Using Automotive Masking Tape

When restoring a car, it's important to know the different types of masking tapes and what to use and what to avoid. One that I always say avoid completely is the crepe or the tan style of masking tape. But while it's great for household use and things like that, in the garage, because a lot of times you're taping over painted surfaces, as well as you're oftentimes going to leave it on the car or leave it in place for a long time. And this crepe paper after awhile likes to almost bond with the surface that it's attached to. So you come back, you know, a month or two later, and suddenly you don't want to or don't need to cover up that part anymore and you go to peel it off and it comes off in little chunks and little pieces, and it's all dried out.

Not good. And if you do run into that, and that does happen to you, simply take a heat gun and now be very careful, you're just going to warm the tape and as it's warmed, the adhesive will actually soften up enough so you can get the tape off and then come back with a little adhesive remover to take the residue from the tape off. Another one that's common for like household use and it has some use in the automotive side as well, is the blue tape. It's a lighter stick. It won't adhere to the car with the extended stays on the car.

And it's a good product. Although generally I am not 100% pleased with it if I'm going to have something taped off for a long time because it tends to actually come free. Last, the one that I particularly like is the green auto body type masking tape. You can mask off your car, you can mask off the parts and it will stay on the car for a long time and then come off cleanly when the time comes. There are some other specialty tapes like a fine line tape, which is more of a vinyl base.

And a fine line tape is used if you're going to two-tone a car or if you're going to do some painted panels or something and you want a nice crisp, clean edge. This is a vinyl tape. So it'll give you a real tight, crisp edge without the edge and waive that you get from using a crepe style tape. Last, if you run into a case where you've had a roll of masking tape that sat around the shop for a long time and it's made it through a few winters and a few summers, and suddenly, you go to use it and you need this roll of tape in a hurry, and it comes off in little pieces and chunks like this. The way to fix that is to take it in, take it into the house, or if you're so lucky you have a microwave in your garage, throw it in the microwave for like 30 seconds.

Not any longer than that. If you've got a real powerful a microwave maybe you want to reduce that and try it at a few shorter stints. But if you put it in the microwave for like 30 seconds, it'll soften up that adhesive a little bit and allow you to actually use that roll of masking tape. If you're using some common sense, you know, and using the right tapes, you won't run into any troubles then in the shop.