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Insulating tape buying guide: width, length, standard

Updated: October 2026

You are in a garage with a lead that is still intact, deciding which PVC roll to order before you mark a socket or bundle a charger cable. An insulating tape buying guide has to separate a 19 mm width from a film thickness, and a standards name from a type grade, because those lines do not mean the same thing on these nine amazon.co.uk listings. This page is from Peter F. on 21 October 2026. It is not a lab test, and a purchase through the [insulating tape comparison](/hub/electrical-equipment/insulating-tape) can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Read the width, the length, the temperature and the exact standards words on the nine rows.

You are in a garage with a lead that is still intact, deciding which PVC roll to order before you mark a socket or bundle a charger cable.

Our top picks

Faithfull Faithfull black roll

Best overall

Faithfull Faithfull black roll
8.9/10about £2.31
View offer
Status Status five-roll pack

Best value

Status Status five-roll pack
8.2/10about £3.64
View offer
Gocableties Gocableties black roll

Rank 3

Gocableties Gocableties black roll
7.7/10about £3.95
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Width, length and thickness
  2. 2.What the standards line says
  3. 3.Temperature and the 600 V bullet
  4. 4.Pack counts and colours

Width, length and thickness

Most of the black rolls in the set are sold as 19 mm wide and 20 m long. That is the Faithfull reel at £2.31, the British General reel at £1.99, and the single Gocableties reel at £3.95, which also prints 0.15 mm. Status is the odd size: five rolls of 20 mm by 10 m, and the unit-count field of 50 metres matches five times 10 m. The thickness trap sits in the item-thickness field. Faithfull, British General and TAPEBEAR print 19 mm there, which repeats the width. Gocableties and JFA are the rows that actually state 0.15 mm. Which of those rows is worth opening is on the best insulating tape page.

What the standards line says

Faithfull says the film is flame retardant conforming to BS EN 60454 and stops there. British General says BS 60454, again with no type number. The Gocableties single roll says it adheres to BS EN 60454-2. A part-2 citation is methods of test, not a statement that the roll is Type 2. JFA prints EN 60454-3 and still does not name a type. Status says CE certified. None of these pages prints a kilovolt figure or a type number.
Faithfull Faithfull black roll

Testsieger

Faithfull Faithfull black roll
8.9/10about £2.31
View offer

Temperature and the 600 V bullet

Faithfull’s bullets say −5 °C to 60 °C. Status gives an upper field of 60 °C and no lower figure. British General and TAPEBEAR state no range. Both Gocableties listings say −18 °C to 105 °C. A 105 °C bullet does not promote the tape into Type 2. QILIMA and CHUANGSEED also say the film is suitable for primary insulation up to 600 volts. UK mains are 230 V, and the bullet does not change which job the tape is for.

Pack counts and colours

CHUANGSEED’s title, number-of-items field and configuration say 12 rolls of 19 mm by 20 m. The unit-count field says 20.0 metres. Two United Kingdom reviews say the parcel contained six rolls. QILIMA’s bullet says six rolls of 20 m, and the unit-count field says 33.0 metres. The Gocableties ten-pack names brown and earth green-and-yellow, though some buyers received five rolls. On new UK work the cores are brown, blue, and green-and-yellow, and green-and-yellow is the protective conductor only. A Status review says that five-roll pack has no brown. Sticky PVC against rubber tape with no adhesive is the contrast on the insulating tape vs self amalgamating tape page.

Common questions

What width and length should I expect?
On eight of these nine listings the usual size line is 19 mm by 20 m. Status is the exception, at 20 mm by 10 m, five rolls, and its unit-count field of 50 metres matches that arithmetic. If a thickness field also says 19 mm, the film gauge is n/a unless the listing prints 0.15 mm.
What does a BS EN 60454 line actually certify?
Read the words that are printed. Faithfull says BS EN 60454 with no type number. British General says BS 60454. The Gocableties single roll says BS EN 60454-2, and BSI describes that part as methods of test. None of them prints Type 2 or a kilovolt figure. Advance AT7’s trade page does, and that page is not one of these ASINs.
Is −18 °C to 105 °C the same claim as 60 °C?
They are different sentences on different listings. Faithfull prints −5 °C to 60 °C. Status prints a 60 °C upper field only. Both Gocableties rows print −18 °C to 105 °C. British General and TAPEBEAR print no range. A higher bullet is a claim on that page, and it is not a Type 2 certificate.
Which colours identify live, neutral and earth in the UK?
On new work the cores are brown for line, blue for neutral, and green-and-yellow for the protective conductor only. That harmonised set was required for work starting after 31 March 2006. A Status review says that pack has no brown. The Gocableties ten-pack names brown and earth green-and-yellow. Green on its own is not the earth colour for new work.
Does a 600 V bullet make the tape a Type 2 product?
QILIMA and CHUANGSEED print a bullet about primary insulation up to 600 volts. Neither listing names Type 2, and QILIMA also has an item-resistance field of 600 ohms that the page does not explain. A voltage bullet is listing text. It does not copy Advance AT7’s 8 kV figure onto these rolls, and it does not make a taped 230 V flex a finished repair.
Why do the title and the unit-count field disagree?
On CHUANGSEED the title says 12 rolls of 20 m and the unit-count field says 20.0 metres, while two UK reviews say six rolls arrived. On QILIMA the configuration says six rolls of 20 m and the unit-count field says 33.0 metres. The length is unresolved until you measure the parcel.
Is waterproof an IP rating?
No listing in this set states an IP code. British General and TAPEBEAR have a water-resistance field that says waterproof. JFA’s field says not water resistant, and a bullet on that page asks about outdoor wiring without answering. A waterproof word on a PVC roll is not a new cable sheath. If the job is a wet joint, you are in a different product.

Related pages

How to wrap insulating tape

Insulating tape

Best insulating tape: the row these listings support

Can you repair a cable with insulating tape in the UK

Insulating tape vs self amalgamating tape, explained

Sources

Public UK sources listed below. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures used for the scores. Notes applied 21 October 2026.

  1. Electrical Safety First: plugs and fuses (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. Electrical Safety First: How safe is your home 2025 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. GOV.UK: Electrical safety, Approved Document P (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. Advance Tapes: AT7 PVC electrical insulation tape (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. IEC 60454-3-1:1998, PVC film types (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. NICEIC via Voltimum: identification of electrical wiring (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. IET: new cable colours (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. RS: electrical tape materials guide (retrieved 21 October 2026)