What’s the Difference Between Hot Melt and Acrylic Adhesive?

If there’s one theme we return to over and over on this blog, it’s the idea that not all tapes are the same. One of the differences is in the two types of adhesives used to make the tapes stick, hot melt and acrylic.

In this blog post, we’ll look at the difference between these two adhesives and how these distinctions might affect your choice of custom tape.

Hot melt vs. Acrylic

Hot melt adhesive is a thermoplastic adhesive, also known as hot glue. Hot melt tapes exhibit a significantly higher adhesion in comparison to an acrylic tape. They possess superior holding power (referred to as shear value) and tensile strength, with quick tack. A hot melt tape is ideal for applications involving machine applied tapes, overstuffed cartons, or cartons with a high degree of recycled content. They perform well in temperatures ranging from 45F to 120F.

Acrylic packing tapes, on the other hand, offer a wider temperature range than that of the hot melt tapes, ranging from 32F to 140. An acrylic carton sealing tape is ideal for applications that involve low and/or high humidity conditions. Acrylic tapes also have a stronger resistance to oxidation, allowing it to be uninfluenced by exposure to sunlight.

What’s in a tape?

A good custom tape should provide:

● Ease of use
● Excellent adhesion to packaging and holding power
● Resistance to damage

When choosing a tape, you should think about these three things and consider the following:

1. Holding power

It’s critical that your adhesive resists continuous stress during shipping. Hot melt adhesive tapes offer a greater hold strength for handling external stress.

2. Application conditions

Humidity, cold weather, and dust can all affect a tape’s ability to stick. Acrylic adhesive has a lower viscosity, allowing it to stick better in dusty or humid environments.

3. Method of application

Acrylic tapes are ideal for packaging applications involving extreme temperatures, such as refrigeration, and for sealing boxes that will be warehoused over a long period of time.

Hot melt tapes, meanwhile, are great for machine application as they unwind quickly, offer instant adhesion and excellent holding power during automatic packaging processes.

Do you have additional questions about your custom tape options? Turn to Phoenix Tape. No matter what type of tape – or adhesive – you need, we can help you design a custom tape that looks amazing while providing the adhesion you need to get your product where it needs to go.