Masking questions

[akimel]

I ran across this thread this morning, and it raised for me two questions about masking:

First, when masking, should one allow for some overlap onto the paint, or should one work hard to keep the tape restricted to, say, the trim or whatever it is one is masking?

Second, assuming that overlap is unavoidable, does one then go back and clean/polish and wax by hand the sections of paint that were masked? If one has machine-polished (D/A) the car with #80, for example, does one then apply #80 by hand to these sections, followed by the preferred wax? What do folks do in these situations?

TIA.

Cheers,
Al

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Masking questions

I believe that I read on another thread that it is up to you if you want to go back by hand on the tiny areas were the tape touched the paint. I personally try my best to just tape the object. But no one is perfect. Your bound to have a little overlap.

It would not hurt to go over the area by hand, but then you might get the product on the item you were trying to spare. So it becomes a viscous circle. So the bottom line for me is its up to you.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Masking questions

When I tape a vehicle up, I try and just tape the area I'm trying to protect. BUT!! I'm also trying to keep compounds and polishes out of the cracks. So overlap it unavoidable.

IMO, for an everyday driver, I do not go back and polish the taped area. At most, the tape will cover about 1/16 of an inch of area on the paint. You will never see this on a daily driver. I tape, compound, polish, remove tape, wax, then clean.

Of course, for a show car, or something that deserves the royal treatment, all bets are off, and anything painted will be buffed, polished and perfect. This is also one of the many reasons jobs like this are priced a little higher than a daily driver