Like the VCR or the ham radio, floor marking paint must now compete with a modern evolution of its function: industrial floor marking tape.
We have analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of floor paint and floor marking tape in the following categories: Visibility, Time, Durability, and Versatility.
Read on for our full analysis, or order your facility the best warehouse floor marking products on the market, and compare the two for yourself.
Old-fashioned floor marking paint has been the standard for a reason: it is affordable and reasonably reliable. However, its ubiquity means that it begins to fade into the background (often literally, as the color degrades over time). Needless to say, becoming part of the scenery is not ideal for a thing that is supposed to be noticed. Because of its relative newness, floor marking tape is interesting enough to draw attention and keep it. Additionally, its durable plastic coloring and protective overlaminate means it is easy to clean if it gets dingy, so the color stays vibrant.
With floor marking paint, painting floor stripes of alternating colors requires double the time investment and a competent painter to keep the lines in order. Concrete floor marking tape has no such issues: it can come pre-printed with words or hazard stripes, and can feature phosphorescent and reflective stripes.
A final point in warehouse and facility marking tape's favor: it isn't just for floors. It can adhere to any surface at any orientation, from walls and staircases to vehicles. Using paint on a vehicle puts it out of commission for many hours while you wait for it to dry, and often the paint needs to be specialized for use with metal or exposure to the elements.
Our next point of focus is time.
Removal time is also a factor we considered. Scraping paint off of concrete floors can require a belt sander, caustic paint removal chemicals, and a lot of elbow grease. With marking tape, all that's needed is something flat and thin to slide beneath and begin the lifting process. This quick and easy way of removing warehouse marking tape also helps make the environment more adaptable to new changes and updates: instead of scheduling a week of low-impact activity to let paint dry, you can pull up the tape, slap down a new line where you need it, and get back to work.
Finally, the time it takes to teach someone how to apply floor marking tape is minimal. Instead of worrying about training someone on the ins and outs of painting straight lines on concrete, you can get them to lay a perfectly straight, highly durable line in a matter of minutes after watching the video (especially if you use the PathFinder Floor Tape Applicator).
The other durability factor is longevity. It's unlikely that you'll use up all of your supply of floor marking tape at once; there's likely to be some left over. With a shelf life of over two years, you won't have to worry about it drying out. There's nothing worse than cracking open a paint can only to see a dried-out husk inside. When you choose floor marking tape, drying out becomes a problem of the past.
That being said, ancient parking lot lines are still visible in buildings constructed in the '70s. Floor marking paint may fade, scrape and discolor, but it does tend to be quite hard to get rid of.
Floor marking paint is usable only on the floor, and perhaps on walls.
Standard operating procedure for any modern warehouse or facility is to practice some form of 5S system to speed up production and reduce costs. An evolving, shifting workspace requires a quickly adaptable marking application. If a forklift zone needs to be widened, you want to quickly mark that without wasting a week watching the new paint dry. Floor marking tape also comes in a variety of highly-visible colors, which can help integrate with a 5S system that relies on color coordination to improve wayfinding and production flow in a facility.
If your facility doesn't use an efficient 5S organizational method, we're happy to explain how egress and wayfinding marking with tape can play a significant role in improving your facility.
While we're talking about customizing your workspace, we'd be remiss not to mention our selection of unique signs and facility-specific labels. If you need a specific message in your facility, Duralabel is the company for you. Feel free to request a box of floor marking samples to see for yourself.
Industrial floor marking tape is a superior marking solution for indoor facility and warehouse use. Paint won't vanish, however: it'll always be used in parking lots and airport runways around the country. Anything smaller than an air strip or parking garage, however, deserves a more modern solution. Not to boast, but our PathFinder floor marking, wayfinding, and safety tape is some of the toughest and most visible in the industry.