Watercolor Tape Tips (for Easy Removal Later!)

Whether you paint exclusively on watercolor paper or dabble with painting in your bullet journal, these tips will help you get those clean lines and avoid tearing the paper. Here are some of my favorite watercolor tape tips.

Watercolor Tape Tips

Here’s a watercolor tip I discovered early on – how to make the tape less sticky (so you can remove it later). Sounds weird, right? Why would you want to make the tape less sticky? If you’ve ever used tape for the border of your painting and tried to remove it later only to tear your painting, you know the frustration.

I love washi tape for decorating select pages in my bullet journal. I especially love using painter’s tape to block off borders when I watercolor paint. Using tape as a permanent decoration is great, but removing it cleanly can be an issue. It’s especially frustrating when the tape rips the paper off of your hard work. There’s a trick to make washi tape (or painter’s tape) less sticky so you can remove it later. The best part? This watercolor tape trick is easy to do.

And who doesn’t love a good tape-peel reveal video? Sooooo satisfying.

How to Make Washi Tape Less Sticky (So You Can Remove it Later)

Washi tape or painter’s tape can ruin a painting or creation if it peels or shreds the paper as you peel it away. The trick is to make the tape less sticky before you apply it to your paper. It will still have enough tack to stick to the paper while painting your masterpiece but remove it cleanly when finished. Be sure to read the other painting tips below to help save your paintings!

1. Remove the tape you plan on using from the roll.
2. Press it against a pair of jeans or cotton shorts or shirt, and remove and reapply it to the clothing if the tape is very tacky.
3. Do this until the washi tape is not as sticky. You’ll gather a bit of fuzz, but remove a lot of the tack from the washi tape or artist’s tape so you can remove it from the sheet of paper without tearing apart the document.

Some people recommend doing this on carpet or other cloth surfaces. Sticking tape to a rug or carpet brings up an unwanted conversation about how much I need to replace my vacuum. (Try it; you might question your vacuum as well. If not, I’d love to know what brand you use and how often you vacuum.)

Sticking the tape to jeans work best, but if I’m arting around in leggings, those cotton/spandex material blend pants work almost as well as those hearty, hip-hugging jeans.

Now the washi tape or painter’s tape is less sticky, and you’re ready to use it in your bullet journal or on your artwork!

Important! Before removing the tape from your paper, ensure your painting is completely dry before trying to peel away any tape. If your painting is cool to the touch, even if it feels dry, it’s not *really* dry.

Note: If you forget to do this before sticking your beloved washi tape down or use artist’s tape to block off the edges of your painting, never fear! I have a couple of other suggestions below.

Other Suggestions to Easily Remove Sticky Tape

Here are a couple of other excellent tips to note about removing artists’ tape or washi tape on paper:

First of all, I know I’ve said this before, but It’s worth repeating: Make sure your painting is completely dry. It won’t feel at all cool to the touch if it’s ready.

• Peel your tape slowly. This is not a band-aid!
• Slowly peel the tape at an angle away from your painting (see pictures below) – do not peel straight back or pull straight up. Peeling at an angle away from the painting will help avoid those annoying little tears along the edges.
• Is your tape still too sticky? (Or let’s face it, you forgot the washi tape + jeans trick?) Blast it with a bit of hot air from a blow dryer (not too hot, of course). It will heat the glue on the tape and let you slowly peel it away (at an angle) without shredding your paper.
• Don’t have a blow dryer handy? Use a slightly damp sponge and dab it on the tape directly (be careful not to get it on your painting!) **This is not my favorite method. If you apply too much water, you’re weakening the paper so that it might tear more. So I would test it out beforehand to see if it works for you.

More Tape Tips:

Here are some other tape tips to keep in mind while painting or to block off areas in your journal, on a canvas, or on watercolor paper.

• Make sure the paper is 100% DRY. The painting may be dry, but the paper might not, especially if you’re using cotton-based paper. If the paper is cool AT ALL to the touch, it’s not dry.
• Do not use Scotch Tape/Cello Tape (the kind you use for wrapping paper)
• Test out your tape on scrap watercolor paper to see how tacky it is (and see how much tack from the tape you might need to remove)
• Some of my bright washi tapes tend to bleed – especially the cheap but cute washi tape. You might want to do a colorfast test when using colored tape.
  • Place your washi tape on some scrap watercolor paper to do a colorfast test.
  • Paint over the washi tape with pure water to see if the color from the tape bleeds away.
  • Wait for the paper to dry, and peel the tape away.
  • Ensure the water didn’t push any color away from the top of the washi tape or bleed down into the paper.
• I also love to cut out designs with my Cricut and paint around them in my journal and watercolor paintings. I always use removable vinyl and do the jeans trick to make the tape less sticky. Otherwise, I can’t get the vinyl to peel away without ripping the pages.

My Favorite Tapes (for Journals & Painting)

In case you were wondering what I love to use, here are a few of my favorite washi tapes and painting tapes.

• My all-time favorite washi tape: The Black and White Striped Scotch Expressions tape. I found one at Staples and wanted more when I ran out. They’re sold in 6-packs on Amazon – but they have more styles than just black and white. If you find a style you love, get a 6-pack!
• Scott Expressions Multi-Pack – these are perfect compliments to the black and white tape & include the colors I like.
• Find other Scott Expressions Options – I’ve also seen them at Target and Staples.
• Ruler Tape – I think this is so fun in journals. It comes on a big roll, so I don’t feel guilty about using it for a watercolor project. If you need to mark the length (up to 12 inches) on something, this tape is super handy!
• Recollections Crafting Tape at Michaels (or you can find sets on Amazon)
• Delicate Surface Painter’s Masking Tape – tends to have less ‘tack’ than other painter’s tape intended for walls – but I still use the jeans trick.
• Masking tape – the general masking tape you might think of – I always use the jeans trick 2-3 times because it is tackier than I like but makes great lines on paintings.

For the Recollections tape, I picked up the rolls in the picture with the journal at Michaels. I like their tape in the tubes (like this one at Amazon). The collections are color-coordinated and don’t bleed like other cheap tapes I’ve bought. Plus, if I limit my supply to a few, I don’t get so overwhelmed.

I know what it’s like to ruin art projects/bullet journal spreads with too-sticky tape. I hope these tidbits help you create art with less frustration and more happiness.

• Beginner Supplies for Bullet Journaling
• Tutorial: How Watercolor Paint with Markers in Your Bullet Journal
• September Set Up
• January Week #4: My Bullet Journal Fails (so far) & What You Should Do if You Fail

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