How to Mask a Car When Detailing
āGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axeā ā Abraham Lincoln. The essence of this quote is extremely relevant in context to car detailing. Undertaking the detailing process is a challenging task that needs careful planning and preparation. A professional detailer knows how to mask a car before starting the detailing process and they spend a good amount of time ensuring that the masking process is done properly.
It might seem tempting to skip this step or perhaps do it in a jiffy, but it can potentially cause substantial damage to your car. Therefore, it is critical that you make sure that your car is masked properly before starting the detailing. You can communicate this point to your service provider before choosing from car detailing packages for your vehicle. Here is a quick guide and some best practices that are pertinent to how to mask your car and what to tape off.
What You Should Mask Off
Before you learn how to mask your car, you need to understand what areas should be covered. The answer is quite simple; any surface that you do not want to contaminate, damage, or alter the appearance of should be masked off. For some pointers, headlights are extremely important to cover, particularly when the detailing process involves fenders. Other areas include:
Tail lights
Emblems and Badges
Plastic trim pieces
Rubber seals around door jams and windows
Door handles and mirrors
Again, the best way to understand what areas are required to tape off is to ask yourself what exactly donāt you want to touch with your applicator.
How to Mask a Car When Detailing?
Using the right tape can make all the difference when masking your car. A transparent tape will not suffice; you will require a masking tape that is made specifically for cars, generally known as automotive masking tape. You should opt for the blue one which is the one used by professionals offering car detailing packages. Though it is little expensive, it does not stick and keeps your car paint safe, thus potentially saves you hundreds of dollars in repainting costs.
If you are working on an extended detailing session, itās advisable to tape off features as you switch from one panel to another rather than covering it all at once. The reason behind this approach is that the tape tends to lose adhesion after some time, thus it might peel off till you actually get to that part. Also, if you are using low-quality tape, you might damage your carās paint.
Similarly, it is critical that you remove the tape when you complete the detailing process on that specific section. The reason is the same -- if you let the tape sit for a longer duration, it can potentially leave residue behind after you take it off. Though you may be able to remove it by using a microfiber towel and diluted All Purpose Cleaner, it may affect your carās paint.
These are some of the pointers related to how to tape off your car. There are several aspects that you must consider when detailing your car. It is always better to opt for a professional service that offers car detailing packages to ensure that your vehicle is masked off properly. They are accustomed to carrying out the detailing process and take adequate safety measures to ensure that your car paint is not affected during the detailing process and saves you from all the hassles, allowing you to enjoy your weekend with your loved ones.
And that basically covers how you should tape your car (no pun intended).













