To tape or not to tape ?

DaC

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Guys, I'm losing about 1 to 1.5 hours only to tape a car.... I think I'm kind of slow....
Wouldn't it be better not to tape anything as I might end up washing the car anyway before LSP ?

I'm using Meg's polishes: m105 / m86 / m205 / Ultimate Compound / ScratchX 2.0 / Ultimate Polish
 
I hardly use tape at all

Having said that. Burn the trim once and you'll wish you would have ;)
 
If your doing this for a living then I recommended that you always tape the trim and area's that need it. You will save yourself dinero and keep your customers.
 
On my own cars, I almost never tape.

Other peoples cars, tape.

Burn my trim its annoying, burn someone elses... little different.
 
Depend what your using. Most of the time I skip taping with DA unless the stuff I use will discolor the trims.

With Rotary I would always tape, just to be on safe side.
 
I only tape the areas that are absolutely necessary. The first time I machine polished I went crazy with the tape, now I have gotten better at controlling the polisher and don't have to tape much.
 
how do you burn trim?

I find that some trim bits will develop white streaks from compound, polish or even some waxes. I just need to be aware of what type of rubber it is. some rubber you can use wax/compound and it looks better.

Like others I tape when necessary. it can save time with cleaning, other times its faster to just clean the area later. but if it stains the trim or fades it, then your in trouble.

i guess you could do test spots on trim?
 
I hardly use tape at all

Having said that. Burn the trim once and you'll wish you would have ;)

Makes sense... but can a DA burn trims ?

If your doing this for a living then I recommended that you always tape the trim and area's that need it. You will save yourself dinero and keep your customers.

Well, I'm trying to make that a business..... so to tape it is then....

On my own cars, I almost never tape.

Other peoples cars, tape.

Burn my trim its annoying, burn someone elses... little different.


Depend what your using. Most of the time I skip taping with
DA unless the stuff I use will discolor the trims.
With Rotary I would always tape, just to be on safe side.

I'm using GG 6" ROP.
By discolor you mean turning black into white ? Because this is my main concern that the polishes don't get out of it even after washing...

I only tape the areas that are absolutely necessary. The first time I machine polished I went crazy with the tape, now I have gotten better at controlling the polisher and don't have to tape much.

I'm spending almost 50m of tape on a single car....
 
how do you burn trim?

I find that some trim bits will develop white streaks from compound, polish or even some waxes. I just need to be aware of what type of rubber it is. some rubber you can use wax/compound and it looks better.

Like others I tape when necessary. it can save time with cleaning, other times its faster to just clean the area later. but if it stains the trim or fades it, then your in trouble.

i guess you could do test spots on trim?

Now things got difficult.... LoL....
I mean... with so many trim types to test each one on each car would take a lot more time... wouldn't it ?
 
Anything is possible. Go run your unit across your wifes trim and report back your findings

I'm sorry but I won't be able to comply your request.... I don't have a wife..... :doh:
 
how do you burn trim?

This is going to sound bad with the incident that happened a month ago but I really don't care, I'll post my mistake. I burned the trim on a 02 Vette today and the first think I thought, 'That's what I get for not taping off!' I was almost done with the car and the buffer skipped on me and I touched the trim- that's all it took- one touch! Now I'm out possibly $400 on the piece of trim plus it will need to be painted. Literally it touched for one second and in one second I took the paint right off.
 
This is going to sound bad with the incident that happened a month ago but I really don't care, I'll post my mistake. I burned the trim on a 02 Vette today and the first think I thought, 'That's what I get for not taping off!' I was almost done with the car and the buffer skipped on me and I touched the trim- that's all it took- one touch! Now I'm out possibly $400 on the piece of trim plus it will need to be painted. Literally it touched for one second and in one second I took the paint right off.

Were you using a rotary?
 
To think when I started the company up 3 years ago I was debating on shine time or Risk's Auto Detail!!! HAHA
 
I'd tape up trim regardless. A little extra time will save you much more if an accident happens. If it can happen it will. You just never know when it will happen
 
I kind of like taping, its cool to use just one strip of tape to tape off a rear window. I feel good about going around corners and that. makes me feel professional, it took a while to master. kind of like using a DA, it takes a dozen cars or so to really master.

I don't like the cost of painters tape. i can get some at the dollar store buts only 10feet which is nothing.

I remember i was doing the b pillars on a car and then i decided to use the DA on a strip of black metal that is on the rear windows. The DA took the paint right off. I just spray painted both sides and told the owner. it looked alot better afterwards.
 
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