Paper vs plastic

Dean Jenkins

Promoted Users
I've seen several pics of people using sheet plastic when masking.
Is there a risk of dried paint, from previous coats, flaking off from the plastic flapping in the wind and then landing on the wet coat?
 
I use both when masking off part of the car, like a door or fender.
I mask with paper about 18" all around the panel to be sprayed,
then cover the entire car with a plastic sheet and cut out what I want to spray
taping the plastic to the paper so I have a border of paper about 12" all around
the panel. That way my over spray is going on paper and not plastic, the plastic just
protects the rest of the car. (I hope this makes sense)
 

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I use both when masking off part of the car, like a door or fender.
I mask with paper about 18" all around the panel to be sprayed,
then cover the entire car with a plastic sheet and cut out what I want to spray
taping the plastic to the paper so I have a border of paper about 12" all around
the panel. That way my over spray is going on paper and not plastic, the plastic just
protects the rest of the car. (I hope this makes sense)
I do it the same way. I have tried outlining it all in tape and then draping the plastic over and it never fails but the plastic snags the tape and I start screaming........and it just turns into a mess!
 
In my vast experience of spraying 1 car, I found that plastic worked better for me because it was easier to mask with. I did paper when I was doing the primer work, and it was horrific. I did plastic when I did final paint. I got the 3M refinishing plastic. I had no flaking issues. I did get a slit in the plastic in one spot, but that was most likely me being careless with the razor blade.
 

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Ah, the good ol days of newspaper masking. That’s all we used eons ago. That’s when I got my news!
 
Make sure that plastic is tight though ! Pass the gun over loose plastic and it gets sucked right into the paint - I’ve done it several times
Something we do as standard practice is to go to each lower corner of the vehicle and twist up the excess plastic like you would a bagged loaf of bread, then use tape to hold it twisted up. This tends to keep the bag a lot more taut and also reduces tripping hazard. Sometimes more is required but this is always a good start.
 
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