Cheese Squishy 
Jellyfish Squishy 
Jumbo Lips Squishy 
Mummy Squishy 
Pop-Eye Rhino 
Salted Butter Stick 
Pink Lychee 
Nano tape squishy or silicone squishy: the short version
A nano tape squishy is a hollow bubble: double-sided gel tape stretched and pressed into a skin around a pocket of air. A silicone squishy is a solid piece of silicone, poured as a liquid into a mould and left to cure, or moulded in a factory. Both feel sticky in the hand, which is why the two get mixed up, but one is a thin film of adhesive and the other is a block of rubber-like material. That difference decides how each one squeezes, what it picks up and how it fails.
We do not sell nano tape squishies. We sell silicone ones and liquid silicone kits, so the silicone side of this comparison uses our own listings (read 30 September 2026) and the nano tape side uses the tape maker’s own description.
What nano tape is
“Nano tape” is the everyday name for clear double-sided gel mounting tape. Duck Brand, one of the companies that sells it, describes its version as “a double-sided, reusable gel tape” and says that to reuse a piece you “simply remove the tape and wash with warm, soapy water” (Duck Brand, 2021). It is sold for hanging and mounting things, not as a toy material.
The craft trend takes that tape and turns it into a toy. The current search results for “nano tape squishy” are almost all how-to videos and Pinterest boards, and the questions people ask next are practical ones: which tape to use, how to blow a bubble without a straw, how long it lasts.
How each one is built
| Nano tape squishy | Silicone squishy | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting material | A roll of clear double-sided gel tape | Liquid silicone (two parts mixed) or a factory-moulded piece |
| Structure | Hollow: a thin tape skin sealed around air | Solid all the way through |
| Making time | Minutes; no waiting | Our 8-mould kit says pieces cure in 24 hours |
| Surface | Adhesive on both faces of the tape | Soft rubber skin; many feel tacky |
| Shape | Blob or pillow shapes you press by hand | Whatever the mould is: animals, food, paws |
| Where to get one | Made at home | Bought ready-made or made from a kit |
The making step is the real dividing line. A tape bubble is shaped by hand and finished the moment the seams stick. A silicone piece takes the exact shape of its mould, which is why silicone squishies can carry details like waffle grids, scales or a trophy’s handles.
Why both feel sticky
This is where the confusion starts. Of the 22 squishies in our shop whose listings say they are silicone, 11 describe the surface as tacky, sticky, grippy or clinging. A few examples in the listings’ own words:
- The Waffle Heart Squishy is “all sticky, stretchy silicone”, and the listing says it will stick to the fridge and slowly peel away.
- The Anatomical Heart Squishy has a skin that “feels soft and slightly tacky, so it clings to your palm”.
- The Black Gold Dragon Squishy is described as “soft, tacky silicone” that stretches and folds.
So a silicone squishy can grab your fingers much like tape does. The source of the grip is different, though. On nano tape the stickiness is the product’s whole purpose; it is an adhesive. On silicone it is a property of a soft skin, and the other 11 listings do not mention it at all.
Where they behave differently
Squeezing. A tape bubble squashes because the air inside moves; let go and the air pushes it back. A silicone squishy is solid, so it compresses and stretches as one mass. The Handmade Cake Squishy listing puts it as squeezing “dense” and feeling “heavier and stretchier than foam squishies”.
Dust and lint. An adhesive picks up whatever it touches. The tape maker’s answer for a dirty strip is washing it in warm soapy water. That instruction is for a flat strip of tape; a sealed bubble with air inside is a different object, and we have no tests of how a tape squishy takes washing.
Punctures. A tape squishy is a thin skin around air, so a nail or a sharp corner can open it, and popping one is common enough to be the subject of its own videos in the search results. A solid silicone piece has no air to lose. What silicone can do instead is tear if it is stretched too far, which is a separate problem covered in our post on glue for ripped squishies.
Detail and size. Tape bubbles stay simple. Moulded silicone runs from pocket pieces like the Mini Croissant Squishy to squeezable lamps: five of our 22 silicone listings are sloth-shaped night lights.
Buying one or making one
If you want the sticky, slow feel without a DIY project, the silicone listings above are $17.99 each (the three-piece Sticky Cake Cream Roll Trio is $22.99). Most of them state an age of 3 and up.
If the appeal is making something yourself, a liquid silicone kit gets you closer to a moulded squishy than tape does. We carry two in squishy making kits: an 8-mould liquid silicone kit at $21.99 and a paw, capybara and bunny mould kit at $29.99 that mixes parts A and B 1:1. Both listings say younger children should make pieces together with an adult. Our taba squishy kit guide compares what comes in each box, and the step-by-step taba post walks through a first pour.
FAQ
Is a nano tape squishy the same as a taba squishy?
No. Taba squishy is the name people use for moulded silicone squishies, the kind poured from liquid silicone. A nano tape squishy is a hollow bubble made from double-sided gel tape. They can look alike when both are clear and glossy, but one is solid and one is full of air.
What nano tape do people use for squishies?
Clear double-sided gel tape sold for mounting, usually labelled “nano tape” or “gel tape”. We don’t sell it and have not compared brands, so we can’t recommend one. The tape is made for sticking things to walls, so read its own label before turning it into a toy.
Are bubble squishies made of nano tape?
“Bubble squishies” is used for several things. In the DIY world it usually means nano tape bubbles. In shops it also covers ready-made squishies with a bubble feature, such as the Capybara Bubble Squishy, a factory-made capybara whose listing describes a small translucent bubble on its snout. That is a shaped toy, not a hand-made tape bubble.
Why is my silicone squishy sticky?
Many soft silicone skins are, and our listings say so for half of the silicone squishies we sell. For keeping one clean without damaging it, see how to clean a squishy.
