One of my mottos is:
Use what you have.
I still have the urge to go out and buy new supplies. But sometimes I have the ability to resist that urge.
Recently I have been taping down paper for some watercolor play.
One of the projects called for very thin masking tape that could be removed from the paper without ripping the paper.
I had some cheap blue painters tape from the dollar tree store. So you know it is not as good as the 3M version.
The trick to making it less sticky is to stick it to your pants, apron or cutting mat a few times before you use to tape down your paper.
This method has been working for me for a couple of weeks. I even cut the 2″ tape into 1/4″ strips to do these thumbnail studies. I was surprised how easy it was.
I do remove the tape very carefully and watch for paper tears. If the paper starts to tear, I gently remove the tape from another direction.
Enjoy!