3M Scotch Original Blue Painter’s Tape

Pros: Rolls on easy, decent paint blocking capability.
Cons: Tears while removing,  Paint bleed-through
For years, we used 3m Scotch Blue Original Painter’s Tape on nearly every paint project assuming it was basically the only product anyone would consider using… that is until we discovered Frog Tape Green Pro Painter’s Tape with Paint Block.  The 3M product always offered us a decent final result so it never occurred to us to give another brand painter’s tape a shot.  I suppose, by making a comparison of the two products you as a reader may come to realize why we made a switch.

The first thing one might want to consider is the overall quality of the tape, how well it rolls off the spool and adheres to surfaces.  When I consider these qualities, I never really noticed much of a difference no matter which product I happened to use.  The overall quality of thickness and strength were very similar in my opinion.  Each came off the spool easily and is tough enough not to tear irregularly yet still cuts where desired.  As far as I can tell, there is no substantial difference in the adhesion quality of both the 3M blue and green Frog Tape.  On those instances where you may not set the tape as you desired on the first attempt, each will lift off the wood, glass or drywall quickly and easily and remain sticky enough to reattach to the surface and still effectively block paint splatter or over-brushing.  Sticking to glass, drywall or wood molding was not an issue for either tape.  When it comes to the tape itself, I can’t distinguish and difference beside the fact the other is green and the manufacturer decided to make this one in blue.
Even though we always found ourselves using this tape for our paint projects, it took trying a somewhat better option to make the limitations of the product evident.  The paint blocking quality of this 3M tape was “about as good as one would expect”.  Most of the brushed or rolled paint did end up on the tape.  Bleed-through or paint getting under the tape was, for the most part, only a small issue.  We followed up and cleaned leaked paint off moldings when it did bleed through. Once we had the opportunity to witness the result left by the Frog Tape we were pretty much sold on it as our new choice.  We now witness sharper lines and virtually no bleed through so we no longer feel that 3m Scotch Blue Original Painter’s Tape offers us as much protection as we could possibly get.
I might point out that 3M appears to have tried to counter the competition with a newer product which we have never tried.  3M is now selling their painter’s tape with Edge Lock which may actually be the answer to the Frog Tape I compare to.  The problem with this new improved 3M tape is that it’s sold at a premium price above what we pay for the competition.

Finally, when it comes to removing the tape we also noticed a difference in performance.  If the paint dried too quickly we would find the 3m blue tape reviewed here would tear more easily.  Plenty of times we would find a small sliver of tape left that had to be cut off with a blade… especially on wood moldings.  We didn’t find the same perplexing trouble that caused plenty of extra time and hassle during clean-up with the green competitor’s tape I reviewed several days ago.  Again, the 3M product did not perform up to the competition in respect to removal.
For about a buck to a buck and a quarter extra per roll, you can pick up the improved variety of this tape that should offer about as much as the green tape we are now using… but why?  This 3m Scotch Blue Original Painter’s Tape actually ends up costing just about the same as our new tape of choice.  This product does offer a decent result but considering it does not live up to its competition I can only offer three idarb.com stars and after years of being a believer it makes me feel blue to take a pass on a “BUY” recommendation.