What do you guys do to prep for polish?

I was wondering what most people do to prep for polish after the car is cleaned. Do you tape off all the trim and the gaps between body panels? What type of tape do you use, 3m automotive tape, painters tape? If taping is done do you dress the trim before the polish ( Black WOW) and after you remove the tape is there any adhesive residue and how do you get rid of it? I am doing a 2007 BMW Black Saphire Metallic that has quite a bit of platic trim. I will be using Menz IP and NP. What steps do i take to prep?

 

Hey..a fellow Canuck..right on!! It depends on how the bodywork is laid out..mostly I do tape off, but not always. I dress the trim last. If I get the trim dressing on the paint by accident, it's easier to remove once your paint has been sealed. I use painters' tape..usually the blue one. Hope that helps.:hippie:

 

I always tape the vehicle off prior to polishing, I don't like getting the plastic trims full of polish. I've been using the green 3M Automotive tape, works quite well for me.

As for dressing the plastic trims, I've done that in the past but find that it makes it harder for the tape to stick to it, so I don't do that too much.

When I'm done polishing and I remove the tape, yes you'll have the famous white polish residue. It's quite easy to remove, I usually give the vehicle a final wipe down or simply just re-wash the vehicle with a concentrated solution of P21S Total Auto Wash. The reason I say wash is becuase whem I use Menzerna Power Gloss it dusts quite a bit so it's better to simply wash the vehicle.

Well that's jus what I do, hope this helps.

 

Thanks Nica and richy.

 

Happy to help Denalio eace:

 

is there a diff between the automotive tape and the painters tape?

They look similar (except one is green and the other is blue). I saw them both at walmart just in different sections.

 

I usually buy 3M blue painters tape, look for the stuff that has a low adhesion rating like 2 out of 5 is pretty good, anything ,labeled clean removal is good as well. The 3M stuff comes off clean and the residue left over can usually be removed with an MF no problem

 

yea. i have a bunch of the blue tape. I was curious if there was a diff between the 3m blue painters tape and the 3m green automotive tape.

 

I've tried the blue painters tape and at first it worked quite well for me, but where I saw the blue painters tape glaw is when I pased the rotary over the tape and the heat seemed to caused the tapes glue to really stick to the surface...it wasen't prity at all. After that I went with the 3M Green Automotive Tape and I haven't had any issues...yet :shrug:

 

I do the same things Nica does. I use 3m green and blue.

 

I used both the green and blue tape on my last detail. For doing trim around the windshield, moon roof, back window, around side windows, etc., I used the blue 3m tape. I broke out the rotary (easing into it) on the top areas where panels meet, such as between the hood and front quarter panels, and used the green tape. The green stuff left more sticky residue behind. It was easy enough to get off though. However, wherever possible I will use the blue tape. Keep in mind that it comes in various widths as well. I have it ranging from 3/4" to 1 1/2".

 

along with taping I always clay the vehicle. This prevents any foreign particles from getting into the pads and swirling the paint

 

Pretty much the same as Nica, found that the green tape sticks just slightly less than the blue tape.

 

just trim, if you find yourself getting polish in the panel gaps it good sign you have too much product on your pad.

 

Ah yes, good point haper. I used to get this all the time and then I adjusted the amount of polish I use and that fixed it...The odd time I tape gaps but that's because they are usually too wide/big of a gap...but for the most part I agree with haper, trim is what your trying to protect :thumb:

 

Thanks for all the advise. i am listening.