Spike tape is a cotton cloth tape used to create temporary markings on stages and theatrical sets. Spike tape is usually made of the same material as Gaffer's Tape.

General information

Spike tape is used to create a stage marking called a spike

Spike (stagecraft)

In stagecraft, a spike is a marking, usually made with a piece of tape, although some houses use paint pens, put on the stage. This marking is used to show the correct position for set pieces, furniture, actors and other items which move during the course of a performance and are required to stop...

. Good quality gaffers tape uses a synthetic

Chemical synthesis

In chemistry, chemical synthesis is purposeful execution of chemical reactions to get a product, or several products. This happens by physical and chemical manipulations usually involving one or more reactions...

 rubber adhesive

Adhesive

An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...

 that does not leave a residue when removed from the stage. Spike tape's thin width means that it can be quickly torn by hand, and its tight weave of cotton fibers allows for straight tearing without stretching. In addition to creating spike marks in performance areas, spike tape also makes a good material for bundling, decorating and labeling

Labeling

Labeling or labelling may refer to:* Automatic label placement* Labeling , as in cartography and maps* Labelling, the act of a society using a word or phrase to describe or ostracize a person* Labeling theory, in sociology...

.
Spike tape may also be fluorescent (in which case it is made of plastic or vinyl rather than cotton) so that it can be easily seen by the running crew

Running crew

Running crew or run crew, is a collective term used in theatre to describe the members of the technical crew who supervise and operate the various technical aspects of the production during a performance...

s moving set pieces during a dark scene change. This is usually referred to as "glow tape" or "glo-tape". Glow tape is notoriously less sticky than spike tape and may be additionally held down to the stage floor, or "deck", with the aid of staples. Note, however, that even ordinary spike tape may need to be covered with clear packing tape to keep it from being pulled up in some situations.

Unique Spike Tape Products

Spike tape "corners" are pre-die cut 90° spike pieces. This is especially helpful for placement of wagons, flats

Flats (theatre)

Flats, short for Scenery Flats, are flat pieces of theatrical scenery which are painted and positioned on stage so as to give the appearance of buildings or other background. They are also called backdrops or backcloths....

 and furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

pieces.

External links

What is Spike Tape? explanation at The Tape Works

Spike corners at The Tape Works