While working on The Void, my existing RV that I am still living in while I remodel The Transit, I discovered that there are several building and decor elements that do not seem to be available through public consumer means. In other words, they’re things that are made for the manufacturing process but not something an individual can buy at the local home store.
One of those elements is a plastic strip that is adhered to the edge of a cabinet to “finish” the edge rather than having a raw edge, particularly when that cabinet or furnishing is made from cheap particle board and not a thick hardwood that can be sanded, polished, and painted or stained.
If I tore out part of a cabinet set, for instance, and left the other part of the cabinet, I couldn’t find the little plastic strip that was used on the outer edge of the cabinet to finish off what was once a middle piece but is now an end piece.
I did not plan to take apart any original cabinetry in The Transit and I had given up on the “finished” look in The Void long ago, so I didn’t think about this when I started remodeling The Transit.
But while stripping the old paint from a cabinet in The Transit, the same chemical that broke down the paint also broke down the glue used for these kinds of finishing elements and the edging from one cabinet ended up peeling off.
I continued painting, figuring I’d solve this problem later. Then, as if the internet was listening to me (instead of, y’know, the data collection algorithm noticing a pattern of me searching for home repair and RV maintenance products), Temu sent me the solution!
This is a roll of a rubbery ribbon meant to finish 3/4 inch – 1 inch edges, like table edges. Which is exactly what I was looking for! Because it’s a cheap mass manufactured product, I decided to take a chance and buy it.
I am so glad I did! It worked exactly as intended! It was the perfect size for this edge, it was a smooth, soft texture, the adhesive seems to be holding fine, and I don’t even mind the contrasting color, although I did end up painting it to match. I also used it on the support legs to my stove cover.
Close-up of the underside of the cabinet to see the raw edge and the inside of the edging as it’s being adhered to the cabinet edge.
This rubber ribbon went on smoothly by pulling some of the adhesive protection, then sticking the exposed section to the cabinet edge, then pulling more of the red tape away while smoothing and pressing down from the outside at the same time.
The finished product looked smooth and professional:
I left it the original dark grey color for a while to see if I liked it, and I do, but I decided to paint it anyway. If the paint refused to stick, I would clean it off and live happily with the contrast, but so far the paint looks great.
Very happy with the outcome!
