Duct tape is one of those items that you’ll find in most tool boxes, and it’s an extremely versatile product. Here are 10 facts about it that you might not know.
Designed for military use
Duct tape was originally invented to seal boxes of ammunition effectively and make them easy for soldiers to open.
The phrase “duck tape”
This was a nickname given to the product by soldiers in reference to its ability to repel water like “water off a duck’s back”.
The science of physics
Other adhesives available, such as glues and the metal bonding adhesives available from sources like http://www.ct1ltd.com/, are applied in a liquid form and then have a chemical reaction to harden and provide an effective bond. Duct tape, however, uses a pressure-sensitive adhesive to join the two surfaces together, which makes it a strong adhesive that can also be removed.
Do not use it for ducts
Originally the tape was used by households to hold together metal air ducts, but tests show that it is actually not reliable enough for this purpose.
Used on Apollo 13
Today, duct tape has sales of around $58.6 million in the US, but one of its most famous uses was on board Apollo 13. The astronauts used it as part of an adapter designed to filter out carbon dioxide from the lunar module.
Infection control in hospitals
Hospital-acquired infections are responsible for a large number of preventable deaths, and one US hospital used duct tape to create “safe zones” where doctors could talk to patients without the need for full sterile clothing. This saved the hospital staff time and money.
Extreme uses
Duct tape has been used in a number of extreme situations to test it out, including repairing a damaged airplane fuselage, creating a useable bridge and making a fully working cannon.
Duct tape festival
Fans of duct tape will be interested to know there is even an annual festival devoted to the product that takes place in Ohio.
Different types
Duct tape comes in a range of styles, including double-sided, outdoor, glow-in-the-dark and even a nuclear grade version.
Gain a college scholarship
In the US, the company offers a scholarship to the winning student of a competition to design and create a prom outfit from duct tape.
