When it comes to packing up your mailings and products, you have plenty of choices for the tape you can use. From strapping to sealing to packing tape, there are dozens of strong, secure, and weather-resistant tapes out there, but for extra safety, security, and strength, your best bet is gummed paper tape, specifically pressure-sensitive Kraft paper tape.

Using water-activated tape can ensure your packages remain sealed – among other benefits. If you need more convincing to switch to pressure-sensitive Kraft paper tape, here are the top reasons to use gummed paper tape for packaging.

Incredibly Strong

Pressure-sensitive Kraft paper tape can be used for any mailing package, but it especially shines when you employ it on heavier and heavy-duty packaging. The strongest brands of Kraft packing tape are, obviously, made of tough paper, which is made even tougher with fiberglass strands that won’t break under tremendous pressure. The water-activated sealant also provides a better seal and grip. When it goes on, it stays on, and won’t come loose without some effort. It's best for gripping onto cardboard and corrugated paper as well, almost becoming one with the packaging it’s keeping closed.

Impossibly Secure

Many tapes that already come with adhesive on one side of a piece of paper or plastic can lose their grip a little too easily. Water, steam, or other moisture as well as chemicals, heat, and cold can all make most packing tapes weaken and peel – leaving the contents of the package exposed. The quality of such tapes makes them a godsend for thieves and vandals, allowing them to strip away or reach past the tape to grab the contents or damage the package further.

Likewise, such tapes can come loose in transit because of jostling, or dropping – spilling your materials everywhere. The Gummed paper tape holds on tight, and the only way through it is with a knife or blade. Your goods will remain safe while in transit from point A to point B.

Looks Sharp

Brown and tan may not be the most exciting colors on the spectrum, but when pressure-sensitive Kraft paper tape is applied properly, it looks sharp and presents a professional appeal. Customers will appreciate a well-packaged box that arrives the same way it went out: sealed, protected, and perfectly angular. This makes you look better and more professional as a result, as customers link your business with the smart look of your packaging. And don’t overlook the branding possibilities. Paper tape can be stamped, colored, and otherwise decorated with words, symbols, and slogans that you want to be affiliated with your company.

Fast and Furious

Speed up production in the mailroom with water-activated pressure tape. When you set up a dispensing machine in the mailroom, on the docks, or anywhere else, watch your employees whip through box after box, creating a perfectly secure and striking H-tape shape on the top of each package before setting it all up on the pallet or truck. Faster and more accurate packaging translates into greater efficiency for all, leaving more time to find even better ways to do everything else! Plus, there’s a frankly fun element to the process that makes it a pleasure to perform.

Greener Overall

If you love the Earth, go with pressure-sensitive Kraft paper tape. Because it’s made of paper, it’s completely recyclable, unlike most plastic-based tapes, so you and your clients can toss cardboard boxes sealed with it into the recycling bin guilt-free. That can also mean savings in the long run. You will have to make the initial investment in a dispenser and several rolls of tape, but the dispenser always puts out a fixed amount of tape. That means you can keep track of how much you use without ever using more than you need (as you might do with plastic tapes applied with hand dispensers). It all adds up!

A Tape for All Seasons

Here is another one of the top reasons to use gummed paper tape for packaging: water-activated pressure tape is suitable for packaging almost anything. It’s strong enough to handle heavy parts and other objects. It maintains a seal that keeps perishables intact and unspoiled inside. It protects items that have to be kept secured by adding a fairly tamper-resistant seal to the package. Above all (and as mentioned above), it helps hold breakables in place so that they won’t suffer damage when en route to their destination. Finally, there’s no industry, business, or endeavor that this type of tape is unsuitable for. Water-activated pressure tape fits in with any company and fits perfectly on packaging everywhere!

It’s Less Tiring

Because it uses a dispenser, water-activated pressure tape is easier on your employees. Though a handheld plastic tape dispenser is speedy, it wastes tape and puts constant stress on the operator. Most of the work of rolling out, wetting, and cutting the water-activated pressure tape is done by the machine, meaning little to no stress on your workers’ hands, arms, shoulders, backs, and legs. This means greater efficiency, but it also means your employees are less tired and less likely to suffer repetitive stress injuries that can slow them down or take them out of commission. That means fewer sick days, lower insurance premiums, and a better, happier, and healthier attitude in the workplace!

Nature-Proof

One of the biggest enemies of packages is the great outdoors. More than likely, your packages will arrive and sit on a client or customers’ front porch or similar outdoor area, suffering the rigors and challenges of rain, sleet, snow, wind, heat, cold, and any number of other environmental hazards. A well-sealed package can also keep food and other edible items from being sniffed and potentially eaten by a passing possum, squirrel, mouse, or other vermin. Sometimes, that single strip of tape is the only thing standing between your product and nature. Use pressure-sensitive Kraft paper tape to build a paper-thin wall that even the outdoors can’t breakthrough!