Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

[Weiler]

As I'm a newbie attempting to do the things right, these questions appear to be important to me:

Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

Even when you work by hand?

Or does you tape it only when you remove the wax with a DA/PC?

Or finally, does this procedure only matter when polishing?

[TerryAdams]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

When working by machine (DA or Rotary), taping is a TIME SAVER, when doing a 2 stepper(polish & wax) or 3 stepper job(compound, polish, wax).

When working by hand, apply product carefully and you won't have to tape off the car.

[sudsbyhubbs]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

I very rarely tape off cars. Mainly due to the fact that I'm mobile and it seems to take a lot of extra time. Around trim or plastic handles, etc I just use a foam applicator by hand. If I have a car for the weekend I'll tape it off. The whole idea of using tape is to protect these black pieces from getting wax on them, so whatever works best for you.

[i pamper my corolla]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

I stopped taping because it nearly doubled my waxing time and because after a few rain storms, some of the wax washed off and stained the trim in the end anyway. It rains a lot here...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

You don't have to tape off at all as long as you take your time and are careful not to get paint care products on rubber and plastic trim.

Slow down, focus on the task at hand, don't run your applicator pad or buffing pad over trim.

[RaskyR1]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

Depends on the car for me. I never tape off for waxing, but when the car needs a lot of correction or it has lots of rubber moldings, trim, handles, I will then tape things off. I will also do it on classic cars with sharp body lines/edges when doing paint correction.


Rasky

[Andy M.]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

I try to if I am working by machine, but when working by hand I am just really careful and pay attention to what I am doing.

Andy

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

I do when doing a several step paint correction because I want to cover every inch of paint possible, but for just a wax I just take it easy around the trim.

[sstg]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

Only for paint correction.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

Only for machine work. By hand I just take my time.

[rqk]

Re: Do you tape-off your car everytime you wax it?

I'll echo what others have said. I tape when working by machine. I am trying not to tape when working by hand in order to wax more often (it will be a trade off). It depends on the car. I have a ton of plastic and rubber. Because of that, I have to be so careful that using a quick wax product is no quicker for me than using a regular wax.

If/when Meguiar's ever makes a wax that doesn't stain rubber/plastic and is as good as NXT ... well I can't imagine car care getting any better than that!