Q. Hi, I have a question about painter’s tape. I have an actual roll of blue masking tape that has “Professional Painter’s Masking Tape” on the label. Some say it should be “painters tape,” while others believe it should be “painters’ tape.” ScotchBlue’s website says “painter’s tape,” but a professional editor with many years of experience says the apostrophe should be deleted. Thoughts?
A. Chicago’s preference would be to retain the apostrophe. Tools of the trade and the like tend to form singular possessives, which would mean painter’s tape rather than painters’ tape. The same goes for painter’s gold, plumber’s snake, printer’s devil, and similar terms (not limited to the p’s). Each of those terms refers to something or someone used (or formerly used) by an individual in the context of an occupation.
Exceptions—like confectioners’ sugar, discussed in another Q&A—are rare. As for a plural attributive like painters, that’s more common when a plural possessive might make sense, as in farmers market (traditionally farmers’ market, a market for farmers) or Veterans Day (a day to honor veterans, which might plausibly be spelled with an apostrophe).
In sum, we agree with the usage of 3M’s ScotchBlue: painter’s tape. For more on words that end in ’s or s’—and why the word possessive doesn’t apply in the literal sense to most—see CMOS 5.22 (on the genitive case). See also 7.27.