Duct Tape

Duct Tape

Duct tape is a wide, silvery-appearing adhesive tape originally intended to seal joints in sheet metal duct work, but has thousands of other uses. It is a vinyl tape with embedded cotton thread to provide additional strength but can be torn length to length without tools. Duct tape is an aggressive adhesive and is waterproof. There are many thousands of uses for duct tape, from its original intended use to clothing. Available in traditional silver and other colors including clear.

Clear duct tape allows for neater and cleaner application of this multipurpose adhesive tape. It is suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications. Duct tape was originally developed during World War II in 1942 under the name "Duck Tape" as a waterproof sealing tape for ammunition casings. Permacel, then a division of Johnson & Johnson, used a rubber-based adhesive to help the tape resist water and a fabric backing to facilitate ripping. Because of these properties, it was also used to quickly repair military equipment, including jeeps, guns, and aircraft.

After the war, the housing industry boomed and people started using duct tape for many other purposes. The name "duct tape" came from its use on heating and air conditioning ducts. Metallized and aluminum tapes used by professionals are still often called "duct tapes".