The Best Advice About Packing Tape Thickness

October 15, 2022

The success of your package starts with the packing tape

Who takes the time to pack a box for shipping, hoping that it breaks open? Literally no one, but it happens unfortunately. First let's just agree to stop cheaping out on the one thing that is designed to hold the contents inside a package. By that I'm referring to packing tape.

The difference in a package making it through the mail system without opening comes down to the packing tape. When shopping for packing tape, (aka packaging tape, shipping tape, box tape, carton sealing tape, and so on) start looking for the advertised thickness. This can be measured in mil or microns, usually mil is the most common measurement. Mil stands for milli-inch, which is one-thousandth of an inch or 25.4 microns (micrometer).

What to look for when shopping for packing tape

If you can't find the thickness on a product it's likely the economic light duty thickness most manufactures produce which is 1.6mil to 1.9mil. This creates a thin, flimsy, and easy to tear packing tape, don't do it...please...

Ideally for a package 50 lbs and under, look for a packing tape that is 2.1mil (53 microns) to 2.5mil (63 microns). Hot Pawz packing tapes are 2.3mil (58 microns), this is a perfect balance in strength and value. Using tapes 2.5mil and higher, the additional expense starts to outweigh the value for a package 50lb and under. If your packages are consistently over 50 lbs, this presents a great opportunity to invest in water-activated fiber-reinforced paper tapes.