MASKING- Looking for the RIGHT way to do it

[chevymaniaco]

what's feather sanding???

[Tim Lingor]

Originally posted by chevymaniaco
what's feather sanding???

Feather sanding is when you cut the sand-paper into small squares and carefully "feather-out" the deeper defects. You are not trying to sand a larger area with a block and sand-paper, as this can lead to a ripple effect when the paint gets buffed out. Instead, you are carefully dealing with the isolated defects, sanding only what is necessary.

Cheers!

Tim

[Inzane]

Thanks for the excellent post Mike!!

Taping was one of my biggest nagging problems during my first couple details in the 2004 summer season. The first car I taped up (my wife's car) took me over an hour, maybe 1.5 hours!! I don't know why it took me that long....perhaps I was being too picky. The second car I taped a month later seemed to go faster.

Another car I detailed I skipped the taping step and did unfortunately get some residue in the felt area around my sunroof. Like someone else asked above, how do you properly clean that felt-like seal around the sunroof?

Thanks.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Inzane
Like someone else asked above, how do you properly clean that felt-like seal around the sunroof?

Thanks.

Very carefully.

I don't get splatter on these areas as I tape everything off. I do show the owner of the car the wax and polish residue in this area and other areas before going to work on a car so that they know it was there before I started. Then I do my best to remove any leftover residue at the end of the process. Meguiar's new Triple Duty Detail brush will be a big help in this endeavor.

Taping off this felt gasket will actually help to clean it to some degree as the adhesive will attract some of the residue, somewhat like a lint roller. After removing the tape, gently brush the felt area and blow with air through your mouth to remove. Repeat till you're satisfied or exhausted.

As mentioned before, it's best to tape these areas off so you don't have to detail them later.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Taping-Off a Car - Looking for the RIGHT way to do it

Originally posted by NYCTS
I'm a newbie, been looking through the posts trying to read up about masking. I'm looking for some general rules about masking (if there are any).

So far mask off chrome, trim, plastic...

Are there any special rules for specific cars?

No special rules as each car is different, the general rule I use is I tape off anything I don't want to get splatter on, splatter in, or detail with a toothbrush when the job is done.


"Polishing paint is polishing paint, detailing is getting the wax out of the cracks" -Mike Phillips


If you do a good job of taping a car off before hand, you won't have to detail it later...

[kpagel]

Wow, I never saw this thread before. This is probably the best 'How-To' article on this forum (for me anyways). Thanks Mike for going through all that trouble, you are the master!

[hooked]

Wow! That's quite a process. Excellent job. The car you showed did not have any pinstriping (decals). Do you tape that over too? I assume you would have to cut the tape to the width of the decal. Yuck. Maybe I'll just remove the pinstripe!

[holderp]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Tape off small trim areas



Sometimes I cut pieces with scissors to make for a neater taping



Mike

So you tape a little area of paint around the trim and not just the trim?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by holderp
So you tape a little area of paint around the trim and not just the trim?

Most of the time, it kind of depends upon the trim. Some trim lends itself well to taping off just the trim and some trim it will be better if you overhang onto the paint to avoid getting residue in the cracks.

You also have to keep in mind the context of the job, is it a daily driver or a bona-fide show car. The big picture is making the the car look good, this would include the major portions of the panel.

[Guiser]

Question on tape removal.

When removing the tape, there is sometimes a thin strip of various products left behind where the edge was. What is the best way to remove this without disturbing the wax in that area. Is it safe to hit it right away with QD + MF if I do it gently? Or would it be better to let the wax set up for a while (also making the edge lines harder to remove)?

- Ben

[Lydia]

Re: MASKING- Looking for the RIGHT way to do it

Question on tape removal.

When removing the tape, there is sometimes a thin strip of various products left behind where the edge was. What is the best way to remove this without disturbing the wax in that area. Is it safe to hit it right away with QD + MF if I do it gently? Or would it be better to let the wax set up for a while (also making the edge lines harder to remove)?

- Ben

Sorry to dredge up this old thread, but I was wondering about this too. Any tips, Mike?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: MASKING- Looking for the RIGHT way to do it

Question on tape removal.

When removing the tape, there is sometimes a thin strip of various products left behind where the edge was. What is the best way to remove this without disturbing the wax in that area. Is it safe to hit it right away with QD + MF if I do it gently? Or would it be better to let the wax set up for a while (also making the edge lines harder to remove)?

- Ben

Sorry to dredge up this old thread, but I was wondering about this too. Any tips, Mike?

What's the best way to remove the thin strip of residue where the tape line was?


Carefully!

Seriosly... however you want to, after I detail a car and the wax is drying I'll go around the car and remove the tape and then while I'm at it wipe the residue off next to the trim right then and there while the rest of the wax on the car is drying.

Just use a microfiber and your finger to wipe off carefully and gently, you usually don't need to use a QD for this. Then when you wipe the wax off the major portions of the panel pay attention to the edges where the trim is to insure you removed any residue.

Keep it simple when possible.

[Tim Lingor]

Re: MASKING- Looking for the RIGHT way to do it

Sorry to dredge up this old thread, but I was wondering about this too. Any tips, Mike?

I wet the tip of a MF towel with a QD and then use my finger under that tip to wipe the residue off. Be careful as at this stage the finish should be near perfect and you do not want to add marring back into the surface.

Tim

[MBZ 500E]

Re: MASKING- Looking for the RIGHT way to do it

I wet the tip of a MF towel with a QD and then use my finger under that tip to wipe the residue off. Be careful as at this stage the finish should be near perfect and you do not want to add marring back into the surface.

Tim

I do similar although I also spray the white line left behind with QD beforehand to soften it up and then use above technique. Having a soft MF is critical otherwise you can easily leave scratches behind.

After I remove the white line I usually follow up with a hand polish to remove any light scratches and help blend the taped portion with the recently polished surface.

[Ivan Rajic]

Re: MASKING- Looking for the RIGHT way to do it

Mike this is a great write up.

To answer the question above... I use the tape to prevent polish from getting where it shouldn't, staining what it shouldn't and the pad from burning trim, some high edges, etc. I remove the tape after polishing, QD the whole car well and get it ready for wax, then I simply apply wax carefully enough not to get it on any trim, etc. If I have taped off high edges of the paint, I will first polish them by hand, then wax.

In short, I couldn't imagine polishing AND waxing while tape is still on, THEN cleaning off the residue... whatever works I guess