How to Use a Packing Tape Gun

Loading it

How to load a packing tape dispenser

Most tape guns load the same way. The one thing to get right is the direction: the tape comes off the bottom of the roll, sticky side down, toward the box.

1. 

   Step 1

   Find the hub and the knob

   The empty gun has a round hub for the roll, a tension knob in its center, a rubber roller at the front and a row of metal teeth that cut the tape.

2. 

   Step 2

   Slide the roll on

   Turn the roll so the loose end comes off the bottom and points to the front of the gun, sticky side down. Push it all the way onto the hub.

3. 

   Step 3

   Thread it through

   Pull the end forward under the rubber roller and over the teeth, still sticky side down. Leave about an inch hanging past the teeth.

4. 

   Step 4

   Set the tension

   Turn the knob until the roll turns when you pull the tape but doesn't keep spinning on its own. Too loose and the tape bunches; too tight and it stretches and tears.

If the first strip you lay has the shiny side down and won't stick, the roll is on backwards: slide it off, flip it and thread it again.

Using it

How to use a tape gun

One smooth pass per strip, roller down the whole way. The gun lays the tape and presses it flat in the same motion.

1. 

   Step 1

   Start on the side

   Press the end of the tape onto the side of the box a couple of inches below the top, right where the flaps meet. Starting on the side, not the top, is what keeps a seam from peeling.

2. 

   Step 2

   Roll along the seam

   Pull the gun across the top in one smooth pass, roller down, so it presses the tape flat over the seam as it goes.

3. 

   Step 3

   Tip it up to cut

   Carry the tape over the far edge and a couple of inches down that side, then tip the gun up and away from the box: the tape pulls against the teeth and snaps. Rub the end flat with your hand.

The H-tape method

How to tape a moving box

Every box we pack gets an H, then one strip around the sides, top and bottom. One strip down the middle alone leaves the flaps free to lift, and that's where a loaded box splits.

1. 

   Step 1

   The middle seam

   One strip along the seam where the two flaps meet, carried over both ends of the box and a few inches down them.

2. 

   Step 2

   Two strips across: the H

   Two strips across the middle one, set in toward the middle of the box rather than at the very ends, each carried over both edges and down the sides. That makes the H, and leaves six tape ends on the sides.

3. 

   Step 3

   Tape around the six ends

   The step most people skip: one strip all the way around the sides, a little below the top edge, over all six tape ends. Packing tape isn't made for the cold: it lets go of cardboard long before it lets go of tape, and the loose ends go first. Laid over the ends, this strip holds tape to tape, so the box stays shut even in a cold truck.

Tape the bottom the same way first, before you fill the box. For books, dishes and tools, lay a second strip along the middle seam of the bottom, overlapping the first.

No tape gun?

Tear packing tape like a mover

A tape gun goes missing on every move. Our movers tear tape by hand all day, cleanly and in one motion, with either of these two techniques.

• Technique 1

  Pinch it, then pull it apart

  1. 1Pull out the length you need and hold the tape with both hands, close together, right where you want it to break.
  2. 2Push your hands toward each other so the tape bunches into a narrow rope between them.
  3. 3Pull your hands apart sharply: the bunched tape gives way in one clean snap.

• Technique 2

  Tear it like a sheet of paper

  1. 1Hold the tape tight with both hands, thumbs and fingers pinching it right next to each other.
  2. 2Keep it taut, then move one hand toward you and the other away, the way you'd tear a sheet of paper.
  3. 3Do it fast and in one motion: a slow tear just stretches the tape.

Either way, the trick is speed: a quick, sharp motion breaks the tape cleanly, a slow pull only stretches it. Fold the last half inch of the roll back on itself afterwards, so the end is easy to find next time.

What to avoid

Taping mistakes that open boxes

• Taping only the middle seam

  One strip leaves the flaps free to lift. Under weight, the bottom bows and gives way. Tape an H, then lock the ends.

• Leaving the tape ends loose

  Tape ends are where a box opens: they peel up when boxes rub, and in the cold they let go of the cardboard first. Carry every strip down the sides, then hold all six ends with one strip around the box, tape on tape.

• Using the wrong tape

  Masking tape and duct tape aren't made for cardboard: one dries out and lets go, the other sags in the heat of a truck. Use packing tape, about 2 inches wide.

• Overfilling the box

  If the flaps bulge, no amount of tape will hold them down. Take something out, or fill a bigger box so the top closes flat.