I cannot figure out how the masking tape I use in my classroom is not sticky enough to keep pictures on the wall, but when I remove the limp, spent pieces, I cannot get the sticky off my fingers. After three scrubs with Germ-X.
Throughout the school year, I arrive in the morning to find posters and old calendar photos littering the floor. They must fall off overnight, when the temperature or humidity changes. But when I try to pick them up, they are stuck to the floor. Because things always fall sticky-side down, you know. I could understand if it was just the laminated evacuation directions, the ones that point out what to do in case of "torndado", fire, or earthquake. Because they're heavy. And no, I am not the one responsible for typing, printing, and laminating twenty posters labeled "torndado".
Years ago, I found out that such unsticky masking tape was really hard to remove from the back of the paper or cardboard. It would rip hunks right off. So I cut the little loopy thing and smoothed down the flat piece of tape left clinging to the paper. Then I applied a new loop of tape to hang it again.
Don't even try to persuade me to try Sticky Tack. It has never worked for me. I think it has something to do with our glossy-painted concrete block walls. They are not a smooth surface. It's like a wall of warts. Smooth, white warts. That don't want to support classroom eye candy. At one school, I used white athletic tape. It lasted a good long time. But now I don't have access to it. And what you might think is the same stuff from Walmart is not. I've tried it.
The worst part is that no matter how sticky that old tape is on my fingers, it would not hold the poster on the wall for twenty-four hours. But it would hold my fingers to the wall for twenty-four hours.
This has got to be part of some bigger conspiracy. Like the missing furniture wheels.
4 comments:
Conspiracies abound!
Have you tried Command strips? They seem to work well in my camper.
Ever consdier, maybe you are 'tacky'? I have the same problem, so I get frustarted and STAPLE right into the plasterboard wall, and fill the holes with chalk rubbings when I remove :)
labbie,
No, I have not tried Command strips. Never heard of them. But when I read it, the concept of "commando" popped into my head.
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Linda,
Many people consider me "tacky". But in a different way, I fear.
I staple into my bulletin board, and the cork thingy above my whiteboard. But I have stopped short of stapling into my concrete-block walls. My maroon Swingline best stapler ever would frown upon that.
Have you heard of the Command hooks? You glue them to the wall and when you are finished with them, you pull the strip and the adhesive and hook come off of the wall without damage to wall or hook. These are the strips that you can purchase at the Devil's Playground in a package and can be used without the hook. Just be sure the side that says "This side toward wall" is. And if you would like to do it commando--that's between you and the principal. LOL
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