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Blog: Paper Doll, Tackling The Stacks And Piles
 If It Quacks Like a Duck, Then It Might Be a Zebra – A Shoplet/Duck Tape Review
The nice people at Shoplet sent me a care package just as I was departing for the National Association of Professional Organizers 2012 Conference and Expo in Baltimore. Although duct tape and packaging tape weren't foremost on my mind as I left for conference, by the end of the week, I was wishing for a Star Trek transporter to beam my care package to Baltimore.
Although I encourage my clients to pick up as little swag and advertising as possible when they attend conventions, the material I pick up at the NAPO Expo is essential for helping me analyze and review items in Paper Doll posts all year round. The problem? Attending this year's conference required flying, and my suitcase (and shoulder strength for carry-on luggage) was at maximum capacity.
Having spent a few days after conference with a spectacularly organized friend, I called on her assistance (and supply of cardboard boxes) to pack and ship my newfound treasures. All I needed were scissors and some tape, and I'd be all set. I eyed my otherwise spectacular friend with dismay when she handed me a roll of mailing tape. You know the roll I mean – a gruesome color seen only in basements – a sort of shiny yet muddy brownish shade of flimsiness that sticks to itself (but not always to packages), wrinkles, and otherwise disappoints.
I admitted I was literally craving the Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape that Shoplet had sent me, to organize my stash. Lovingly unperturbed by my tape snobbery, my friend disappeared and returned with an entirely satisfactory roll of packaging tape, and I set about to complete my task, made longer only by the repeatedly loss of the end of the roll. (My friend gamely offered up bread ties to use as end-markers.)
Back home, my luggage and shipped package having both arrived, I've been able to sit down and make some evaluations. First, I love that the Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape is clear. Certainly my aesthetic preference has to be secondary to any functional issues. But I have greater confidence in the security of a package whose edges, creases and seams I can see through the packing tape.
A bigger plus is that the Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging tape is, indeed, easy to start. True to its word as I've been testing it, this brand is easy to start, each time. Never once, as I've experienced in the past, has the left side of the tape lifted while the right side remained stuck to the roll, creating a shaggy tectonic plate shift. Swift to start, sticking where it ought and nowhere else, and tearing only (and perfectly) when the dispenser's teeth cut cleanly across it, Duck dispenses well and serves its purpose admirably.
Speaking of dispensers, Shoplet's care package also included the Duck EZ Start Premium Packaging Tape with Dispenser with, as noted on the packaging, a "One-Handed Dispenser." Dispensing (pun somewhat intended) for a moment with a funny naming convention that implies Duck includes an actual hand rather than enabling one-handed dispensing, the Duck dispenser's white plastic roller and small plastic arm extensions makes it easier to use only one hand for taping while squeezing together box edges or otherwise holding to-be-taped parts in place. I've never been particularly adept at one-handed taping, but I imagine, with practice (were I helping a Santa-like organizing client package items in bulk), Duck would be very useful.
My one constructive criticism is that I would have preferred a heavier-duty packaging tape, something a little less flexible and with a little more thickness. Of course, some users might be particularly pleased by a slimmer tape footprint.
(Actual Paper Doll household pipe, Duck Zebra-fied!)
Finally, I can wholeheartedly recommend readers check out the third product line included in the care package, the Zebra Printed Duck Tape. As a not-particularly handy gal, I've always hoped that any problem could, as promised by folksy fellas, be solved with WD-40 or duct tape. And of course, one key to being organized is to eliminate all the nagging little distractions of under-performing (i.e., broken) parts. However, while I always encourage readers to focus on function over form, traditional duct tape has never been what one might call fashionable.
Well, tradition as been bucked, or shall we say, Ducked, because this duct tape is wackily fabulous. It works just like regular duct tape to fix ducts, pipes, ripped auto upholstery and anything else you might need to repair. It tears or cuts easily and holds firmly, but it does so with style. Duck is not your granddad's duct tape.
You know the expression used ad nauseam on medical dramas – "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras?" Well, if you hear the hoofbeats of home repairs, thinking "zebra" and "Duck" is the way to go. Functionally, it satisfies, and if you're tired of metallic grey, Duck also delights.
Niftily, Duck makes a Leopard Printed duct tape, too, as well as patterned tapes in Totally Tie Dye and Digital Camo. There are even colored Duck duct tapes in Purple Duchess (wouldn't that be Duck-ess?), Sunburst Yellow, Cha Cha Cherry, Electric Blue and Deep Blue Ocean. Of course, Duck Colored and Printed Duck tape aren't just useful for home and auto repairs, but crafting (if you're the crafty type), or color-coding areas in the garage, kitchen or laundry room.
You know I've got to say it. It's just Ducky!
So, stop procrastinating on your office and home supply tasks, and Duck them, instead!
By the way, I often peruse Shoplet's blog to find intriguing or unusual products or line extensions to share with Paper Doll readers, which is how I learned that Shoplet was starting a product review program. While the regular Tuesday morning schedule will stay in place, I'm looking forward to providing occasional bonus Paper Doll posts in the coming months.
Disclosure: I received these products for review purposes only, and was given no monetary compensation. The opinions, as always, are my own. (Who else would claim them?)
posted on: 4/3/2012 7:50:37 PM by Julie Bestry
category: Paper
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Paper Doll, Tackling The Stacks And Piles
by Julie Bestry
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Julie Bestry, President of Best Results Organizing in Chattanooga, TN, is a Certified Professional Organizer®, speaker and author. Julie helps overwhelmed individuals and businesses save time and money, reduce stress and increase productivity through new organizational skills and systems.
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