Whenever my sister and brother-in-law travel with their young daughter, they always make sure to pack one particular item – a roll of blue painter’s tape.
Ever since their now 2-year-old daughter was a baby, they’ve used the tape at their travel destinations for everything from covering bright windows with blankets to hanging video monitors on walls.*
Today’s hint is to follow their lead and pack this parent-friendly product before heading out on your next trip.
Why? The beauty of painter’s tape for travel is that it generally doesn’t damage the surfaces it sticks to or leave a mark when it’s peeled off, and it typically can work on painted walls, wood, glass, metals and more.
Armed with the tape, you can mount monitors, childproof outlets and dressers (hat tip to Parent Hacks), and cover windows with blankets without worrying about damaging hotel rooms, vacation rentals or relatives’ homes.
You may be wondering, however, why today’s hint is just about using the tape for travel. The big caveat with painter’s tape is that there’s a time limit for how long it can be removed cleanly. Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape by 3M, for instance, works as promised for up to 14 days.
So, given the tape’s temporary nature, it’s best use for parents is as a must-pack travel item. Plus, as the site Stress Free Kids points out, it can make a fun travel toy too.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t clever ways you can use the tape around the home too, assuming you only use it for short-term jobs or replace the tape every couple of weeks.
My brother-in-law, whose parents owned auto glass repair shops where the tape was frequently used, grew up in a home where the tape was used for all sorts of purposes.
I can see using the tape for in-home jobs like temporarily hanging kids’ art work on the wall, creating short-term floor hopscotch games (thanks MileStar Babies), decorating toys (hat tip to The Artful Parent) and setting up DIY toy train tracks or toy car racetracks (a great tip from mom.me).
How have you used blue painter’s tape?
*Note: Usually when they travel, my sister and brother-in-law will take down a picture hanging on the wall and hang the video monitor on the nail where the picture was, a great additional travel hint. However, when there’s no nail they can use, they’ll hang the monitor on the wall using the blue tape.
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[…] Here’s how her system works: After she pumps, she puts the sticker with the day the milk was pumped on the bottle cap, and then she writes the date on the white part of the label. So, ”the quick visual for caretakers is ‘Today’s Friday, and in the fridge I see Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday… I’ll go with the Tuesday milk first.’” My sister, meanwhile, says labeling bottles is yet another use for blue painter’s tape. […]