What to use instead of insulating tape. Here is the alternative

What should you use instead of insulating tape? Here’s a question that a layman might ask if they’re handling electrical wires during a DIY project.

This can happen on different occasions. You might have to deal with the broken plug of an electrical device, or you may be redoing your car’s audio system, or putting an electrical box back in place inside the house, and so on.

In all these cases, insulating tape is an – almost – essential tool because it makes it possible to cover and insulate an electrical cable, as well as to connect different cables, creating temporary or permanent connections effectively, quickly, and safely.

But you might be wondering what to use instead of insulating tape. Maybe because you forgot to buy a new roll after finishing the previous one, or maybe because you’d like something more resistant, since you’re dealing with electrical wires subjected to traction, or maybe just out of curiosity.

So, let’s have a look at what you can use instead of regular insulating tape!

Insulating tape: what is it?

Before we outline what the alternatives to insulating tape are, let’s also highlight the key features of this tool, a fundamental staple in the electricians and repairers’ toolboxes.

We are not talking about just any adhesive tape. Of course, it shares many aspects with normal double-sided adhesive tape, such as presenting an adhesive lower surface and a smooth upper surface resistant to glue.

It is so loved by electricians precisely because it is able isolate the electric current, as the name implies.

So, let’s take a closer look at how insulating tape is made: it is a rather thin film, with a thickness of basically just a few tenths of a millimetre. Normally, insulating tape is made of PVC, and it looks like plastic double-sided adhesive tape, able to conform extremely well to the surface it needs to cover (perfectly fitting, then, to the place over which it is applied) and particularly elastic (it can be stretched a lot before reaching its breaking point).

Normal PVC insulating tape is self-extinguishing, but, above all, it is insulating, an adjective that can be used when a barrier has a conductivity lower than 1/100,000,000 Siemens/m. Having understood what it is, let’s see what the alternatives to insulating tape are!

What to use instead of insulating tape

Let’s try to understand what you could use instead of insulating tape to connect and insulate electrical wires, with the same degree of comfort, effectiveness, and safety.

The first substitute that comes to mind is electrical clamps, i.e., a metal clamp which makes it possible to connect two electrical wires, covered with a plastic insulating body.

Using a clamp is simple: it will be enough to strip the ends of the two cables you wish to join, braid them together and place them in the clamp – or in the terminal block – and then tighten the contact, using the designated screw closure.

The clamp makes it possible to connect two cables in a safe and durable way; it must be noted, however, that the operation is more cumbersome, slightly more expensive, and that strong double-sided tape offers greater protection against moisture.

More similar to the concept of insulating tape are heat-shrinking tubing, also known as heat-shrink sleeves.

They are extruded plastic tubes which can be used to isolate a broken electrical wire or to the junction between two braided electrical wires: simply insert the electrical wire into the heat-shrinking tubing and heat it, so that it shrinks to create a safe insulation.

Using insulating tape

As we have discussed above, there are alternatives to insulating tape. None of them, however, are as practical as this particular industrial adhesive tape: with a single roll it is, in fact, possible to safely isolate and connect a multitude of electrical wires.

In addition to the practical and economic aspects, then, it is important to keep in mind that insulating tape is available in different colours – our sets have 9 different ones – to make it possible for electricians to easily identify electrical wires during their work. But how should electrical tape be used?

Well, perfect taping has a fairly precise technique. First of all, it is best to make sure that the electric wire you need to protect is well cleaned and degreased. At this point, you’ll need to take a short piece of insulating wire and place it, applying pressure, on the cable.

The first layer must overlap, and then you need to begin unrolling the cable – always keeping it perfectly taut – a few millimetres more than you need, so that each subsequent wrap-around overlaps on half of the previous one. The last layer, like the first, finally, must cover the previous one completely, to ensure a great grip for the industrial double-sided tape.