WhaT to tape? Why and HOW do you guys tape edges?

Hi fellas,

This is something I am still not certain about. I've seen people mask edges of things like headlights/taillights, door gaps, etc. and never understood why?

What is the reason for it? Is it to avoid getting compound inside the jams and gaps or is there another reason?

Here's a video that shows what I am talking about that I ran across:

YouTube - Paint correction Lexus

I really wish someone could post a closeup pic or a high res pic of how the edges are supposed to be taped.

Thanks again for any help!

 

A "close up" shot would most likely show the tape to be "protecting" 2/10 - 5/10 (one half) centimeter of exposed edge.

There are multiple things to tape and multiple reasons to tape them. The most "popular" things to tape are edges, as you mentioned, and next would probably be trim, and finally emblems etc.

Taping edges is done to decrease the likelyhood of "burning through" what is commonly thought of as areas (edges) that have thinner clear coat than the remainder of the panel.

Edges also tend to be what i would call "beaten" by the edge of pads, i.e. the pad contacts the edge to a higher degree due to the "edge" usually protruding above the otherwise flat portions of the paint, and as you mentioned, it keeps those protected edges clean from polish residue.

If you think about how the pad can possibly contact the edges more because they are "beaten", where to tape them becomes a little more clear.

Trim, on the other hand, is particulary sensitive to both staining (think wax stains) and is also usually softer and easier to smooth than paint. Normally, smooth and flat is good (when thinking paint), but when trim is textured, "flattening" it with polish is, in a way changing its aesthetic intent.

Emblems are easily damaged, as they are usually coated with a thin "chrome" - like overlay which can easily be cut through while polishing , exposing the cheap plastic composition underneath.

Although most taping is done when people are rotary "high speed" polishing, all of the above damage can occur when using any polisher, although the damage is not easily done and when it does occur, the damage is to a lesser extent.

I think it is commonly accepted that in order ( most prone to damaging edges to least ) would be:
1) Rotary (high speed) polisher
2) flex forced rotation polisher (3401)
3) random orbit (porter cable / griots garage etc. )

 

Anything you don't want the pad hitting should be taped off. Trim, headlights/taillights, emblems are all things that can be very easily damaged by a pad on a rotary. Using a DA not so much because it doesn't generate as much heat, but it's still better to be safe than sorry. I was talking with a guy at a body shop down here and he said never to tape the car itself because when you pull the tape off the car, it actually opens the clear coat and can lead to failure down the road. In a way it makes sense if you do it over and over again.

 

more than just polishing, I love to tape the car off when I wax it, too. I tape all of the back trim and edges aaround emblems and windows. This allowes me to wax right up the very edge of the trim without leaving residue!

full paint protection and less clean up time with special tools to get wax out of cracks.

 

I worked a little while in my Dad's Garage & Bodyshop, then worked in a couple of high end Body Shops in California after I got married, and the only reason anything was taped, was to protect it from overspray of paint, primer, sealer, etc.
I never taped edges of any door, fender, trunk, hood, etc, panels, when buffing out the repair, ,because if you did, you now had a small perhaps noticeable "edge" when you pulled the tape off, because the surface that was buffed right next to the tape, was now "lower" than the area that was taped,, hence, now you see the edge of where the buffing stopped.

If it were me, and I had to buff something with an protruding edge that I didnt want to risk damaging, I would use the thinnest tape possible - 1/4" - 1/8" and try to mask it such a way that I didnt cover up the paint next to that edge, or even better, know the edge is there, just be really careful about buffing close to it.

Perhaps even staying away from it, and running the compound along that edge with a soft towel and the compound by hand for just a little bit.

Another thing to consider, is how dirty does such a small surface area get, that it would require major rubbing on in the first place? Probably not very much, that cant be improved by a much milder form of cleaning, so the process of cleaning it by hand quickly seems to not take away much time - probably less time than it take to tape all the edges up and then untape them and clean it up..

I use a Rotary for everything that needs serious correction, and a Flex 3401VRG for everything else and a Meguiars G110V2 with smaller pads if needed.

I will also tape up emblems, and very sharp protruding edges depending on where they are and if I am going to be using a very agressive pad and or compound, and I feel there is a risk, otherwise, I never tapa edges to the extent this video shows.

Now, if there is a rubber gasket just behind the edge, I will always tape that gasket so that I dont muck up my pad with rubber, and risk damaging a gasket.

Hard black trim, is always easier to tape off and done correctly, you can correct right up the edge of it and it comes out nice.

The best tapes certainly make all of this easier and less prone to any accidents, or tape lifting up and then transferring glue to your pad, etc..

The only time I would ever tape to the extent shown here is if I was painting a vehicle and didnt want to get tape in between the door,fender, body seams.

This is strictly my experiences doing this craft in the past, and learning from some of the top professional Painters in California, over a period of several years, and then my own experiences when I decided to go into Detailing full-time.

Your mileage may vary...

Dan F

 

i sort of agree with the above post. the longer ive been buffing the less ive been taping. recently i started using mostly gtechniq p1 and now i tape even less(next to nothing) i only tape soft rubber now, i leave the harder non porous plastic as gtechniq is waterbased and wipes clean with zero staining.

unless u lay down the tape perfectly and really thinly then u can spot edges that werent polished down all the way to the edge nicely or you can get gummyresidue from the tape. not to mention the time it takes to apply and remove the tape. i always do a full stripping bath after polishing so whatever residue in the crevices gets foamed and pressure washed off.

not to knock on the guy in the video but that seriously looks like overkill id use less than a quarter of the tape he did. i work on lexus' all the time and those need very litte taping unless wetsanding then cutting

 

Thanks for the comments guys!

I wrote to the creator of that video and he said taping that much is only necessary when using a rotary buffer. Using a DA means you don't even need to tape off the edges.

Can anyone attest to that?

 

I wouldn't worry about corners with a DA, and the chances of you damaging trim are also very low.

However, you can still mark up matte and plastic trim, and stain it with polish regardless if it's a rotary or DA. In my opinion it's worth the time. The time is saved in the end with clean up.

most of the time when I do single stage DA polishes, and I spent the 10-15 minutes to tape the car, it means I don't have to clean or wash the car when I am finished polishing. A quick IPA wipedown, and wax away with the tape still on. You can be pretty sloppy this way and fast while still getting great results.

doing a wash and dry after polishing will take longer than the taping itself and if you go the no tape/wash route, I can almost guarantee you will have to spend extra time with brushes etc. to remove polish or wax from cracks and crevices in some cases, special cleaners to remove wax from plastics!


don't over think it too much. it's a great preventative measure that I like to practice, but you certainly can overdue it. In my experience though, it's more of a measure to protect trim than the paint.

 

Thank you very much Tire Shredder!

 

Taping is fine, although I normally don't. Either way, pay particular attention to where bumpers connect to the fenders / hood / trunk, and where the doors connect to the body at the top corners. If the car has been in a previous accident, those areas are likely to have one panel or the other sticking out a bit, which will amplify the tendency to burn the paint off on that spot. Even a very, very slight edge that sticks out more will make a big difference.

I always run the pad parallel to the cracks between panels, I never run the polisher straight over the crack to another panel. Doing so is likely to catch the edge of the panel being transitioned to, which again can lead to edge burning.