darkoshi

It occurred to me today that when masking tape becomes hard to pull off the roll cleanly, it's not necessarily because it is "bad tape", but because it is old and the adhesive is drying out, making the layers of tape stick together more tightly.

Then I found these pages which suggest microwaving the roll for 10 seconds, on a paper towel:
https://todayshomeowner.com/painting/video/how-to-rejuvenate-old-rolls-of-masking-tape/
https://www.housedigest.com/1383788/fix-dried-masking-tape-microwave-hack/

So I tried it; I microwaved my roll of tape for 10 seconds. After doing so, I was able to pull off a strip of tape cleanly without it shredding. Later in the day, I was able to pull 2 more strips of tape off without a problem. Yay. I'm not sure how long this fix will last and if I'll eventually need to microwave the roll of tape again or not.