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View Full Version : Detailing Tip of the Week 10/26/09


Qship5
10-26-2009, 06:14 PM
Avoiding wax and polish stains on your vehicle trim.

This week's tip is for anyone who polishes and/or waxes their own car and hates to get stains on their trim. I always like to follow the "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure" approach and highly recommend using painters tape to mask off any parts of your car that you want to avoid getting polish or wax on before getting started. I usually mask off the trim around the windshield, rear window and doors as well as any bumper trim, etc. Another good practice is to put an old towel or two over the wipers and cowl area at the base of the windshield. This will keep any residue from settling in there discoloring the black trim. (I like to open the hood and slide the towels partially into the engine bay and then close the hood on them.) A few pieces of painters tape will secure them to the windshield and prevent them from sliding down while you work.

Once you are done polishing and waxing, just remove the tape and carefully remove and fold the towels to avoid dropping any residue. The end result should be trim that is free of wax or polish stains.

Mike

RaceMX-M3
10-26-2009, 10:54 PM
Nice tip, I should have thought of this. :)

Zinia
10-27-2009, 09:00 AM
It amazes me how the wax in the grain of the trim seems to outlast the wax on the car.

Nice tip.

Fubar
10-27-2009, 09:10 AM
FYI,on my POS Ford I did this on the trim pieces around the rear window (engine bay glass). The stock pieces appeared to be molded plastic but actually had some sort of coating on them. When I removed the tape, the coating came off of the plastic as well. I guess the best rule is to make sure you understand the surface you are dealing with.

It gave me a good excuse to buy carbon fiber pieces for the clamshell. Lemons/Lemonade.

Qship5
10-27-2009, 10:27 AM
FYI,on my POS Ford I did this on the trim pieces around the rear window (engine bay glass). The stock pieces appeared to be molded plastic but actually had some sort of coating on them. When I removed the tape, the coating came off of the plastic as well. I guess the best rule is to make sure you understand the surface you are dealing with.

It gave me a good excuse to buy carbon fiber pieces for the clamshell. Lemons/Lemonade.

Very good point! Make sure you look closely at what you are taping off and only use good quality painters tape that has a low tack adhesive. (I like the green or blue tapes myself.)

snowball
10-27-2009, 10:52 AM
FYI,on my POS Ford I did this on the trim pieces around the rear window (engine bay glass). The stock pieces appeared to be molded plastic but actually had some sort of coating on them. When I removed the tape, the coating came off of the plastic as well. I guess the best rule is to make sure you understand the surface you are dealing with.

It gave me a good excuse to buy carbon fiber pieces for the clamshell. Lemons/Lemonade.

Quit using duct tape....... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

:beer:

Qikhawk
10-27-2009, 01:54 PM
Quit using duct tape....... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

:beer:

Yea.... about that lol it was actually much easier to get off than I predicted. For the sake of saving face NO I did not tape off my car with duct tape :banghead:

RaceMX-M3
11-05-2009, 12:45 AM
Quit using duct tape....... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

:beer:

rofl :laugh: