What is Customising Tape?

The art of paintwork when customising cars, trucks and bikes often involves working with filigree curved lines, elaborate designs, and intricate patterns.  Creating these complex designs requires a high level of skill, and the right equipment, from precise brush and spray painting to carefully placed masking to protect surrounding areas.  Customising tape – a type of masking that allows for specific areas to be protected – is a key part of the tool kit for a specialist customiser, and allows them to get the most out of their art.

What is Customising Tape for?

Customising Tape is a specialist protective striping tape that complements the artistry of paint shop professionals with greater flexibility than conventional products.  It conforms very closely to the painting surface and is available in a wide variety of thicknesses to allow for different parts of the painting area to be masked off when patterns are being transferred to the surface.

How is Customising Tape used?

Carefully!

As any customiser will tell you, the fastest way to get an amazing finish is to work slowly.  The process of creating a custom paint job has multiple stages which need to be carried out in order and will often require a number of different coloured paints to be applied in order, with different parts of the design being masked off at different stages  to get the perfect finish.

At the start of the customising process, the parts of the vehicle outside the area that are being painted will be masked off fully.  Once this is complete, the first layer of the design will be laid out, with specific masking tape used to protect any areas where paint is not wanted.  In many cases, this means using a fine line tape.  Fine line tapes are important for a number of reasons.  The first is that they are narrow, which means that they can be shaped to a curved line without allowing for paint bleed.  They also allow for a very crisp finish.

As additional layers are added to the design, some areas of tape will be removed and replaced as different parts are masked.  To achieve the best possible result, it’s important to use a tape which adheres tightly to the surface to avoid bleeding, but which can be peeled away easily to prevent paint being removed and avoid areas needing to be reworked.

What is Customising Tape made from?

The JTAPE product development team understood that customisers need an ultra-precise automotive masking solution that makes it possible to produce impeccable results with sharply defined edges – while working at speed and using paint efficiently.

Our Customising tape was developed to have a thermally stabilised PVC backing and a rubber-based pressure sensitive adhesive.  That keeps it firmly in place during painting, but of course it’s equally important that the tape peels easily away when the job’s done, leaving not a trace of residue.  It’s a resilient and practical solution too, able to survive temperatures as high as 132°C/270°F for up to 30 minutes.

Find out more

For more information about the full range of JTAPE customising products including Fine Line tapes, striping tape, and our customising kits, please visit our online store, or contact us to find your local distributor.