During automotive paint process, protecting the areas of the car that should not be coated is extremely important for professional results. For the best protection, any car body shop employs three solutions: masking tape, masking paper and masking film, each of them for a specific use. In this article, we deepen the applications of these products.
The body of cars consists of many different surfaces, made of various materials and full of jambs, grooves, irregular profiles and small components. For that reason, protecting properly the areas that don’t need to be painted is a true challenge, that must be faced with professional tools. Without a correct protection, the paint will overspray all around the treated areas, or bleed on profiles and trims causing fuzzy edges and unsightly results.
Among the mentioned tools, tape is the most employed: it can be used alone or in combination with the other two products, covering all the needs of car masking throughout all the painting process. Let’s see how automotive masking tape can be employed.
Automotive paint masking tape direct application
Direct application of car masking tape should be limited to the areas that can’t be covered with masking paper or films. Headlights and taillights, rearview mirrors, sunroofs, door edges and jambs, rubber trims, and so on, can be taped when we have to paint around them. Otherwise, you can protect them with films or paper.
You can better mask door jambs and rubber trims with some specific tools: foam masking paper is perfect for the grooves and gaps of the doors, while trim masking paper is designed for a professional application around rubber trims.
Automotive paint masking tape and automotive masking paper
Automotive paint masking tape gives excellent performances in combination with masking paper, too. You can fasten automotive masking paper to the car body through tape on tape application, using the masking tape and right masking techniques on both the edges of the area you have to paint and the border of the paper. We have seen this particular application in the previous article on this blog, with some advices about the best way and techniques to mask a car body.
Automotive paint masking tape and automotive masking film
Masking films are mostly used in wrapping the upper parts of the vehicle, as they are lighter and easier to handle than regular masking paper. In addition, automotive masking films better cling to the car, preventing slipping from the surface. As paper, films can be applied on the desired area with the aid of automotive paint masking tape, using the same procedure.
