Best Electrical Tape

Updated: Feb. 17, 2023

A electrician pro reveals the electrical tape he swears by

what is electrical tapeFamily Handyman
Which electrical tape is best? A master electrician tells you why he chooses Scotch 33+ above all the others.

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The best electrical tape

Scotch Super 33+

This electrical tape has stable adhesive and wraps uneven surfaces smoothly.

We asked our master electrician what is electrical tape used for and what’s the best electrical tape out there. Here’s what he had to say.

“A lot of electricians, including me, swear by Scotch 33+,” says Master Electrician Al Hildenbrand. “It’s an amazing tape. The glue is stable and non-gumming or running, so it doesn’t leave a residue on your hands or the material if removed. But more importantly, the plastic has a ‘stretch’ and ‘return memory.’ When the tape is pulled off the roll, it stretches slightly, and over the next five to ten minutes, attempts to return to its original length. This ‘memory’ helps to put a slight compression on a smoothly wrapped splice to hold it in place. And the ‘stretch’ allows an irregular surface to be wrapped over the high spots, where the stretch is greatest, and the ‘memory’ generally allows the tape on either side to snug down onto the smaller diameters. The result is a smoother, tighter and more uniform insulating of what is being covered.”

“There are cheaper tapes, but they seriously lack the quality of Scotch 33+.”

Meet the Expert

Al Hildenbrand is a licensed Minnesota Class “A” Master Electrician with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. He’s the owner of Al’s Electric Works in Minneapolis, MN.