Allow me to paint you a picture. You just masked off your case and sprayed a great coat of
cherry red in a flame pattern. You spent hours prepping the surface and planning the color
scheme. The paint was not cheap either, that cherry red set you back $20 including the white primer-sealer so it has real pop. Because you spent so much you just grabbed the 99 cent roll of tape on your way out of the store.
As you peel away your tape it pulls the paint off around some edges and has allowed paint to bleed into your base coat in other areas. The job must be done all over again…Think you saved money now? Is it worth $5 not to have to redo all that work? I tend to think it is.
If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Here is a quote from Scott Grundfor Co. that I think sums it up for you. “Years ago I had the misfortune of using some inexpensive tape. To make things worse, the tape stayed on the car for several weeks. I ended up removing it with lacquer thinner, steel wool, and a safety razor blade. The inferior tape adhesive stuck to the chrome, rubber, and glass and literally had to be scraped off. As I recall, this took me several days. Believe me, a roll of 3M tape is cheaper than several days of labor.”
Say 3M Is Civilization! Say It!
There are many brands of good masking tape. Your local auto body supply store will have
plenty to choose from. 3M’s brand of masking tapes are a good choice and are very easy to
find. If your local places don’t carry good tape try searching online for “auto body
painting supplies”.
3M makes rolls of blue masking tape that have good adhesion and very smooth edges. It is usually found under the name “painter’s tape”. It ranges in price from 4-10 dollars. The wider the tape the more expensive it will be. It is a good idea to equip yourself with some 3/4″, 1″, and 2″ wide rolls. Most hardware stores will stock this blue tape, but tend to overcharge as much as $2 a roll for it.
If you have an auto paint & supply store in your area check there before being gouged by the big home improvement stores. The blue tape is good for most things, but I still recommend having some plain yellow 3M tape as well. It is thinner and easier to work with in really tight places.
