the original on 11 January 2014 Retrieved 10 January 2014 Petroski Henry 2004 Small Things Considered Why There Is No Perfect Design Random House Digital pp 131 132 ISBN 1400032938 Archived from the original on 2013 12 10 a b Berg Jim Nyberg Tim 2000 The Jumbo Duct Tape Book Workman Publishing p 10 ISBN 0761121102 a b c Cole David John Browning Eve Schroeder Fred E H 2003 Encyclopedia of Modern Everyday Inventions Greenwood Publishing pp 22 23 ISBN 0313313458 Archived from the original on 2013 12 13 a b History of Duck Tape Duck Brand Archived from the original on August 12 2012 Retrieved August 27 2012 Genericide When a Brand Name Becomes Generic Age of Persuasion CBC Archived from the original on 14 May 2011 Retrieved 14 May 2011 Steele Randy July 2003 Tale of the Tape Boating 18 Archived from the original on 2016 04 24 In 1942 research scientists at Johnson amp Johnson sandwiched a layer of mesh fabric cotton duck between a top layer of green polyethylene plastic and a bottom layer of rubber glue and pressed them together a b Ewalt David M March 15 2006 The Other Greatest Tool Ever Forbes Archived from the original on September 11 2012 Retrieved August 27 2012 Heating amp Air Conditioning Contractor 52 Edwin A Scott Publishing 1960 88 97 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help a b Levinson Jay Conrad Godin Seth 1994 The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook Houghton Mifflin Harcourt p 249 ISBN 0395700132 John Kahl finds the formula of product people and partners adheres to success for ShurTech Archived 2015 12 08 at the Wayback Machine 1 November 2014 Smart Business ShurTech About Us Archived 2015 11 27 at the Wayback Machine Brand Duck 2 May 2019 How Duck Tape was Named Duck Brand ShurTech Brands shurtech com Archived from the original on 18 March 2017 Retrieved 29 January 2017 Shurtape Technologies shurtech com Archived from the original on 24 February 2017 Retrieved 29 January 2017 Tape T Rex 26 April 2019 T Rex Tape Strong Weather Resistant Duct Tape T Rex Tape ULTIMATE DUCK TAPE choice of Black Silver White Clear Ducktape www ducktape co uk 8 September 2016 A century of innovation the 3M story 3M Company 2002 p 129 ISBN 0972230203 Home Energy Guide Insulation Popular Mechanics 77 September 1977 Archived from the original on 2013 10 13 The Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance National Center for Employee Ownership 9 14 1997 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help History Company Information 3M Archived from the original on September 1 2012 Retrieved August 27 2012 Smith Jenny M 2007 Forensic Examination of Pressure Sensitive Tape In Robert D Blackledge ed Forensic Analysis on the Cutting Edge New Methods for Trace Evidence Analysis John Wiley amp Sons pp 291 331 ISBN 978 0471716440 Archived from the original on 2013 12 13 Magazine The Editors of Discover 2008 07 08 Discover s 20 Things You Didn t Know About Everything HarperCollins pp 134 ISBN 9780061734335 Archived from the original on 12 October 2013 Retrieved 31 January 2013 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a first has generic name help a b Sealing HVAC Ducts Use Anything But Duct Tape Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Energy Performance of Buildings Group 1998 08 17 Archived from the original on 2007 05 04 a b Max Sherman Lain Walker Can Duct Tape Take the Heat Home Energe Magazine archived from the original on February 16 2013 retrieved September 27 2012 California Energy Commission Title 24 of the Building Energy Efficiency Standards Energy ca gov Archived from the original on July 14 2009 Retrieved 2009 07 21 Walker Charles D 14 April 2005 Oral History Transcript NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Interview Interviewed by Johnson Sandra Atkinson Nancy 2010 13 Things That Saved Apollo 13 Part 10 Duct Tape archived from the original on 2013 08 13 retrieved 2013 05 30 Associated Press article Archived 2005 04 20 at the Wayback Machine referring to the use of duct tape on Apollo 13 Moondust and Duct Tape Archived 2011 08 16 at the Wayback Machine April 21 2008 science nasa gov Nemiroff R Bonnell J eds 17 April 2004 Lunar Dust and Duct Tape Astronomy Picture of the Day NASA Retrieved 2009 07 21 The EB Green myth Topic community discovery com 2011 Archived from the original on 28 September 2011 Retrieved 30 June 2011 Airlift Technologies Archived 2010 12 20 at the Wayback Machine supplier of tape under this name The Medical NBC Battlebook USACHPPM Tech Guide 244 May 2000 p 1 13 Vietnam Stories Army Times September 1993 Richard T Edwards June 5 2011 Vietnam Balancing Rotorblades With Duct Tape 4th Battalion 77th Field Artillery AFA blog Archived from the original on June 2 2012 Wenner R Askari SK Cham PM Kedrowski DA Liu A Warshaw EM March 2007 Duct tape for the treatment of common warts in adults a double blind randomized controlled trial Archives of Dermatology 143 3 309 13 doi 10 1001 archderm 143 3 309 PMID 17372095 Ringold S Mendoza JA Tarini BA Sox C October 2002 Is duct tape occlusion therapy as effective as cryotherapy for the treatment of the common wart Archives of Pediatrics amp Adolescent Medicine 156 10 975 7 doi 10 1001 archpedi 156 10 975 PMID 12361441 Stubbings A Wacogne I September 2011 Question 3 What is the efficacy of duct tape as a treatment for verruca vulgaris Archives of Disease in Childhood 96 9 897 9 doi 10 1136 archdischild 2011 300533 PMID 21836182 S2CID 206853952 Focht Dr 3rd Spicer Carole Fairchok Mary P October 2002 The Efficacy of Duct Tape vs Cryotherapy in the Treatment of Verruca Vulgaris Archives of Pediatrics amp Adolescent Medicine 156 10 971 974 doi 10 1001 archpedi 156 10 971 PMID 12361440 Archived from the original on 2013 06 20 T Rick 10 Medical Uses For Duct Tape Healthprep McCrea Megan 26 September 2017 Hiking Hack How Duct Tape Saved My Sole s Sunset Retrieved October 31 2018 The Do s and Don t s of DIY Shoe Repair Drew s Shoes Archived from the original on 2018 11 01 Retrieved October 31 2018 iPhone duct tape fix CNN 2010 07 13 Archived from the original on 2010 07 17 Retrieved 2010 07 13 Smith Marcia C 28 November 2006 Pranks a big part of football rivalry The Orange County Register 3M Canada Press Box Archived 2008 08 28 at the Wayback Machine Biological Weapons Fact Sheet Department of Homeland Security Archived from the original on 2012 02 05 Chemical Weapons Fact Sheet Department of Homeland Security Archived from the original on 2012 02 05 Radiological Dispersion Devices Fact Sheet Department of Homeland Security Archived from the original on 2012 02 05 Remarks by Secretary Ridge Attorney General Ashcroft and Director Mueller Department of Homeland Security Archived from the original on 2012 02 05 Threat Level Raised to Orange Department of Homeland Security Archived from the original on 2012 02 05 Meserve Jeanne 2003 02 11 Duct tape sales rise amid terror fears CNN com Archived from the original on 2005 12 11 SpecificationsASTM International ASTM D5486 Standard Specification for Pressure Sensitive Tape for Packaging Box Closure and Sealing Type IV woven cloth backing ASTM D580 Standard Specification for Greige Woven Glass Tapes and Webbings ASTM D4514 12 Standard Specification for Friction Tape ASTM D2754 10 Standard Specification for High Temperature Glass Cloth Pressure Sensitive Electrical Insulating Tape MODUK DEF STAN 81 25 EN Tape Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Water Resistant Fabric McDonnell Douglas DMS1968E Lockheed LCP 86 1226 A Boeing D 6 8099 Ford specification ESB M3G71 B etc Books Pressure Sensitive Adhesives and Applications Istvan Benedek 2004 ISBN 0 8247 5059 4 Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Tapes J Johnston PSTC 2003 ISBN 0 9728001 0 7 Pressure Sensitive Formulation I Benedek VSP 2000 ISBN 90 6764 330 0External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Duct tape Duct Sealant Longevity Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Duct tape amp oldid 1143808844, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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