Introduction
Refrigerator tape (also commonly known as freezer tape or refrigerator-specific tape) is a special type of tape designed for low-temperature environments, capable of maintaining stable adhesion at refrigerated (usually 2-10°C) or frozen (-40°C to -1°C) temperatures, addressing the issue of common tapes easily peeling off and losing their adhesive properties in cold and humid conditions. With its resistance to low temperatures, moisture, and durable adhesion, it is widely used in household, commercial refrigeration, and cold chain logistics scenarios.
I. Core Characteristics
The design of refrigerator tape revolves around the specific needs of low-temperature environments, with core characteristics including:
1. Low-temperature resistance: It maintains adhesion within a wide temperature range from -40°C to 10°C, without hardening, losing adhesiveness, or brittleness due to low temperatures.
2. Moisture resistance and frost protection: The adhesive layer and base material have a certain waterproof property, capable of resisting condensation water, frost (ice crystals), or humid air inside the refrigerator, preventing the tape from peeling off due to moisture.
3. Stable adhesion: It uses a cold-resistant adhesive layer (often rubber-based or modified acrylic) that has good adhesion to common materials in refrigerators such as plastic, glass, metal, and cardboard boxes, with minimal residue after peeling (some models are designed for "low residue").
4. Base material adaptability: The base material is mostly paper (economical), film (such as BOPP, PET, enhanced waterproofing), or non-woven fabric, which can be selected according to needs (for example, paper is suitable for writing, while film is suitable for humid environments).
II. Main Uses
1. Identification and Classification
◦ Household scenarios: Sticking notes to label food storage dates and expiration dates (such as "Frozen Dumplings, made on 2024.12.01"), or distinguishing different types of food (such as "raw meat area" and "vegetable area").
◦ Commercial scenarios: In supermarkets' refrigerators, restaurants' freezers, and cold chain warehouses, it is used to fix product labels (such as price, origin, batch number), or divide shelf areas (such as "dairy products" and "frozen seafood"), facilitating management and retrieval.
2. Sealing and Preserving
◦ Sealing containers: Used to seal fresh-keeping boxes, freezer bags, and the lids of glass jars, enhancing sealing properties, reducing cold air loss or external moisture ingress, extending the shelf life of food, and avoiding freezer burn (drying out due to freezing).
◦ Temporary repairs: Filling small gaps in refrigerator door seals to reduce cold air leakage and help save energy; or fixing loose shelves, dividers, plastic linings, etc., inside the refrigerator.
3. Cold Chain and Transportation Assistance
◦ In cold chain logistics, it is used to fix product labels inside refrigerated boxes and insulated boxes (such as transportation temperature records, recipient information), ensuring that the labels do not peel off during low-temperature transportation.
◦ Temporarily fixing dividers and insulation materials inside refrigerated trucks to prevent movement due to bumps during transport.
4. Household Temporary Uses
◦ Sticking children's drawings or shopping lists on the surface of refrigerator doors (replacing magnetic tape, especially suitable for non-magnetic refrigerators).
◦ Temporarily fixing wires inside the refrigerator (such as internal lighting wires in small refrigerators) or covering minor scratches.
III. Differences from Ordinary Tape
Ordinary tapes (such as transparent tape, office tape) have an adhesive layer that hardens and loses its adhesiveness at low temperatures, and the base material may become brittle and break due to cold; whereas refrigerator tape adapts to low temperatures through the following design:
• The adhesive layer is added with a cold-resistant agent to ensure softness and adhesiveness at low temperatures;
• The base material is selected from materials that are resistant to low temperatures to avoid brittleness;
• Some models have an additional waterproof coating to resist the erosion of condensation water.
IV. Considerations for Purchase
1. Temperature range: Select according to the use scenario (for example, choose -20°C to 10°C for household refrigerators, and -40°C to 0°C for industrial freezers).
2. Adhesion needs: For rough surfaces (such as cardboard boxes), choose high-adhesion models, while for smooth surfaces (such as glass, plastic), medium-adhesion models can be chosen to reduce residue.
3. Writability: If you need to directly mark on the tape, choose a paper-based or writable film-based base material (some plastic-based materials have smooth surfaces that cause ink to easily peel off).
4. Environmental friendliness: When in contact with food, prioritize models that meet food contact standards (such as FDA, LFGB) to avoid the adhesive layer releasing harmful substances.
In summary, refrigerator tape is a "adhesive solution" for low-temperature environments, addressing the issue of common tapes failing at low temperatures through targeted design. It plays a simple yet crucial role in scenarios such as food storage management, commercial refrigeration operations, and cold chain logistics.
