I have seen the threads from your pro when detailing. I see that all of you use tape, mostly the blue masking tape on all rubber/plasticd and over all gaps to avoid dust and wax in the gaps and on the rubber/plastic.

A lot of the car you detail, the paint looks like **** full of scrathces and swirwls before you start and they ends up better than new when you are finished.

So my question is, how do you make the areas coverd by tape as nice as the rest. I can't see any difference to where the tape has been???? Don't you polish these areas, only wax? What are your techniques?

 

for me most of the areas I tape are of the rubber and plastic as you mentioned.

I go back and either dress the trim with seals and dressing or do a simple wipe down.

masking will help you reduce clean up time. The 10-15 minutes of prep work will save you tons of time it will require to wipe up the dust from the polish and the wax residue.

 

Taping is an art form in itself. I’ve made a game of this boring and monotonous task. I try and tape the whole car with little cuts of tape as possible. It takes me almost 1.5 - 2 hours to tape a Ferrari for example. Taping the rubber trim, clear film, lights, etc. saves you a lot of time later from residue, but more importantly, burning the rubber and delicate areas. As for the edges, I personally don't tape them because I want to be close as possible. It takes a lot of practice, but you can buff over the edges of doors, hood, trunk, etc. if you know the "feel" of the polisher and pad. So until you're comfortable using your machine, tape the edges; unless you're using a DA, then you don't have to worry about burning the edges of the paint. The areas you’ve taped can be polished by hand or the DA and will almost be a close match depending on your polish/pad choice.

 

Moe's right its a pretty boring task for sure!

a tip as for covering the edges I typically would mask the jambs (open the hood/ trunk/doors and mask the jamb areas) so at the end all the dust or most of the dust will sit on the tape for easy removal.

 

Thank guys for your help. But Phil, what do you mean by jambs?? My english isn't that good.

I guess I must starte to tape. Just ordered the 3M blue masking tape, and since almost nobody here sells this, I had to buy a whole box. 36 pieces....

 

basically as moe said don't tape the edges or the cracks but instead I tape the inside of the edges of the hood and the trunk and the doors. So in away the tape catches the residue or the dust so when you remove it you remove the dust easily because its on the tape not on the car.

 

frank,

this is what I was talking about...

 

 

The fellas are completely right. You could spend an hour taping now, or three hours later trying to get everything clean. Most do-it yourselfers rush through this to do the fun buffing part. Like it was mentioned, you could tape for an orbital machine or paint correction with a high speed rotary. For the orbital, you are just concerned about the plastic/rubber or paint protection/decal film surfaces; whereas with the high speed you are also addressing the panel edges, etc. where the paint is thinnest so you don't burn through it. Or you could just go OCD and disassemble everything like the white 993 below (just make sure you know how to re-install everything). If you are doing serious paint correction with a high speed and wool pad, you are probably going to have to tape, buff, un-tape, wash and re-tape the car for the orbital finishing steps. A lot of mundane work; welcome to the wonderful world of auto detailing.

 

"Taping is an art form in itself."

So True!!!!

 

The key to a professional job is always prep work. Taping is boring and mundane, but so important. Make it fun and a game; that's what I do. Put on my iPod, listen to some Dave Koz, and about an hour or two later, the car is properly taped. Then the fun really begins.....