Masking is protecting everything you don’t want to paint. Stuff like bumpers, grills, lights, weatherstripping, mirrors, molding, door handles…. One of the benefits of rolling paint on your car is that you can control where the paint goes, so the masking doesn’t need to be as thorough as a car going into the spray booth. However, details make a difference, so it pays off to take a little time to mask.
There are two ways to mask and reasons for each.
Remove the Parts
If the pieces are going to prevent you from accessing edges and areas that you want to paint, you should probably remove them. Rollers don’t blow paint into all the hard-to-reach areas. Unless you don’t mind having visible edges, you need to get paint in there with the roller or a foam brush. In addition to being able to easily apply paint in those areas, you can be sure that you won’t end up with paint on the parts you want to keep clean.
Masking Tape
Door handles are a prime example of something that can be easily taped. Just carefully lay on some tape to cover the handle and rubber gasket and you’re good to go. Window seals are another great place to use tape.
If you are doing a quick job with a similar color, you may even be able to get away with masking off the weather stripping around doors.
