On 8/5/2014 1:17 PM, EXT wrote:

"Leon" wrote in message
...
Len wrote:
It's junk. It does not even stick to well itself! I put it over some
door hinges to protect them while I was painting the door. The tape
would
not release after one day. I needed to use any means possible to get
the
paper off. Then mineral spirits to get the glue off the hinges.

The original blue tape is more expensive, releases well, and, is cheaper
than the Duck brand you include the cost of your time.

My $.02

Len

Ok, you have to pay attention to what the specs say. Duck blue tape
indicates that you can apply up to 14 days before painting. That's
BEFORE
painting. Even Frog tape says to remove the tape before the paint dies.

I have never used Frog tape but it looks good in the commercials. But if
they want you to remove the tape BEFORE the paint dries, that is bad.
Handling tape with wet paint means paint on the hands and fingers and on
everything that you touch. It also means that to put two coats of paint,
which I normally do, I would have to remove the tape and then re-tape
for the second coat. That is not going to happen, I will rely on cutting
in the paint edge with a brush, a lot less work and cost than taping twice.

I have done my fair share of painting, probably 20+ complete home
interiors and I am not a painter.

I'll share a few tricks. If you wait for the paint to dry the tape will
take some with it, the paint needs to still be soft to some extent.
Experience will help you decide when to pull the tape.

A Quality paint will cover with one coat. So while cheaper paints are
cheaper than quality paints they cost you in time.
If it does not cover on the first coat you will know this before the
paint completely dries. The second coat is easy to apply when the paint
is still soft but not sticky.

As far as paint on your hands and fingers and everything you touch,
Don't touch anything but the tape and do nothing else until the tape is
completely removed. While this may sound like more work you have the
other choice of working on cleaning the tape off what it would not
release, as you have witnessed. Pull the tape when you can focus your
attention, even the pro's get paint on their hands.

In April we had the carpet removed from out staircase and had dark hard
wood treads and primed wood risers installed. The installer caulked
all cracks and joints. I followed up with a quality oil based simi-
gloss enamel on top of the caulk lines and the primed risers. I masked
the joints at the ends of the treads and risers and where each met the
other both on top of the tread and under the tread. The tape came off
with in 3 hours of me painting. No mess other that a bit of paint on my
hands. I started removing at the top and worked my way down. Because
the risers were still wet I held on to the ball of tape and descended
only one time, I did not want to risk kicking the risers. I immediately
wiped my hands with a rag and mineral spirits and then washed my hands.
If you are dealing with latex, just wash your hands.

And you also have the option of freehand cutting in, that is easy
around door jams and walls. Small spaces like a stair case, ;!) better
use tape.