Floor marking: Which tape suits your requirements?
Choosing the right tape for floor markings depends on factors such as resilience, removability and durability. The demand for markings has increased and it is important to consider the requirements carefully to find the right solution for each application.
Ground markings are often required for indicating:
- Distances which have to be observed (e.g. for "social distancing")
- Lanes (e.g. to increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians)
- Traffic patterns (often also combined with color coding)
- Areas in any location that need to be marked in the short or long term.
Getting it perfect is important
The right ground marking tape should be used for each specific case/requirement. For high-traffic and correspondingly heavy load areas such as lane markings or other hazard-sensitive areas, just "any adhesive tape" that happens to be available but is not specially designed must not be used. In such cases, it is literally only a matter of time until a hazardous situation occurs or the markings need to be replaced.
More robust? Longer? More flexible?
Adhesive tape for high-traffic areas (e.g. road surfaces or industrial facilities) possesses special properties, and is above all significantly more resistant to mechanical stress and environmental influences. When selecting a tape, the required/desired duration of a marking should also be taken into account. Some adhesive tapes are specifically designed for longer term use and therefore have a particularly strong adhesive coating on the underside. Hence, they are correspondingly difficult to remove later on. Sticky residues can then extend the cleaning time considerably. These tapes should therefore not be used if ground markings (such as lanes) are only to be applied for a short period of time and need to be easily adjusted time and again.
Accidents waiting to happen?
An adhesive tape with a flexible backing that is also resistant to abrasion, UV light, acid, alkalis, oils, moisture and corrosion is perfectly suited for heavy load areas such as production facilities and other industrial settings. Ground markings are often a mandatory part of workplace safety measures in such settings. After all, performing work daily in the immediate vicinity of heavy machinery always involves a rather high risk of injury.
