to all the guys that tape trim. what method are you guys using to remove the compound residue left around the outer edge of tapeline if it was on the body? what i have been doing is after compounding removing the tape right away and wipe with ipa....then when i polish allow that to remove the rest during the 2nd stage? looking for another method
What I do is try to tape just the edge and not overlap onto the body ever. It takes maybe a little more time to look at the tape and edge as you are laying it down but it is worth it to me to get the tape just on the edge of the trim. If I manage to get some residue between the trim and the body I take this little stiff bristle brush made by SM Arnold that is specifically made to get between tight places and clean them out hopefully without scratching the paintwork. So far, so good with this. They sell two different kinds of these brushes at autodetailingsolutionsdotnet, over in Arizona. One has black bristles and is stiffer than the one that has brownish bristles. They work great for emblems, etc., too. They also sell a green tootbrush type brush that has nylon bristles on one end like a toothbrush and tinier nylon bristles on the the other end for getting into tiny places. This also works for me in places that are not too deep as the tiny bristles are not very tall. This is also at the place in AZ. Whatever compound might get close to the edge I always just wipe off. I dont take the tape off until I am done with the layers of LSP, so I dont have to deal with getting it off of trim pieces. Good luck with this ! Dan F
When i make my first steps i try has much has possible to avoid getting to close to the taped edges. Let say i do heavy swirl removal, i would tape the edges, cut the swirls on the panels, then i would remove the tapes and do the edges with smaller pad at a slower speed (that will remove the line, tape residue if any, and remove any swirl that were under the tape.). I would tape again for polish and do the same step at the end. Getting over or to close to the tape even if you use high quality masking tape will get you glue marks that are sometime a pain to remove or worse the tape will lift and get stuck in your polisher. I use this small 3'' head polisher to go around my edges and it works like a charm. I only use it in the shop has it requires a big compressor to operate.
thanks for the tips guys...i have tried a few different qd's but non seem very effective...going to pick up some final inspection and see how that does
