Masking tape for bottom painting

[Al - s/v Persephone]

Well, the snow is almost gone and the marina guys are starting to put the floating docks in place.Hence I'm about to repaint Persephone's bottom with Micron Extra (which has worked well, but costs only a little less than covering her bottom with gold leaf). This comes under the heading of pinching a few pennies so as not to feel like a total spendthrift, but has anyone had a problem substituting plain old masking tape for the blue plastic stuff in masking their waterline?Fair winds,Al

 

[Terry Cox]

Hi Al, yes and never again...

Blue tape pressed firmly does a better job preventing paint from bleeding beneath it. It also comes off much cleaner and easier, and will not bring up old paint as the regular stuff does. The other stuff tends to adhere much better, which makes it more difficult to remove. No thanks. Terry

 

[bob G.]

Listen to Terry

The time you spend trying to peel off the plain old masking tape will make up for any additional cost for the blue tape.

 

[Rich Stidger]

I have not used the blue stuff, but

I highly recommend the 3M green Fineline tape.I use the 3/4" stuff and it is about $7-8 for a roll. I get two applications (2 years) out of a roll.It's claim to fame is that it will curve smoothly around corners and curves with the bottom paint cut line. I almost never have any leakage if I go over the tape after application and press firmly at the edge.I normally do my entire boat (40') with ONE piece of tape. I start at the bow and go completely around the stern and back to the bow. One piece means no joints to possibly leak.

 

[Honeyman]

Blue works fine...

even for a "fine line", but do not let it get wet and stay on. The adhesive will separate from the rest of the tape and really become a mess. Better to pull the tape off and retape than deal with adhesive all over the hull. 3M makes a special product to remove the stuff.

 

[Al - s/v Persephone]

Thanks, guys.

 

[Cactus Jack]

One suggestion

Pull the tape off while the paint is still wet. If you wait until the paint dries, it'll stick to the tape, then when you pull the tape, it will tend to pull the paint off with it.While I've not used the blue tape on my boat, I have used it a lot when painting the interior of my house. I agree that it does a better job of stopping paint bleeding, but when pulling it off, I find that it very easily pulls off the old paint under it.Cactus

 

[Warren Milberg]

Don't use the plain old...

...tan masking tape for painting anything, IMHO. I made that mistake some years ago when I decided to repaint the cove stripe on the C&C I had then. I had lots of the tan masking tape, that appeared to be in good condition, and so used it. The long and short of it was that the result was a bleed-through disaster, that took hours/days to set right. I now use the more expensive Fine Line (green) for detail work like cove stripes/boot stripes, and the common 3M Blue Painters tape for bottom painting. They work well.

 

[Al - s/v Persephone]

I'll stick (no pun) with the blue stuff

Thanks for all your inputs, guys.My brief spate of penny-pinching insanity has passed, and I'll stay with the tired-and-true <g>.