Spring Innovations: Custom Lifestyle & Fashion Tape

wedding fashion tape

With the advent of spring, the air is not just filled with freshness but also buzzes with the anticipation of transformation within the fashion and beauty sectors. The Tape Lab stands at the forefront of this change, blending innovation with practicality through custom adhesive solutions for fashion and beauty. This season, we’re excited to spotlight how our expertise can revolutionize attire for proms, weddings, graduations, and even spring break adventures, turning visionary concepts into market-ready innovations.

Custom Adhesive Innovations for Special Occasions

Elegant Prom Night

Prom night is an iconic event that calls for attire that is as enduring as it is enchanting. Here at The Tape Lab, we dive into the heart of fashion design with our adhesive bras and dress tapes, ensuring each garment remains impeccably in place, invisible yet powerful. This niche, yet growing market, thrives on innovations that seamlessly blend aesthetics with functionality. Our Fashion & Beauty Solutions are crafted to elevate prom attire, merging comfort with unparalleled style.

Blissful Wedding Celebrations

The onset of spring heralds the wedding season, each celebration brimming with unique moments and opportunities for creativity. Beyond our core offerings of fashion tape, The Tape Lab introduces adhesive patches designed to enrich bachelorette and bachelor party fashion and wedding attire. From energy-boosting to hangover-recovery patches, our range provides a foundation for unforgettable party gift packs. For a personalized touch, our custom formulation service allows you to tailor these patches to your exact specifications, making them the perfect keepsake for any wedding-related event.

Glamorous Graduations

Graduation is a significant milestone, deserving of attire that reflects its importance. Our fashion tapes ensure that every graduate can celebrate their achievements without worry, offering a discreet yet secure hold for gowns and accessories. As the education sector grows, so does the potential for fashion innovations that make graduation day not just memorable but also comfortable and stylish. Explore how our fashion tapes can contribute to creating attire that stands out on this special day at Fashion & Beauty Tapes.

Securing Spring Break

Spring break is synonymous with adventure, demanding products that can withstand the rigors of an active lifestyle. For individuals managing diabetes, securing medical devices becomes paramount. The Tape Lab’s skin-friendly adhesives are specially designed to protect these devices from water, impact, and the wear and tear of springtime escapades. Our commitment to innovation ensures your product ideas can effectively shield medical devices, allowing for an unburdened enjoyment of spring break activities. Let’s work together to create Medical Device Adhesives that offer both protection and peace of mind.

A Season of Collaboration and Innovation

At The Tape Lab, we view innovation as the heart of fashion and practicality. As your partner, we are poised to transform your innovative ideas into products ready to captivate the market. The adhesive market within the fashion and beauty sectors is ripe with opportunities, and we are here, ready to bring your project to life. If you can dream it, we are here to help you achieve it.

This spring, let’s embrace the spirit of innovation to create products that not only mark life’s special moments but also cater to the dynamics of active lifestyles. If you’re ready to turn your next big idea into reality with The Tape Lab, reach out to us today. Let’s make this spring a testament to innovation and collaboration.

Check out custom stick-to-skin tape products.

Charting The Way Forward For The Stick-To-Skin Industry – Jason Zajac (President, The Tape Lab) Addresses PSTC

Charting The Way Forward For The Stick-To-Skin Industry

During the first week of May (May 2-5), the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) held the inaugural PSTC Tape Week in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

PSTC Tape Week is a lot more than a traditional networking exercise. The primary objective is to unite the Tape Manufacturers with the adhesive makers and engineers of the pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) industry under one roof. The focus is to enable niche-specific knowledge sharing and to provide segmented learning and growth opportunities for PSA professionals.

Our President, Jason Zajac had the honor to speak on the medical stick to skin pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) and what trends will shape the medical market, more specifically the wearables space in the near to medium-term future.

Let’s explore further.

PSTC – Shaping The American Tape Manufacturing Industry

For the past 60 years, the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) has dedicated its resources to developing a thriving tape manufacturing sector within the United States. It strives to create an enabling environment for North American tape manufacturers and affiliate suppliers, thereby, helping them produce quality pressure-sensitive adhesive tape products in the global marketplace.

Jason Sketches A Thorough Overview Of The Medical Stick-to-Skin Industry

After touching upon common stick-to-skin adhesive applications, Jason elaborated on the core deciding factors while choosing the right PSA and ended by shedding light on the importance of choosing the right converting partner. Let’s dive a bit deeper into each section:

  1. Common Stick-To-Skin Applications: Wearable stick-to-skin products give doctors the freedom to become time and location-independent. Healthcare providers can effortlessly gather vital patient information and take appropriate action from virtually anywhere. More importantly, they offer numerous application options from head to toe including CGM/insulin delivery, ECG/EKG, wearable devices/patient monitors, pulse oximeters​, wound dressings​, wound closures​, adhesive bras​, cosmetic products​, and transdermal patches.
  2. Factors For Determining What PSA To Use: The factors that dictate which medical PSA should be chosen include:
    1. Wear Time: Depending on the patient’s needs, stick-to-skin products can be worn anywhere for a couple of days to several weeks. For short-term usage, the core adhesive components are silicones, rubbers, hydrogels​, and hydrocolloids. And the backing should be foams, TPE​, PE film​, and PET.​ Stick-to-product intended for long-term use should have adhesives made from solvent acrylics and UV cured acrylics. And the backings should either be PU film​ or non-woven PET/ PU.​ ​
    2. Moisture Management: Stick-to-skin devices are designed to be compatible with the user’s daily lifestyle. That means it must stand up to sweat, bodily fluids, and external moisture. For enhanced absorption hydrocolloids and absorbent foams should be utilized. And when it comes to breathability, materials such as PU film backings, non-woven backings, and perforated PSAs​ have consistently delivered the desired results. ​ ​
    3. Skin Irritation: The slightest irritation can compel the wearer to abandon the device, thereby, defeating its entire purpose. Factors such as the wearer’s age, local climate, daily activity volume, device placement on the body and product wear time all equally impact the irritation level. Adhesive materials such as acrylic, rubber, silicone, and hydrogels offer the right balance for eliminating irritation. For the backing, the preferred material choices are PU/ PET/ PE film, on-wovens​, PE Foams​ , and cloth​. ​
    4. Clarity of backing Material & PSA​: Backing is the carrier to which the PSA layer is laminated. Moreover, it dictates the way the tape behaves and ensures that the skin has breathability. Applications include wound dressings, NPWT, cover tapes, and shower tapes. Materials such as PU film, PET film​, and PE films are used for an optically clear backing.
    5. Material Availability & Strong Supplier Partnerships: What sets The Tape Lab apart is its rock-solid supply chain. We enjoy strong relationships with leading material manufacturers in the medical adhesive space. Our partners include 3M, Avery Dennison, Berry Plastics, Adhesive Applications and Polymer Science. This ensures immediate material access and enables us to design and produce customized medical adhesive solutions far quicker and cheaper than most of our competitors.
  3. The Right Conversion Partner: No business, healthcare, or otherwise can survive without undisputed integrity. The easiest way to ensure that is by choosing a seasoned material converting partner that brings to the table extensive research and development capabilities. The Tape Lab checks all of these boxes:
    1. Unquestionable Credibility & Extensive Adhesive-Specific Experience: The Tape Lab has over 18 years of research & manufacturing experience in the stick-to-skin medical tech space. Some of the largest names in the industry have entrusted us with developing adhesive solutions for their flagship continuous health monitors. We’re supremely confident we can meet and exceed your expectations as well.
    2. A Wide Range OF Stick-To-Skin Products: The Tape Lab currently offers 11 individual categories for stick-to-skin products and 6 categories for wearable medical products. Our range includes but is not limited to adhesive bras, boob tape, CBD adhesive patches, fashion tape, wearable device tape, and diagnostic tape. You can explore our full product range over here. No matter what you have in mind, you’ll find it under one roof with The Tape Lab.
    3. The Ability To Customize & Unrivaled Engineering Expertise: The Tape Lab excels in every facet of medical adhesive design and manufacturing. Our core competencies include designing the tapes, die-cutting the patches, layer lamination, customizing the liner releases, and full-service OEM assembly. This gives us the scale and production capacity that will empower you to bring your product to market quicker and cheaper than your competition.

Next Step – Book A Free Consultation

Looking for a full-service tape converter and adhesives specialist? Contact The Tape Lab today. Our experts will schedule an obligation-free call and explain how we can put our full suite of converting services to work for you.

5 ways tape converters help brands create stick-to-skin fashion tape products

You don’t have to be a fashionista to know that the perfect outfit doesn’t happen by accident. There’s often a lot going on behind the scenes to create the right look. That’s why adhesive bras (boob tape), fashion tape and cosmetic tape products have become common not only for the fashion industry, but also for weddings, proms and everyday slaying. But just as it takes work to create the perfect ensemble, manufacturers of stick-to-skin fashion tape products know it’s equally difficult to create those products in the first place. Thankfully, that challenge becomes easier with the right tape converting partner. Here are five ways tape converters can use their connections, converting capabilities and engineering expertise to help brands create outstanding stick-to-skin fashion tape products.

1. Materials sourcing and on-time delivery

Spring and summer are right around the corner and manufacturers of fashion tape products know how important the wedding and prom seasons are for sales. Any delays in production — due to either operational inefficiency or supply chain issues — can cause brands to miss an entire season of sales. That’s why it’s so important for manufacturers to have partners they can depend on for reliable materials sourcing and timely delivery.

At The Tape Lab, we source our materials from a network of industry leaders to ensure we always have the raw materials necessary to convert stick-to-skin tapes and adhesives in a timely manner. We also have unique access to multiple 3M Preferred Converters, giving our clients unbeatable access to premium materials and tape products. With our strong connections to some of the biggest names in the industry, we are able to provide dependable on-time delivery so you can get products stocked in time for your busiest seasons.

2. Product development, engineering and design

Tape converters are experts in the science of pressure-sensitive adhesives and tape products. We can use our knowledge and experience to help you design and engineer stick-to-skin fashion tape products that meet strict requirements and ensure wearer comfort. We work in tandem with your design team and can offer guidance on materials selection and spot issues with product design before they impact production or performance. This helps streamline the entire product development process while reducing the burden on your internal teams.

If supply chain issues are causing persistent problems, we can even help you reformulate current products or design products to beat supply chain issues so your brand is less susceptible to disruption.

For more insights on creating successful stick-to-skin products, download our free ebook, Designing and Producing Wearable Stick-to-Skin Products.

3. Converting services streamline production

In addition to providing design expertise, a converter like The Tape Lab can also help streamline production using our full suite of converting services. We specialize in die cuttinglaminatingsheetingslittingprinting and more to make materials easier for your clients to apply, helping to ensure repeat customers. This helps speed production time and can improve cost efficiency throughout the production process.

4. Packaging and product fulfillment

As a full-service tape converter, The Tape Lab offers end-to-end assistance from product design all the way through packaging of finished products. We have the capabilities to take on small and large volume assembly, kitting and packaging to streamline the production process. Combined with our design and converting services, this creates a one-stop shop for brands that want a simple and efficient way to bring finished fashion tape products to market.

5. Fast, knowledgeable customer service

When product requirements or business needs change, you don’t want to be left on hold. A dedicated partner will be there to help troubleshoot problems and keep production on track with helpful and knowledgeable customer service. At The Tape Lab, you’ll be connected with an experienced designer who can help diagnose your issue and arrive at a solution quickly and efficiently. That kind of knowledgeable service can help reduce downtime, increase production efficiency and improve product performance.

The value of tape converters

The fashion industry moves quickly and styles are constantly changing. But one thing that doesn’t change is the value of reliable partnerships. By working with a trusted tape converter like The Tape Lab, you can become more agile, create better products and streamline your manufacturing process with expert engineering insights and tape converting services.

If you are looking to create better fashion tape products more efficiently, contact us today and we’ll show you how our tape converting services can bring exceptional value to your product development and manufacturing processes.

Fashion tape and cosmetic tape: Keys to developing stick-to-skin products

cosmetic tape

Non-medical stick-to-skin products such as fashion tape, breast lift tape and cosmetic tape have grown in popularity as designers and product developers have found new applications for pressure-sensitive adhesives. Products like adhesive bras, hair tape and nipple covers have gone from fashion industry secrets to mainstream consumer goods. But what other opportunities await in a global beauty industry expected to top $716 billion by 2025? Designers looking to craft the next generation of stick-to-skin products will have to overcome a number of challenges to bring innovations to market. Here are some of the most important factors to keep in mind when developing fashion tape and cosmetic tape products.

Autonomy and wearability

One of the biggest issues for designers of fashion tape and cosmetic stick-to-skin products is balancing the need for strong holding power while also ensuring the product is comfortable and easily removable. The products need to stay firmly in place without inhibiting natural movement while avoiding skin irritation. This becomes even more challenging for products intended for significant wear time. Product designers will have to consider the tack, holding power and biocompatibility of various pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes and decide which is best for the intended application. In short, designers have to work hard to cover all their bases when developing products for mass consumer markets.

Moisture management

Skin has a dynamic relationship with moisture. It acts as a waterproof membrane to protect against the elements, but it also creates its own moisture in the form of sweat and natural oils. When you add in lotions and other consumer cosmetic products, you get a compromised surface that presents an added challenge for product developers. Moisture management needs to be a top priority because improper design could inhibit product performance or even cause serious skin damage.

Managing moisture effectively often comes down to the materials selected (including all adhesives and backing substrates) and product design. Designers need to choose materials that either transfer or absorb moisture without trapping it under the tape material and irritating the skin. An experienced converter can help guide these decisions to ensure adhesives stay strong and users stay comfortable in any conditions.

The age of skin

Part of what makes skin such a difficult surface to work with is that it changes from person to person. Age is also a major factor. Skin elasticity and texture, for example, can vary greatly between someone in their 20s and a geriatric person. So, even if a cosmetic tape product isn’t designed to eliminate wrinkles, Designers will still need to account for creased skin during product development.

The age of skin can also make it more susceptible to irritation or damage. So, product developers will need to think critically about the intended audience, their age and what that means for product design and materials.

The brand is everything

Brand names are extremely important in the world of fashion and cosmetics. So, maintaining that brand experience in the physical product is vital for building loyalty with customers. That means manufacturers need to find a converter that has robust printing capabilities in addition to die cutting, materials sourcing and other standard converter services. Printing logos on liners or even directly onto tapes creates yet another touch point — literally — with the brand identity. In addition to branding elements, user instructions, numbering systems and color coding can all enhance the user experience by ensuring a simple, straightforward application process.

Products that let users shine

Users of fashion tape and cosmetic tape don’t think about the pressure-sensitive adhesives and the moisture management characteristics of stick-to-skin materials. They just want to look and feel great. That’s why it’s up to the designers and the expertise of your converter to focus on what happens outside the spotlight. By concentrating on the issues presented here and prioritizing user comfort, product developers can overcome the challenges associated with stick-to-skin tape products and create amazing experiences for customers.

Want to improve the way you bring stick-to-skin fashion or cosmetics products to market? Contact The Tape Lab to see how our expansive converting capabilities can make a difference for your business.