We’re excited to announce that we are switching from copper foil tape to conductive fabric tape in four of our core kits: the STEM Starter Kit, Intro Kit, White LED Stickers Educator Pack and Red/Yellow/Blue LED Stickers Educator pack.
What’s the difference between Copper versus Conductive Fabric tape?
Both copper tape and conductive fabric tape are great for making paper circuits and you can pretty use them interchangeably for most paper circuits.
The main difference is that copper tape is made out of solid metal foil while conductive fabric tape has a fabric base with conductive particles embedded in it. Practically, this means that the fabric tape is softer and will not tear unless you cut it with scissors. The adhesive on fabric tape is slightly more conductive, meaning breaks in the circuit and flaky connections are easier to correct with conductive fabric tape. These two qualities make conductive fabric tape friendlier for getting started with paper circuits, and so we decided to switch over.
All this said, there are also many benefits to copper tape. For example, you can solder to it and make more robust circuits. We like to have both options available and choose depending on our project needs. Check out our in-depth guide on copper versus conductive fabric tape for the pros and cons of each option, as well as how to choose between them for your projects!
Introducing “Circuit Tape”
Because copper tape and conductive fabric tape are both great for making paper circuits, and can often be used interchangeably, we’ve decided to use the term Circuit Tape as a short hand to refer to both. So if you see “circuit tape” in our resources, it means you can choose to use either option for your project.
Do you have questions or comments about the switchover? We’d love to hear from you! Please send us a note at info@chibitronics.com