I’m talking aboutthis kind of dispenser. Here’s one made by Scotch, aptly named because attempting to use one will make you need a scotch–or five. :mad:
The free end of the tape gets stuck to the roll, unless you remember to fold it over. Threading it through the two little guide thingies is completely useless. When you pull a strip of tape off of the roll, sometimes it splits lengthwise into two pointy useless pieces. When I attempt to attach a long piece to seal a box, inevitably it gets wrinkled. Maybe that’s just me. Tearing the tape off along the serrated edge is awkward, if it even works.
It’s actually easier to just use the roll of packing tape by itself, stick it to the side of a table or counter, and cut off pieces with scissors.
I don’t really want one of those big, honking, industrial tape dispensers, as I don’t use it all that much. Are they a whole lot better? It’s mostly at this time of year when sweetness, harmony, generosity, light, and sugar plums should be dancing in my head. Instead of visions of the Devil chuckling at how he has tanked the holiday spirit with his clever disruptor.
Holy frijoles, the big, honking, industrial dispenser looks like something from a Stephen King novel; if you get your finger caught in the one end, you’ll be sucked in and squished to a bloody pulp.
When we moved two years ago, the packing tape wouldn’t stick to cardboard, I had to circumnavigate the carton and stick the tape to itself. :rolleyes:
I can’t use either one. I just bought some of the tearable kind, which is a great name, just mis-spelled. It should be the terrible kind. Equally bad. I have about 10 rolls around here that I can’t use because they’ve started splitting. It’s a stupid product by all accounts.
That’s an expensive tape gun, at thirty bucks. You can get a perfectly good one from Staples for ten or fifteen bucks. And IMO it helps if you don’t get the really cheap, thin packing tape. The Scotch brand stuff is noticeable thicker and works better. (Particularly the tape meant for storage, rather than for shipping.)
I concur, get a pistol-grip dispenser at Staples or Home Depot. As has been said, not perfect at all, but it will greatly speed up the process.
However, the guys who moved me the last time all used the thin brown tape and no dispenser because it’s cheaper and very easy to cut–one guy did it with his fingernail.
This is the tape I’ve been using for several years now. it’s much better than Scotch or any other packing tape I’ve ever tried. Thicker, more durable, and the adhesive is really strong.
Fold over?? No, all you have to do is make sure the tape is above the two little tabs. And this is important: when you cut the tape, you need to hold on to the tape roll + holder, not just the holder. This insures that the tape roll doesn’t rotate inside the holder as you cut it (or after). The end of the tape sticks to the two little tabs.
I ship a lot of stuff (returns and eBay sales) and I’ve always used these simple dispensers, and they work fine every time.
I’m boxing up stuff right now for my little grandbabies for Christmas. My daughter told me UPS will tape it up for you at the shipping center. I’m gonna try it that way. Seems like frustration level may go down a notch. If the line ain’t too long. Merry Xmas y’all.
3M’s tape guns are about as good as they get. Sometimes you can find them bundled with rolls of tape. Don’t waste your money or patience on cheap tape guns. They will misbehave in ways you won’t understand and the cutter won’t cut, the roll won’t stay on the hub, the tape will wander out sideways from the roller, etc.
The important thing to know about the dispensers in the OP is that they are not designed to be used like a desktop tape dispenser: you don’t pull off a length of tape, tear it off, then stick it on the package. Rather, you pull a few inches out, stick that end to the box you’re sealing, then with the dispenser in your hand, you draw it across the top of the box, keeping it in contact with the box, and pull it down over the corner. When you’ve gone several inches down the side, a flick of the wrist cuts the tape, and the remaining flap of tape on the dispenser should stay in the two little tabs.
I describe this procedure in detail because last time we moved, my wife expressed the same kind of frustration as the OP, and I realized that she was trying to use the handheld dispenser as if it were a desktop model. Perhaps that’s the OP’s problem, too.
That said, as others have mentioned, the really cheap thin tape is hard to use with these dispensers. IMHO, it’s worth spending a little more to get the thicker stuff. If you buy the cheap stuff, it may be easier to do without a dispenser, just tear it off and cut it with your teeth.
There is definitely an art to using these dispensers. Go into a UPS store and watch the workers use the tape dispensers–they are total pros. I used to struggle with them like the OP, but now have the technique mastered
Yesterday I just finished packing and sending my Secret Santa gift. The greatest amount of time was spent on that stupid roll of tape that kept splitting at the edges or in the middle. I wasted as much tape as I actually used. Good thread title Thelma Lou.
