Automotive Masking Tape

5 are the main features that distinguish the best automotive masking tape from all other standard tapes:

• Temperature resistance : The best masking tape must withstand the high temperatures reached by booths or infrared lamps: this means that it must not come off, fall, slide along the surface of the body, crumble or have other behaviors that could ruin the result of painting.
• Easy removal : It is very important that the masking tape, once removed, leaves no traces of glue on the shock. In the same way, it is essential that when you remove it, you do not take off any parts of the bodywork paint, and that the edges result clean and clean.
• Easy tearibility by hand : During a painting and finishing of the body work, having to cut the masking tape with scissors slows down the pace of work, it is dangerous and uncomfortable too. That’s why the best masking tape for automotive painting can easily be broken with your hands, even into very small pieces.
• Conformability to curves : The lines that define the shapes of the bodywork are only in very small part straight lines: mostly, automotive painting is about turning around curved lines. As a result, it is of fundamental importance that the masking tape is easy to lay down even where it has to follow curved trajectories.
• Compatibility to various paints : Finally, the best masking tape for automotive painting is the one that fits without any problem to all types of most common paints, primers and fillers. This means that the adhesion is always impeccable – even when using water-based paints – and that the shape and characteristics of the tape do not change during the application of the paint, but always remain at their top.

While there are different tapes for different applications, most car masking tapes have a similar purpose- to protect the car from overspray, dust, and other damage.

Essentially, it’s a safety measure, designed to protect your work, avoid unnecessary clean up and damage, and ensure quality finishing.

There are several things that set masking tape for auto shops apart from typically painters tape used in the home. In fact, it’s almost as if the purpose of the tape, and the fact that it’s an adhesive, are the only factors connecting the two.

Automotive tape is designed specifically for vehicles because they require a different kind of adhesive, the ability to withstand higher temperatures, and hold longer and stronger over various curves and sharp angles.

For these reasons, masking tape is designed with these qualities:

• Thicker and wider- to stand up to the higher amount of mechanical stress it must go through.
• Better adhesion- to hold to the metallic body better, handle stress easier, and last throughout the entire job.
• Tensile strength- to stand up to the vigorous work and be able to conform to the vehicle’s curves and sharp angles.