liquid masking

[williams772]

I did a search for info and all that I could find was a couple years old and was wondering if anybody had some new thoughts on liquid masking. My mom works at a regular body shop and told me the guys there use it all the time and where I work we paint alot of dump trucks, dozers, trackhoes, and other equipment which use up ALOT of paper and plastic wrap so I wanted some feedback on if this would be a viable and economical option for us. Any opinions would be appreciated.

[Wydir]

I used liquid mask in the shop. We used it to spray down the cars when they came in to keep the dust and overspray problems to a minimum. It came in a 55 gallon drum, It did work pretty slick and in the end we just washed the cars and the mask came right off (dissolved).

I'm not sure on the cost anymore but I can assure you its alot more than a roll of tape and paper

[Skalabala]

Never heard of it! but now I want it

I only knew of using grease on tires when you want to spray the rims...

[another2centsworth]

It works better than grease but it's still better breaking the bead and back masking to paint a wheel.

[Skalabala]

What are the pros and cons of liquid masking?

[style]

What are the pros and cons of liquid masking?

Pros are painting at Home in a garage with no ventilation you have no overspray guarenteed, cons this crap well the 3m one takes up to 30 mins to dry..30mins to dry beats 8hrs claying compounding sanding stupid over spray..had an 07 Mercedes c class black 4dr ill never forget sprayed pass rocker panel and over spray went under the plastic sheeting covering the whole car so bad I had to sand it off with 1500grit and Polish out the whole thing took 2days..only charged 150 for the rocker..man that as a bad day...then I got the gallon of masking liquid for 35 bucks mixed 50/50 with water..

[Len]

What are the pros and cons of liquid masking?

I never understood the concept of masking a car with masking liquid. I would think that you would need to mask off the panels that you're going to paint when you apply the masking liquid then unmask the panels and apply your paint.

We can mask a car quickly and easily with masking plastic. We cover the car then cut out the sections that need painting and mask around them. This method is fairly quick and less chance of contaminating the panels that need painting. If I must I use magnets or tape to help hold the plastic in place.

Masking Plastic Link

[Skalabala]

I do what you do Len.
I take masking tape and mask the place and then I cover it with the plastic and then I can quickly mask the plastic in place because the detailed masking has already been done

And your thought on the concept of liquid masking makes sense to not use it

And thanks for the magnet idea!!!!

[style]

Tape and paper like usual then masking liquidso your not contaminating your areas to be painted another big point was home garage and no ventilation is when I used it and it saved my life another point waspaper then plastic then spray the bottom edge where the plastic is short so it sticks to the car and then its sealed for no over spray found it really helpfully on big chrome wheels so they don't get anything on) he front or come through the back when the car gets painted...

[williams772]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, sounds like liquid mask may be a great tool in the right situation. It's still hard to break away from what your used to doing and trying new stuff, we do like len does mostly and from what I've seen, price wise, you can't beat 16' wide plastic, the main reason I was considering the liquid mask is because some of the stuff we paint is still to big to cover with the plastic such as front end loaders. It may be "just heavy equipment" but I still like to do as good as I can.

[pane2k]

I use liquid mask when a car comes in as well. It's a great product for smaller shops that do not have a spray booth because it really does protect the car from overspray. I use plastic as well, I just use it as an overspray precaution. When the car is all done, I pull it outside, hit it with water and it turns to soap. As far as contaminating the panels that you are going to paint, the stuff wipes right off with water very very easily, it doesn't cause any paint issues.
As far as using it on trucks, it will get quite costly. You're not going to save money, that's for sure.