Best Weather Stripping and Window Sealing Tapes
Window sealing and weather stripping tapes are a low-cost option for keeping drafts out of your home. And they require minimal effort to install.
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If you’ve ever noticed a breeze coming from underneath your front door or the side of a window, you know how unpleasant it can be. Those drafts are expensive, too, wasting energy year-round as your air conditioning and heating systems struggle to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home.
While there are ways to renovate your home to remedy these issues, you may not always have the time, budget, or DIY skills to fix these problems with a big project like installing new doors, windows, or additional insulation. And that’s not always what’s needed, either. Window sealing and weather stripping tape can be very effective at closing small gaps in windows and door frames.
- Window Sealing and Stripping Tapes Tested: 3M Frost King M-D Building Products XFasten
- Do You Need Weather Stripping or Window Sealing Tape?
- How CR Tested
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Installation and removal: Installing the XFasten Transprent Window Weather Sealing Tape was as easy as using any other transparent tape I’ve used before. The one problem I had was getting the tape to install without leaving any air bubbles or gaps where water and air could sneak in (this also occurred with the 3M Indoor Transparent Weather Sealing Tape). I lifted and replaced the tape several times before I finally got all the air bubbles. Removing the tape was easy, too—I just lifted the tape from one corner and in one quick motion, it was gone. The adhesive felt stronger than regular masking tape. There was no residue left behind on either of the materials used in our tests.
Durability: Once on, this tape stayed on the wood through cold and heat. On aluminum, the pieces of tape that were installed along a tight corner began lifting after about 30 hours in a -2° F freezer. Two weeks later, those were still the only parts of the tape that had lifted from the aluminum material.
Water resistance: Issues along tight corners persisted in our water-resistance tests, too. After a minute under running water, I lifted the tape off the piece of aluminum to find that water had seeped under, wetting the aluminum material. The parts of the aluminum where the tape lay flat were dry. Installing the tape as two separate pieces instead of one long piece that has to turn a corner could help reduce the lifting at the corners.
Ease of use: Restarting the roll of tape is a little tricky because of its transparency. I found that folding a small corner of the end of the tape made using it the next time much easier. Once you install this tape, you cannot open the window on which you have placed it without removing it.
Installation and removal: Though all of the installations were pretty simple, the two foam tapes were easier than the other options. The Frost King Self Stick Rubber Foam Weatherseal was forgiving. If I needed to adjust the angle, I could lift and replace the tape several times without the adhesive wearing out.
The adhesive of this tape was stronger than that of the M-D Building Products tape, below. During removal, it required a bit more lifting force and left behind some residue on the wooden material. I easily scraped away the residue by scratching at it with my nail. Removal from the piece of aluminum left no residue.
Durability: There were no surprises with this tape’s durability on wood—it stayed securely on through hot and cold temperatures. On the aluminum material, it lifted along the angled parts after 30 hours in freezing temperatures. This was the only lifting noted during our testing.
Water resistance: The results of our water-resistance tests were similar to nearly all other models. Water was only present underneath the parts of the tape that were installed along tight corners on the aluminum material we used in our tests.
Ease of use: After proper installation of this foam tape, you can still open your windows. Cutting through this and the other foam tape model with a regular pair of scissors was no trouble at all.
Installation and removal: As I previously mentioned, the foam tapes were my favorite models to install. I could easily lift the foam of the M-D Building Products Weather Stripping Tape to readjust if it wasn’t at the perfect angle, and there was no risk of air bubbles. Even laying the foam flat on tight corners took little maneuvering.
Removing this foam weather stripping tape was almost too easy. It required no force to lift the tape, and it came off both the wood and the aluminum in a single strip of foam. Because it was so easy, I wondered whether an accidental snag and brief tug on a nail would be enough to remove it. It was. There was no residue left behind after removal.
Durability: Also, like the Frost King tape, there seemed to be the most lifting at the tight corners of the aluminum from this tape. I first noticed the lifting after 30 hours at -2° F. Thankfully, the lifting did not continue toward the parts of the foam that were lying flat. It remained attached to the wood throughout the two weeks in a cold freezer. The application of direct heat did not cause any lifting from either of the testing materials.
Water resistance: The wooden block we used in testing was totally dry underneath the foam window seal tape. The angled parts of the aluminum did not fare as well. There was a significant amount of water underneath these parts of the tape.
Ease of use: As with the other foam tape, you can still open a window after installation.
Another Weather Sealing Tape We Tested
Installation and removal: Similar to the XFasten tape, the only issue during the 3M Weather Sealing Tape’s installation was making sure it lay flat on the surfaces I applied it to without any air bubbles. During removal, I noticed that this tape lifted with a little less force than the other transparent tape. The adhesion felt as strong as regular desk tape. That was the only difference I could find between the two transparent tapes. No residue remained on the aluminum or wood pieces after removal.
Durability: After 30 hours in a freezer, the tape began to lift from the aluminum along tight corners. All other areas of the tape remained securely adhered to the material. There was no noticeable lifting of the tape on the wood material or in any of the heat-resistance testing conducted.
Water resistance: Though 3M doesn’t claim this tape seals against moisture, it’s worth noting that there was water present underneath the tape after our water-resistance tests. Most of the water seemed to be seeping through the parts of the tape that covered the angular parts of the aluminum and small protrusions of the wood.
Ease of use: After installing the tape on a window, you cannot open the window without removing the tape. Cutting through the thin tape with a regular scissors was easy.
One Tape We Don’t Recommend for Temporary Installation
The Protecto Wrap BT25XL Window and Door Sealing Tape is meant to be applied permanently during the construction of a home. We included it in our testing after seeing chatter online about folks using it to seal windows and sliding doors during extreme weather. Though it performed well in our tests, we do not recommend this model for the temporary taping of windows and doors because the rubberized adhesive was nearly impossible to remove from the surfaces we applied it to.
Weather Stripping vs. Window Sealing Tape
While these terms are often used interchangeably by manufacturers, they describe two different but similar products. Both are installed on windows and doors to block out drafts in cold weather and keep cold air in during hot weather. Some tapes also claim to keep water from seeping through windows, too. According to Energy Star, “Air that leaks through your home’s envelope—the outer walls, windows, doors, and other openings—wastes a lot of energy and increases your utility costs.” Some estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency put the monetary value of sealing off the gaps where air escapes your home and adding insulation at “an average of 15 percent on heating and cooling costs.”
Installation of both is simple: Apply the adhesive strips along the surface of a drafty window or door where air is escaping. No tools other than scissors are necessary. Window sealing tapes cover the gaps and a portion of the door or window, preventing them from being opened while they are installed. Weather stripping tapes made from foam fill gaps between windows and windowsills without sealing windows completely, so they can still be opened as needed. To properly fill a gap using foam weather stripping tapes, you must measure the gap you want to fill to be certain that the foam is the right thickness (the same thickness as the gap or a little bigger because these foams can compress).
Paul Hope, a deputy content editor at CR and regular home project DIYer, says window sealing tapes are the “better choice for windows or doors in basements, attics, haunted guestrooms, basically, anywhere you don’t go frequently. For more heavily trafficked spots, weather stripping is the better choice, obviously for primary entry doors, but also for things like a kitchen window, since even in the dead of winter, you may want to crack the window while cooking to get rid of smoke.”
Photo: Consumer Reports Photo: Consumer Reports
How CR Tested Weather Stripping Tape
I installed each of the tapes at home on a real, drafty window to ensure that they could stop a draft from coming in. They all performed well at this most basic task, so I focused the rest of my evaluations on the durability and ease of use of the weather stripping tapes.
In the lab, I placed each tape on individual pieces of primed wood and aluminum, two materials commonly found on windows. Before installing, I cleaned the wood and aluminum thoroughly with warm water and soap and allowed them to dry for several hours. Their ability to remain attached to these materials was evaluated against cold (-2° F) and hot (95° F) temperatures.
To determine whether they would remain installed and keep water out, I held each piece of wood and aluminum under running water for 1 minute, then noted any water that seeped under the tape and any tape lifting. For ease of use, I made notes on how easy each tape was to apply and remove, how much effort was required to cut and restart the rolls of tape, and whether there was any damage to the materials after removal (including stubborn residue that was difficult to remove).
*Based on price at the time of publishing.
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