Warning: saw a shop in Bakersfield using regular masking tape on fresh clearcoat

I was picking up a part from a place off Highway 99 and watched a guy tape off a bumper right after spraying. The clear was maybe an hour old, and he was using the standard tan stuff. I've seen that adhesive pull a soft finish right off the panel. Anyone have a go-to brand for low-tack tape on fresh jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

perez.barbara2mo ago

Ugh, that's the worst feeling. Watched a guy at a local spot wreck a whole hood once doing the same thing. He peeled the tape and it took ribbons of clear with it, left this awful cloudy line. Makes my stomach drop just remembering it. I keep a roll of the blue delicate surface tape in my truck now just in case I see a disaster about to happen.

finley7772mo ago

Yeah that blue tape is a lifesaver. I always wait at least 24 hours before pulling any tape off fresh paint. Learned that the hard way on a customer's fence last summer.

leet321mo ago

Man, who hasn't had that mini heart attack watching paint peel up with the tape? So you just stand there holding a sticky, paint-fringed ribbon like you broke it... Did the customer even notice the fence, or were they too busy watching your soul leave your body? That cloudy line Barbara mentioned is the ghost of a job you thought was done... I still pull tape off at a glacial speed, like it's a bomb wire.