White Reflective Tape – (Click to go to our Online Store)
White reflective tape is the most common of all retro reflective tapes and is available in all of the different intensities. This material is available in 1″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 6″, 8″, 12″ and 24″ widths. White is the brightest of all the colors which is the main reason for it’s popularity. The brighter the tape the farther away it can be seen. It reflects a white color similar to a cars headlights. In daylight when the tapes are not reflecting they tend to have either a pearl white or silver appearance. The white solas, for example, is the brightest of all the reflective tapes and is a greyish color in the daylight. This is due to the glass beads or prisms in the tapes. They act as little mirrors and although they reflect a bright white, they tend to look off white or silvery in standard daylight conditions.
As you can see from the image above, there are a variety of choices for white (silver) reflective tape.
On the left is our SOLAS tape. It is the brightest and is rated at around 1000 candelas.
Next is the V82 or Type 5 Reflexite Tape which is rated at 700 plus candelas.
The Reflexite V92 tapes are designed for vehicle graphics and are rated at 460 plus candelas.
Our V98 white looks almost exactly like the V92 but is conformable and repositionable. We have another picture of the V98 White below.
High Intensity Nikkalite tapes reflect using high index encapsulated glass beads and reflect at 250 candelas.
The Engineer Grade Type 1 rolls of white (far right) reflect at 75 candelas.
(Please not that we now have a Type 4 High Intensity Prismatic. There is a picture of this product at the bottom of this page)
The picture above is of our white high intensity prismatic type 4 film. It has the honeycomb pattern like the type 3. It is similar to our high intensity type 3 but uses prisms instead of glass beads for reflectivity. It reflects at about 500 candelas. It is a vivid film and has a glossy finish.
The SOLAS, V82, V92 and High Intensity are flexible but not stretchable. The V98, Flexible High Intensity and the Engineer Grade that we carry are flexible and stretchable meaning they will conform a little on complex curves or over rivets and weld marks. In some situations the type of that that does not stretch is best and in others the stretchable tape is best. The image below shows our flexible high intensity and our flexible engineer grade tapes. The flexible high intensity is available in white, orange and yellow. It looks like our standard high intensity but is not the same tape. The standard does not stretch and the flexible does. (Note – heating with a hair dryer during installation increases the stretchability of the tapes. Also, the optimum temperature for applying the flexible engineer grade tape is from 59 – 77 degrees. At temperatures above this the tape becomes very stretchy. After installation the tape can handle temperatures from -22 to +176 degrees Fahrenheit.)
Reflectivity Test
The image above is a test that we did comparing 4 classes of white reflective tape. The tape on the far left is engineer grade, then high intensity then type 5 V82 and finally on the far right SOLAS. The main thing to notice is that at greater distances the glass bead (type 1 & 3) tapes fade out. Close up they are fine. At longer distances the type 5 and SOLAS continue to be visible. The same can be said of the the V92. As a general rule you can use the Type 1 and 3 tapes for applications where the tape needs to be clearly seen within a 300 foot distance. For applications where the tape needs to be seen at distances beyond that then the prismatics are a great choice.
The image below shows all of our white/silver tapes including our newest High Intensity Prismatic Type 4.
Here are the sites that you can go to if you wish to purchase one of our white retro reflective tapes.
Type 1 -Flexible Engineer Grade (colebrothers.com or reflectivestore.com)
Type 3 -High Intensity Grade (colebrothers.com or reflectivestore.com)
Type 3 – Flexible High Intensity Grade
Type 4 – High Intensity Prismatic (colebrothers.com or reflects-light.com)
V92 (comparable to a Type 4) – Prismatic Daybright
V98 Conformable Prismatic –
Type 5 – V82 Prismatic Grade
Type 8 – Not shown in pictures but similar to a diamond grade. (call 850-934-3157)
SOLAS – Coast Guard Approved Marine Reflective. (colebrothers.com
Steven Cole (Economics, MBA – University of West Florida , Business & Innovation – Stanford University) 25 years of experience in the reflective safety business. Specializing in accident reduction for vehicles through increased visibility.