Painter`s Tape "Ghosts" on car door. Removal?

D

Desertnate

Active member
A couple of weeks ago I ran my first autocross event. Since I was a total novice simply trying out the sport/hobby I used blue painter`s tape on my doors for my number and class. I used the 3M variet with the "lower adhesive" since I didn`t want to have all sorts of tape adhesive left on the car after removal. I numbered up my car in the morning and removed the tape as soon as the event was over 8-ish hours later. The car was clean when the tape was applied/removed and I thought nothing of it. I did see a little dust on the door which collected around the edges of the tape, but the area under the tape appeared to be pretty clean.

Due to work travel and weather, I wasn`t able to wash the car until this weekend. After a couple of weeks of driving in the rain and windy/dusty harvest season air I noticed dirt clinging to the areas where they numbers were applied which made them re-appear. I had a little chuckle and simply washed the car thinking all was well and the residue would be gone. However, after the wash I wiped down the car with Gyeon Prep in order to apply a second layer of CanCoat and I noticed portions of the numbers appearing AGAIN as I was doing the wipe-down. Prep was not removing whatever residue was still on the door. I stepped back and wiped down the door with an APC, and then AGAIN with Prep. I believe that finally removed all the residue.

Going forward until I get magnetic numbers, what is the best way to deal with this "invisible" residue? Since I was using a very low adhesive tape which was only on the car for a few hours, I never expected the problems I encountered. I really don`t want to use an adhesive remover which would degrade the coating, and based on this last experience I don`t think a waterless wash/QD is strong enough. APC worked, but left a cloudy residue on the surface which took another product to remove.
 
I think you’ll have to bite the bullet and use something like 3M adhesive remover. Another suggestion is Griot’s tape. A little mor expensive but it leaves no residue. Normal painters tape if hit with a polisher will release residue. Griot’s will not. Might be worth a try?
 
Try CarPro tape, it releases pretty clean. I don’t know about after 8 hours, but 4-5 hours in the GA sun and no residue was left.
 
Thanks for the info. This was 8 hours (maybe longer) in blazing sun and high-80`s temperature which makes me think the environment made things worse.

Rather than hunt for better tape, I may just accelerate my timeline for getting magnetic numbers.
 
Being in the sun didn’t help, sometimes the adhesive in the tape will cause the clear to actually swell. So I would remove it asap.
 
Oh, that`s not good...

I did remove it the minute the event was over. I drove in the second heat and worked the third, so I probably should have removed the tape when I finished driving, but it would have only shortened the time by a couple hours.

Magnetic numbers it is! Thanks again, everyone.
 
I had vinyl numbers at one time which I bought from a sign company. It was not adhesive backed, more like a cling type but they held fine at at over 120 mph. You could remove them, put them on the backing that they came on, and re use them. I used the same ones for several years.
 
Thanks for the suggestion.

I`ve seen those, or similar, but I`m looking at going the magnetic route from this place. https://www.soloperformance.com/ They are huge supporter of SCCA Solo events nation-wide and also local-ish to me.

I can get my number and class all on one solid piece. I watched guys with these at the last event and the whole numbering/denumbering process took seconds. I`ll just need to make sure the back of the magnet is clean as is the door before I apply them. That`s easily done by keeping a bottle of QD spray and an MF towel in my kit.
 
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