To tape or not to tape?

[quote name='Flexin']I don't tape many badges....
I've spoiled the XJS's badges by not taping them...twenty-some years worth of abuse has messed up their finish but good.



And the clear anodized finish on some Audis is *VERY* fragile. No way will I allow any abrsives to touch it, it fails soon enough as it is and the finish on the factory replacement parts seems to be even shorter-lived...so once it's messed up you're SOL (voice of experience). This might be of special interst to pros; mess up that trim on a customer's car and the cost of replacing it will knock you for a loop; some of it is clearly *not* intended to be R&Red, just the labor is outrageous and no, you can't DIY it.
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i tape sometimes but usually dont im fairly confident in a rotary also a little tip if you dress the moldings with Tireshine if you hit it the polish will wipe right offwith a towel
 
That is something I need to USE, not just know.... I always do the paint first then dress the plastics... Dressing the plastics first will make any polish come off easily.... :hairpull
 
StumpyDetailing said:
Excuse my ignorance.... What is ERV?
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Sorry, didn't mean to be inscrutable (again :o sheesh, me and my acronyms). ERV= Exterior Rubber Vinyl. It's an old-school umbrella term for the areas that most people use dressings on, including plastics.
 
This is good to know. I haven't jumped into the PC world yet and one of the things holding me back was the potential amount of taping. Despite the superior shine, I'd lose my patience and would rather spend my time hand polishing than taping. Ugh.
 
I don't look forward to taping, but for me it's always turned out to be less work than I originally expect it to be.



I'd be more worried about burning trim than getting polishes in crevices, etc. I have gotten lazy a few times and it ended up in messing up the trim. The first time was on my neighbor's car using a PC with a combo of #83 and the burgundy cutting pad. The 2nd time was recently when I decided to give Chemical Guys AIO a try using the makita and a meg's yellow polishing pad. I accidentally hit the little trim that surrounds the tail light.



It seems like certain trim/rubber you can hit without a problem while others basically get roughed up and changes the look of the trim completely. The ones I've been having problems with are the shiny rubber trim, the kind you see around windows and such.
 
sorry if this was asked but buying the blue painters tape is getting expensive anyone find a cheaper alternative that doesnt leave behind a glue residue?
 
Man, what an excellent question, 3M is raping painters, detailers, etc,. The cost is nothing short of robbery! I must admit I bought a role of 1 inch, but that will be the last !

I just plain can't stand the thought of being screwed that openly, and have no intention of putting up with it and a company that would harbor advances towards me at that level.



If it takes me a little more time, so be it !

Changeling
 
Opposing view here: in the overall picture I'd rather spend some money for unequaled performance when the difference is something I can appreciate. 3M has the right to price their stuff however they like and if I genuinely thought they were making an outrageous profit I'd buy some 3M stock ;)



If you're a pro, just pass the cost along to the customer. If you're an amateur like me, well, heh heh, nobody said this is an inexpensive hobby :D



Cheaper tapes can lead to serious problems (marring the paint after having corrected it because you can't get the adhesive residue off, been there...) and not using tape when you have a reason to can cause irreparable problems...and (literally) irreparable problems are simply *not* acceptable...especially if you're doing somebody else's vehicle ;)
 
Accumulator said:
Opposing view here: in the overall picture I'd rather spend some money for unequaled performance when the difference is something I can appreciate............
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I've got to agree with you on this...... the 3M tapes cost more for a reason. If there is a better painters tape out there I haven't found it yet. I also pay a pretty high price for my 3M Scotch 33+ electrical tape, but I wouldn't consider using anything else, and every tool box I have has at least one roll inside.
 
I think I will be going with the 3M tape in the future becase I've been using the Duck brand blue tape and I find that it leaves residue once you remove that's almost harder, if not as hard to remove, than splatter itself.



For everyday use a lot of the Duck brand tape works perfectly fine but I'm gonna try out 3M next time to see if there's a difference.
 
I hardly ever tape anything. I'm pretty confident in my abilities NOT to sling with the rotary or run over any trim with my PC. I have some tape just incase, but it spends most of it's time on the shelf.
 
*watching this topic now*



i've been wondering the same sort of thing... should i really be spending the time to tape up or not? mostly what i tape up are the black trim around the windows as well as for example, the rocker trim on our passat. like last year the first time i buffed a car in prob. 10 years



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i use a cyclo, and especially with the 83, it seems to get EVERYwhere, but it comes out pretty easily as well.





i just dont know if it's worth it to spend the time to tape, or to have to go back and clean up the trim/rubber after the fact
 
bshertzer said:
i've been wondering the same sort of thing... should i really be spending the time to tape up or not?



i use a cyclo, and especially with the 83, it seems to get EVERYwhere, but it comes out pretty easily as well.





i just dont know if it's worth it to spend the time to tape, or to have to go back and clean up the trim/rubber after the fact
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Ah, I'd stick with taping it. Since you said the product gets everywhere I sure wouldn't want to gamble on it always cleaning up just fine.



Eliot Ness said:
I also pay a pretty high price for my 3M Scotch 33+ electrical tape, but I wouldn't consider using anything else, and every tool box I have has at least one roll inside.
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Yep, great stuff :xyxthumbs I keep some in the "emergency kits" too, sticks better to wet/slippery/oily surfaces than most duct tape.



Toss it out and get some new rolls after a few years though, so it'll always perform to spec when something hits the fan ;) The stuff *does* have a shelf-life and it turns into a sticky mess that won't adhere to what you want it to (but won't come off anything else).
 
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