In the tape world, we have a saying that goes, “the surface you are sticking to, isn’t actually the surface you think you’re sticking to”.

What this means, is you truly need to understand the surface the tape is being applied to. For example, if you’re having trouble sticking tape to the floor of your warehouse, you may not be sticking tape to the concrete floor you thought. The concrete floor might be covered in dust or debris, in which case, you are mostly sticking tape to dust and debris, not the concrete floor. 

This is often the case when applying tape to a silicone surface. Silicone is a tricky surface for tape adhesion due to its non-porous, smooth and often oily properties that make it difficult to bond to. Silicone is an LSE (low surface energy) substrate, meaning that on a chemical level, the surface naturally resists the bonding of other substances. 

Our Application Specialists recommend that you use a silicone adhesive when requiring a long-term bond to silicone surfaces. A product like BT-7700, a green polyester film tape, would have no issues sticking to a silicone surface because it features a silicone adhesive system and is designed for high temperature masking and surface protection applications.

Still have questions? We have answers!