10 Ingenious Uses for Magnetic Tape
Already a mainstay of most workshops, no craftsperson’s arsenal is complete without a roll or two of adhesive magnetic tape. Popular with both experienced engineers and the savviest of DIY experts, everyone can benefit from the practical, convenient option that magnetic tape offers. After all, magnetic tape allows you to achieve quick and effective solutions without needing advanced carpentry skills. The true value of these marvellous magnetic strips lies in their versatility; they come in various lengths and can be easily trimmed to the perfect size for any task at hand. But what solutions can magnetic tape offer?
1. Magnetic Tape Storage System
Often, in the chaotic creativity of craft-making, things can get lost in the process. We’ve all been there—one step away from finishing your next creative masterpiece when the last piece of the artistic puzzle can’t be found. Your art piece can either end up lacklustre without that final flourish of colour, or you may spend hours searching for the last googly eye or stray pipe cleaner to complete your artistic vision. They say, “Great art comes from great pain,” but this amount of strife is unacceptable! Sometimes to solve household problems like this, we need industrial solutions. The answer is magnetic tape.
Magnetic tape offers multiple ways to keep your storage system (and subsequently your sanity) in check. A personal favourite method is to use magnetic tape to neatly organise and separate craft materials, ensuring everything is easily accessible and visible at all times. You can also use magnetic strips with a whiteboard surface to label and track the materials you need for your next artistic journey.
2. Workshop Tool Organisation
Organisation is key when working on a project. It saves time and headspace, allowing you to stay in your flow and complete the task at hand. So it’s a no-brainer: organise your tools. But the more divisive question is: how? Yes, you could build an expensive and cumbersome shelving unit and spend hours puzzling over an IKEA instruction manual, or you could choose the more practical and convenient option: magnetic tape. There’s a size of magnetic tape for every size of problem, making it the perfect addition to any workshop. With tools securely attached yet easily detachable from the wall, you can have confidence in the simple yet ingenious solution that is magnetic tape.
3. Hanging Photos
Family photos, holiday photos, charity shop art, your young child’s uncontrolled scribbling—hanging pictures on the wall is one of humanity’s time-honoured traditions. As modern life is inundated with photos, it is probably one you will have to partake in at some point. But the question is, how will you end up hanging them? A common method would be the classic nail in the wall, scarring the painted plaster with a tasteless and ugly hole that will reveal itself if you ever want to remove the image. However, consider the power of magnetic tape! Magnetic tape provides an alternative: by attaching the tape using the adhesive to the picture in question, it allows it to be attached to any magnetic material, so any art can be displayed and taken down at your whim with no repercussions or damage to your wall. All with the power of magnetic tape!
4. Make Your Own Fridge Magnets
In this modern age, there is often a lot of pressure to get your child the most up-to-date toys. However, who needs the latest LEGO set when inspiration can come from unexpected places? Magnetic tape, with its adhesive strip (no glue, so no sticky clean-up afterwards!), offers you and your child endless possibilities to create and customise a fridge magnet using cheap, clean, and safe materials. This creates a fun and involved play experience for you and your child. First, cut a sizable piece of card or paper using scissors, then the rest is up to you: fold, draw, and colour as you wish, but always remember to finally stick it all together with magnetic tape to create a homemade fridge magnet. Most importantly, create lasting memories for you and your family.
5. Add a Whiteboard to Any Magnetic Surface
Need something to make your points stick? When commanding the room of potential customers, students, or simply co-workers, the pressure for a professional appearance is vital in presenting your ideas. For this, there is nothing more versatile than a whiteboard. Clear and concise, the whiteboard can engage your audience, hammering your points home reliably again and again, ensuring you can get your arguments across anywhere you go. But how do you mount your whiteboard while ensuring it’s a safe, easy, and cheap process? One convenient and portable method of securing a whiteboard would be, of course, magnetic tape. Simply attach the adhesive side of the tape to the whiteboard to make an effective addition to any meeting room or classroom, and from there, you can take the stage with confidence.
6. Brighten Your Home
Sometimes in a creative rut, you need a spark of creativity or perhaps a light bulb moment. However, this magnetic tape may not be as useful. But in illuminating a dark room, these magnetic strips should be able to help. As a cheaper and easier alternative to an ordinary lightbulb fitting, this method uses both LEDs and a strip of magnetic tape, making it an easily installable option for any workshop, kitchen, or even bedroom. Just cut the strip down to a size suitable for the job, attach the LEDs with the strength of the adhesive side of the tape, and by the power of magnetism, you can attach them to any magnetic surface you wish. This makes them a cleaner, sleeker alternative to nails or screws and much less messy than conventional double-sided tape (no more sticky marks!). And well, maybe then, in a well-lit room, you might be able to finally find the inspiration you were looking for.
7. Car Customisation
For car owners, the uses of magnetic tape are numerous, so no matter how you drive, I have confidence magnetic tape will be the solution to the problem you didn’t know you had! If you’re one for ripping up the tarmac and pushing your speed to its limit, you might want to try magnetic tape’s racing stripe potential. With the multi-colour varieties, you can create your own distinctive design and enhance your racing aesthetic. Alternatively, if safety is a priority, reflective magnetic strips can be a bold aesthetic choice and keep you safe on dark roads by increasing visibility and deterring unwanted collisions. But that’s not all! Even in the ruthless world of business, magnetic tape can be of use. Simply apply the magnetic tape to the back of a design of your choice and add this portable advertising to any vehicle of your choice to have an easily exchangeable, sleek, clean design that is certain to catch the customer’s eye. Such is the versatility of magnetic tape!
8. Magnetic Knife Strip
Even for those aspiring culinary stars out there, magnetic tape can still be an essential part of your arsenal. When tackling the hardest recipes, one of your worst foes has to be a cluttered kitchen, which is an increasingly worsening problem with the plethora of extra kitchen equipment required as you rise the ranks from an amateur cook to a home-chef superstar. One tip, however, I recommend to turn the tide against kitchen clutter is to ditch the knife block (formerly every cook’s go-to) in favour of the magnetic strip alternative. Wooden blocks, rather than keeping them safe, actually blunt your knives and can even sometimes be infested with mould and bacteria! Strips of magnetic tape alternatively don’t take up kitchen space and allow you more room on the countertop while keeping the knives at a convenient and safe distance from you, ensuring they maintain sharpness while showing off your savvy kitchen design.
9. Cable Management
You know you need to sort it out at some point. In the crammed routine of working life, some things tend to go neglected, and the seemingly tedious task of sorting the wires out is daunting at the best of times. But there shouldn’t be any stress in managing your cables. The usual option of bulky cable boxes can be intrusive, and with a large installation cost, it can be an unappealing option. However, there is another way. With the use of a few simple-to-use magnetic strips, cables can be tamed easily and cleanly, so you can better manage your electronic devices. With the power of magnetic tape, we hope you find the dark space behind your desk not so ominous after all, so you can tackle that cable mess!
10. Keep Curtains Closed
This DIY trick is a lifesaver for those late sleepers who want to avoid rays for a few more hours on a weekend morning. First, take the curtain down to a manageable position, such as a table or laying it flat on the floor. Then, using a measuring tape and pencil, mark where the two pieces of tape will go. After that, cut two lengths of magnetic tape the size of the pencilled-in boxes and attach them to the curtain. This can be done by using either superglue or even a needle and thread for an extra strong hold. Alternatively, if you have adhesive-backed tape, you can attach both strips using the sticky adhesive side, allowing the magnetic to secure the curtains tightly shut when closed. Then it is just a matter of putting the curtains back up, pulling them shut, and getting those extra hours you need after the long working week (no intrusive beams of sunlight in sight).
Final thoughts
These 10 are just a selection from the myriad of uses for magnetic tape, and as you have already seen, it can be used throughout life: in the home, at work, or even to add an additional flair to your DIY creations. But you don’t need to try all of these ideas to get the most out of magnetic tape. Feel free to discover the versatility of magnetic tape in a range of applications in your own life.