The Problem with Duct Taping
Dear readers,
If you know anything about me by this point, you are probably confused by my title. How could I use the words “problem” and “duct tape” in the same phrase unless that phrase is “duct tape can fix any problem”? Well, faithful readers, I have found fault in this beautiful art form! I will not keep you in suspense any longer; the problem with duct taping is that it is hard. Some of my most frustrating experiences involve clutching a partially completed article of duct tape in one hand with a twisted strip of duct tape stuck to the other in several places. And while I hold this lost cause in my hands, I always come to the same resentful conclusion about duct taping; it would be easier if I had a little help and advice from another duct tape enthusiast.
I understand that duct taping may not seem an inherently difficult hobby. I have had many people ask me if my duct tape dresses were made by covering a pre-existing dress in duct tape or if I applied the duct tape directly to my skin. But it’s not that simple! First, applying duct tape directly to the skin is quite possibly the worst idea ever. Ow. And second, duct taping one’s self into a pre-existing dress would be very challenging. For example, covering the backside would be nearly impossible to do (just you try sticking duct tape to your back in a nice straight horizontal line without any wrinkles) and even if you managed to convince a friend to do it for you, once the dress had been made, it couldn’t be removed without the aid of scissors. And anyway, that would be cheating!
So clearly, duct taping is deceptively tricky. Here are some of the challenges I have encountered during my own projects:
Wrinkles: these occur in all of my projects, especially the three dimensional ones. A lot of technique is involved in avoiding them. Projects without wrinkles are a sign of great skill. The most impressive example is an article of clothing so wrinkle-free that nobody realizes it is made of duct tape.
Clean rips: every time I add a piece of tape to a project, I need to rip or cut that tape off the roll, leaving a certain amount of fray on the edges of that piece. I had to develop the way I rip duct tape in order to minimize phrasing.
Comfort and Breathability: I wore my first duct tape dress to robo-prom; a dance for participants of a national robotics championship. Robo-prom consists of about three hours of unremitting dancing, and by the end I was very aware that my dress was neither comfortable nor breathable. Duct taping is a practical art form; it needs to work in the real world. My first dress was not one I could wear comfortably, and creating better dresses since then has been a challenge.
Fit: Because duct tape does not have a lot of give, every project must be measured with its use in mind. When I make messenger bags, I have to measure the books that they will contain because if the bag is too small, the project was a waste of time. Similarly, when I made my first dress, it was not made to fit me very exactly. Duct tape dresses usually look best when they are fitted, so learning to work with a three dimensional model was very important.
Closures: Because duct taping is a practical form of art, and projects need to function in the real world, closures were often necessary. Duct tape clothing requires closures to keep the outfit on and fitted and whole. Some purses and messenger bags require closures to hold their contents safely. I usually use shoelaces, Velcro, or magnets for my closures. I have had to learn which closures to use in certain projects and how to integrate them most effectively and attractively.
Durability: Sometime during my freshman year of high school, I made a duct tape messenger bag to replace my backpack. I was very proud of it; it held all my books and had a water bottle holder and several pockets. By the end of my freshman year, it had been run ragged. Pockets were entirely missing, the water bottle had crumpled, and rips were appearing in certain parts of the bag. In order for a project to be practical, it must be durable. Since then, I have been learning how to spot potentially vulnerable parts of my projects and how to reinforce those parts.
These challenges are some of those that I encountered in the process of my first projects. I had to puzzle through their solutions on my own. I think it would have helped me to receive advice and support from other duct tape enthusiasts. Most of them have met these challenges at some point and have found their own way to solve them. Flickr user DuckTape_Rose has found a way to alleviate wrinkles from her flowers, and to manipulate her own wrinkles into the design for artistic effect. Ebay vendor Ozzysgma sells durable purses online. Duck Brand’s Stuck at Prom winners Lindsay and Jarrid discovered how to integrate duct tape lace into their project. This knowledge would be so valuable to other duct tape enthusiasts! What this community needs is some sort of online community in which they could ask questions and share expertise. If such a forum existed, this problem with duct tape might not be such a problem anymore.
