3M is famous for their Scotch Brand adhesive tapes, but this soluble tape is one you may not have heard about. To collect trace evidence, such as hairs and fibers, repeatedly press a length of soluble tape over the suspected surface. This could be a car seat, the floorboard of a car, a couch or sheets from a bed, etc.

To recover the trace evidence, place the tape in a beaker of methanol just deep enough to cover the tape. Wait until the methanol has dissolved the adhesive on the tape. Remove the paper tape backing from the beaker. Pour the methanol through a filter and collect the trace evidence remaining on the filter. Each roll of soluble tape is 3 inches wide and 60 yards long.