Industrial specialty tapes from an Indian manufacturer.

What makes a tape a specialty tape?

The honest answer is that a specialty tape is defined by subtraction: it is the tape you reach for when a general-purpose roll has already failed. A plain film tape closes a box. It does not hold a pallet in compression, bond across a gap, survive being driven over, or disappear inside a printed joint. Each of those is a different failure, and each one is solved by changing the construction rather than by buying a thicker version of the same thing.

Four decisions turn a general tape into a speciality tape:

• The backing carries the job. Woven glass fibre reinforcement gives cross filament tape a high breaking strength, so in heavy packaging it can replace metal and polypropylene strapping. Pigmented PVC gives floor marking tape a surface that can be walked and driven over. A highly stretchable plastic film gives stretch film the elastic recovery that keeps a wrapped load tightly bound.
• The carrier decides the bond line. A compressible EVA foam carrier fills a gap where the two surfaces do not meet. A thin tissue carrier does the opposite, it vanishes, so a laminated sheet looks laminated rather than taped.
• The adhesive is matched, not assumed. Single-sided foam tapes are made on EVA and PE base with hot-melt, solvent and acrylic adhesives, because a tape that has to damp vibration behind a panel and a tape that has to hold a nameplate are not asking for the same chemistry.
• The size is made, not stocked. A specialty tape is slit to the width the application needs. Narrow strips for cable clips and bay grids, wide bands for panel mounting and vehicle routes, and everything in between come off the same coated web.

That is also why no prices are published on this site. The specification is settled per requirement, send the job and we confirm the grade, size and a quote.

Which specialty tape for which job?

Start from the job on the bench rather than from the product name. This is the shortlist our team works through on most enquiries.

The specialty tape families LKJ® supplies

Cross filament tape, when the tape has to carry the load

A self-adhesive tape specially designed for applications requiring a high breaking strength. The backing is a film coated with rubber adhesive, and woven glass fibres reinforce that backing, making the product extremely strong in heavy packaging where it can replace metal and polypropylene strapping to great advantage. Listed applications are packing heavy weight cartons, palletising, strapping, sealing of metal coils and pipe bundling; it is also widely used for cricket bat protection, where the reinforcement holds the blade face under repeated impact. Rolls are slit from 6mm to 1000mm, with a standard 50m length. Full detail is on the LKJ® Cross Filament Tape page, and if you are deciding whether to drop a strapping machine, read cross filament tape versus steel and PP strapping first.

Foam tapes, when the two surfaces do not meet

Double-sided foam tape is coated on both faces and suits wall mounts, cable mounts and multi-application bonding, with excellent shock resistance, heat insulating, double stick and ultra flexibility, and various grades for a wide range of bonding applications. Single-sided foam tape comes in a wide range of thicknesses on EVA and PE base, with hot-melt, solvent and acrylic based adhesive, for insulation, reducing vibration and blocking noise, used in HVAC equipment panels, as a fibre-free insulation alternative, as metal-to-metal seals, gaskets and gap filler, for wrapping chilled water lines, and widely for the fixation of aluminium doors, panels and windows. Jumbo rolls of 2 mm double-sided EVA foam are available. The flagship grade, a 2mm EVA carrier slit from 4mm to 1020mm, used for signage and name plate mounting and for fixing components in battery assemblies, is set out on the LKJ® Foam Tape page. Which base and which adhesive a sealing, damping or insulating job needs is worked through in EVA versus PE foam tape.

HBA acrylic foam tape, when the bond replaces the fixing

LKJ® HBA (High Bond Adhesive) acrylic foam tapes are the structural end of the foam range. They are used in structure glazing, aluminium composite panels, windows and door bonding and many other places, and they replace rivets, bolts, welds and other mechanical fixings, so a panel is bonded along the whole length of the joint instead of at a few drilled points, which also increases productivity on the line. They are described as environment proof and are available in various thicknesses, 0.4 mm up to 3 mm, so the tape matches the gap the joint actually has. A transparent colour is also available, a perfect solution for glass-to-glass bonding. Highly specialised foam tapes from 3M are available alongside the LKJ® range; the HBA detail sits with the rest of the foam family on the LKJ® Foam Tape page, and the balanced case against a mechanical fixing is in HBA acrylic foam tape versus rivets, bolts and welds.

Floor marking tape, when the rule has to be visible on the floor

Floor marking tape is used for creating safety borders around machinery and chemicals, designating equipment placement so everything has a dedicated spot, marking routes to guide vehicle and foot traffic and reduce the risk of collisions, identifying trip or fall hazards, storage segmentation to separate storage areas, and compliance: ensuring a workplace meets health and safety standards by clearly marking zones. The tapes come in various colours, each used to convey specific information, such as yellow for caution or red for danger. The LKJ® grade is PVC at 180 microns in nine colour combinations and 48mm, 72mm and 96mm widths; see the LKJ® Floor Marking Tape page for the colour key and width guidance, and how to plan a floor marking layout for setting a scheme out from scratch, routes first, then hazards, then storage zones, then the written key.

Stretch film, when the whole load has to travel as one

Stretch film is a highly stretchable plastic film wrapped around items, applied under tension so that the elastic recovery keeps the items tightly bound. The listed functions and benefits are improved stability of products or packages, forming a unit load; more efficient handling and storage of unit loads; some degree of dust and moisture protection; some degree of tamper resistance and resistance to package pilferage; and some degree of sun protection. That hedging is deliberate and we keep it: a wrap reduces exposure, it does not seal a load. General purpose and machine grade are both available, general purpose for wrapping by hand and for mixed or part pallets, machine grade for powered wrapping equipment, where every load is wrapped the same way. Grade and roll size are confirmed against your load rather than taken off a shelf, the LKJ® Stretch Film page sets out the selection criteria and exactly what to tell us when you enquire, while how much stretch film you need per pallet covers what decides consumption and how to measure it on your own load.

BOPP packaging tape, the sealing and branding workhorse

Suitable for carton box sealing and stationery use, in light, medium and heavy-duty grades. Lengths of 650 metres and 1000 metres are made for automatic dispensing machines, which cuts roll changes on a sealing line. Colours include transparent, brown, milky white, red, green, blue and black and more, so cartons can be colour coded by line, shift or destination. Printed tape carries company logos and messages in up to 5 colours, with reverse printing and half-tone options, and standard message tapes include "Handle with Care", "For Export" and "OK TESTED". The LKJ® grade runs 38–40 microns in 12mm to 96mm widths, see the LKJ® BOPP Packaging Tape page.

Double-sided tissue tape, when the joint must not show

Double-sided tissue tapes are thin, flexible tapes with adhesive on both sides and a tissue paper carrier in between, which makes them easy to tear by hand and gives better flexibility and conformability on curved surfaces. They are used for bonding, mounting and laminating on paper, plastic and fabrics, and are common in the print and packaging industries. The LKJ® grade is 60 microns with high-tack hot-melt adhesive on both faces and a release liner that prevents print bleed-through; see the LKJ® Tissue Tape page. For graded solvent-based tissue tapes from 70 to 100 microns and the premium 910, 1200 and 1600 grades, the group makes those under PTK® at Prateek® Tapes.

Where the rest of the group range sits

LKJ® is one of four brands of the same company, and the split is deliberate so that a buyer is not sent round in circles. Specialty tapes and consumables are LKJ®. Packaging tape, kraft paper tape, lamination film, surface protection film and the PTK® double-sided tissue grades come from Prateek® Tapes. Tapes and materials for the EV battery industry and for electronics, thermal conductive tapes, copper foil, polyimide, nitrile foam, cotton and insulation tapes, come from Mr.Bond®. The parent company, and the full catalogue across all four brands, is Lalit Jain Industries Pvt. Ltd.

Not sure which brand holds what you need? Send the application to our team and we will point you at the right one, even when it is not this site. Reels are slit to order across the group, so the answer usually starts with the job, not with a part number. If you would rather work it out yourself first, choosing a specialty tape by the job is the router version of this page, and it points at the sibling brands where the job belongs to them.