The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 1925–1930
3M's Scotch tape came from a painter who wanted a line he could peel off.
Richard Drew added a coating to one edge and made masking tape, then put clear adhesive on cellophane to seal packages.
3M · Richard G. Drew
the move
In the 1920s a two-tone paint job had to stop at a clean line, and auto-body painters had to mask off one color before spraying the next. The adhesive of the day would grip too hard and tear the paint or trim when the tape was pulled off.
Richard Drew, a young 3M lab technician, spent two years on the problem. His insight was to give the tape adhesive only along its edges, so the middle of the tape held the masking paper while the edges stuck strongly enough to stay but weakly enough to peel away without damage.
3M sold it in 1925 as Scotch Masking Tape, and the nickname stuck. In 1930 Drew made his biggest product: a tape that put adhesive on cellophane, the new transparent film, so it was invisible and moisture-proof.
Grocers and bakers, who had been sealing packages with string, took to it immediately. The tape became the famous Scotch Brand Cellulose (later Cellophane) tape, a new category in itself.
why it works
- Adhesive on the edges lets the middle mask while the edges peel off cleanly
- Putting the same idea on a clear backing made the tape invisible and moisture-proof
- Solving the particular painter's failure created a product that did a different job well
- A disposable, self-adhesive object was cheaper and easier than string and seals
what transfers
Solve the specific failure instead of the general one; releasing cleanly is exactly as important as holding, so put the effort where the old approach went wrong.
what came after
Scotch tape became an everyday office and household object and the basis of a 3M adhesives empire that also produced the Post-it note. Drew himself turned his tape patents into a lasting commercial franchise.
references
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