safest and best way to "tape"

I'm looking for the safest and best way to tape one's lips. Even with the various chin straps air puffs out through my lips and wakes me up.

This is something I wrote last year when I was mouth taping, maybe it will be useful to somebody. I happen to think it makes mouth taping a lot safer, but that's just my opinion:

This is mainly for nasal mask users. Here's how I use 3M NexCare multipore plastic tape to tape my mouth by using a 'rip-away slit' which makes taping as safe as a chinstrap. I know, a big claim but give it a try!

Here's how I do it. I put a long strip completely over my lips in a horizontal fashion while compressing my lips firmly together... I fold over pull-off tabs at either end, just for ease of removal. Next I take a VERY dull steak knife with a somewhat blunted point which I keep in a bedstand drawer and carefully cut a horizontal slit about a 1/2 inch long (while the tape is on my lips) in the middle of the tape where the center of my lips seal together. The blade is so dull it doesn't damage my lips at all; it's a very dull knife but you do need a bit of a dull point to get thru the tape. A butter knife just doesn't seem to work.

Here's the beauty part: If I have to get my mouth open quickly (only once in a year have I had to do this) all I have to do is force my lips apart and typically the tape easily rips itself down each side of the slit and my mouth pops completely open. I also do this every morning to get the tape off and only about 5% of the time does the tape resist splitting... if that happens all I have to do is force the tip of my tongue between my lips and out thru the slit OR poke the slit with the tip of a finger - then it easily rips apart. It comes off very nicely in the morning with no pain. Another good point: If I need to take a pill in the middle of the night it's convenient because I just slip it thru the slit and use a soda straw and water to swallow it. Try this method while awake the first time and I think you'll find it's pretty easy to do. I use straight Palmolive dishwashing soap to get any sticky residue off of my face and leave it on for a few minutes while I make tea or whatever. BTW, I've never had any leaks thru my mouth or lips using this method. CAUTION: I wouldn't try this with any other tape than the 3M tape I mentioned (like medical or sports tape) because I don't know how easily it'd rip. Also, don't cover up the half inch slit with another piece of tape or you've just defeated the whole method!!! Final tip: to get the tape to stick all night wash your face with soap and water and rinse repeatedly then dry thoroughly. Don't use soap with any lotion in it. Try this technique and tell if it doesn't work for you, also tell me if it works

Backstory: When I was using Swift FX nasal pillows (last summer 2013), I noticed that I was mouth breathing (dry throat etc) so I bought a Ruby Chinstrap and, while it did keep my chin up, air was still escaping thru my lips. You can test this phenomena by simply clamping your teeth together then blowing out air. You'll notice that air still easily escapes thru your lips, even tho your teeth are clenched - this tells me that the lips are the main culprit in air loss in many cases. Anyway, I started taping my lips but didn't feel it was entirely safe, therefore I started to experiment with placing a small amount of tape over the center of my lips only. For another round of tests I tried taping the sides of my mouth. These both worked to a certain degree but not as well as placing tape over my entire mouth (BTW, I no longer needed a cumbersome chinstrap... what a relief). For the third round of tests taping my entire mouth, I experimented with different tapes and found I liked 1" wide 3M mulitpore tape, especially when I discovered that if I cut a half inch slit in it, as described above, I could with some moderate effort pull my lips apart AND the tape would rip the entire length of my mouth. This prompted me to write up the taping method above.

Regarding the question of a bit of air escaping thru the slit: Yes, a tiny amount of air can escape if you get 'chipmunk cheeks' but it takes about a minute or so, therefore your therapy pressures are not significantly affected. This slow escape of air is a desirable because you won't have your cheeks puffed out very long. Also note that it is very important to keep your lips tightly compressed when applying the tape... be sure to cover your whole mouth too.
LATER NOTE: A couple of people have mentioned they sometimes gag or even vomit while asleep... for those people I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND MOUTH TAPING AT ALL. LEARN HOW TO USE A FULL FACE MASK