One of the biggest benefits of top-quality Superior Mark® floor tape is that it is easy to repair: While fixing chipped or faded painted markings requires significant time and energy, repairing floor tape is as simple as removing damaged sections and replacing with new tape. Heavy-duty Superior Mark® tape is designed to withstand industrial traffic but will eventually need to be touched up, so knowing how to repair it is essential.
Step-By-Step Floor Tape Repair Instructions
While the overarching repair process for floor tape is pretty straightforward—remove, clean, replace, tamp—a little more nuance is required to ensure proper adhesion. Follow these seven simple steps to repair floor tape quickly, easily, and effectively:
- Thoroughly clean the existing tape on either side of the damaged area.
- Use an L-square (or other straight edge) and sharp blade to cut two straight lines on either side of the damaged section of tape, leaving plenty of clearance around the damaged areas.
- Peel away the damaged floor tape, pulling up at a 90-degree angle until the tape is fully removed.
- Thoroughly clean the floor around and underneath where the damaged tape using an isopropyl alcohol solution and let dry completely. This creates a clean, adhesive-free surface to which the new tape can adhere.
- Apply the new tape to cover the gap you’ve created, starting from one side of the space and overlapping the existing tape slightly. When you get to the other end, overlap the existing tape slightly—about an inch or so—and cut the new tape.
- Using the L-square, cut the old tape at the end of the new tape. Lift the new tape, remove the old tape from beneath at the cut, and then press the new tape back down, creating a perfect seam. Do this at both edges.
- Tamp the new tape thoroughly at least three times using a minimum weight of 150 pounds. This activates the pressure-sensitive adhesive and ensures a durable seal.
Once the new tape has been tamped, you’re good to go—no drying or waiting required. The affected area can be reopened to foot and vehicle traffic immediately, just one of the many benefits of using Superior Mark® tape.
How to Prevent Floor Tape Damage
If your floor marking tape is showing signs of premature wear, evaluate your application to determine why your floor tape won’t stick. Dragging pallets and turning wheels directly on top of markings can cause tape damage that requires repair and replacement. But proper application can help prevent the need for floor tape repairs: Closely follow all application steps, use dashes or dots instead of solid lines where applicable to allow equipment and pallets to move between the markings, instead of over them, and properly tamp newly applied tape to create a durable seal.
Superior Mark® floor tape is designed to support Lean and 5S objectives in warehouses, factories, and other industrial facilities. When you use tape that’s just as easy to repair as it is to remove and apply, you don’t have to waste time blasting floors, removing paint, and waiting for markings to dry. For more on how to use Superior Mark® tape in your facility, explore our Resource Center.
