Tack Rags

Cleaning With A Tack Rag By Carl Brunson

     When I started painting cars there were only two types of paint in general use. Acrylic lacquer and enamel. Not acrylic enamel … synthetic enamel with names like Dulux and Super Max. All Acrylic lacquer was buffed out so a few chunks of dirt wasn’t much of a problem … but enamel stayed too soft to polish for weeks, even if it was baked. If an enamel job got too much dirt or you got runs in it, all the paint was washed off with enamel reducer and the painter got to spray it again. For a young painter on commission, washing a car down was embarrassing and a pain in the wallet.

     All painters I knew took pride in getting an enamel job out of the paint room or booth as clean as possible, in less than ideal conditions. A good percentage of the shops then didn’t even have paint booths. Just a garage-sized room with an exhaust fan.

     With today’s paints I can sand dirt out and polish the paint the next morning. I color sand and polish almost everything I paint … not to get dirt out, but to get a mirror like finish. That little bump that a sanded-out chunk of dirt can leave will look like Mount Everest on a glass like surface, so I make my paint jobs as clean as possible. It is still a matter of pride to me.

      Here is the system I use to get a clean paint job whether it is sprayed out in the open in a clean shop or in a spray booth.

     The first thing I do is take off the bumpers and any trim that won’t be on the car when it is sprayed. The moldings around windows can hold a surprising amount of sand and dirt. Now, I wash the car with as much water pressure as I have available. Get the wheelwells and engine bay clean too. Flood the cowl vent till the water runs clean out the bottom of the cowl. Open the doors and get that area where the rocker panel and rear of the fender meet. That is a real leaf and dirt collecting area and the reason most cars rust out there. Take a rag and wash the door and trunk jambs too.
     Now you are ready to get the car dirty again doing bodywork and paint prep.




				If you are only doing repairs, protect the rest of the car with plastic from dust and over spray, leaving only the areas needing work open.



			Change the dirty plastic to clean, new plastic, before painting. I leave the plastic on while color sanding and polishing so that with only a little cleaning the car looks great again when it is unmasked.


	After all the bodywork, priming and block sanding is done, it is time for another very detailed wash job, before going in the paint room and masking the car

     Ok … Here is a Hemi Challenger in the clean and wet down booth ready for grease and wax remover and a few coats of color. Notice that the underside of the car is masked too. This not only keeps color from unwanted places, it keeps the paint gun’s air pressure from blowing some missed dust from some hidden spot. Also pay attention to the masking. No loose edges of masking paper and any place that the paper had a buckle in it was folded flat and taped down leaving no place to hold any dust that may blow out later while spraying paint. Blow the car off well.
     Now the car is clean … the booth is clean … how about your paint gun? How about you? If you are not going to put on a painter’s suit at least give yourself an all over blow job with your air blower.
     Put on a cap. Not only do you not want paint in your hair, it will keep your hair out of the paint. I am ashamed to say that there are a few of this old bald guys hairs in paint jobs driving around somewhere, despite always wearing a cap.
     You, the car, the booth and the paint gun are clean. The car has been wiped down with grease and wax remover and blown off, but it isn’t ready to spray yet. There is a $1 piece of cloth that will make the difference between a super clean paint job or one that you will be sanding dust specks out of in the morning. It is called a Tack Rag or Tack Cloth depending on where you are from.


	I have seen tack rags misused more than I have seen them used correctly so I am going to go into some detail about using one. This sticky, treated piece of cloth has been around for over 100 years and it works great when used right. They even have anti-static made into them these days


		Unfold the tack rag completely and let some of the solvents that were trapped in the package with it air out. Go mix the paint or something for 10 minutes. If the tack rag is too sticky some of the tacky part can rub off onto the surface you are getting ready to paint.



				Fold the tack rag into a loose bundle. You don’t want it tight because you will be unfolding and refolding it to get a new tack rag surface every panel or so.

     The first pass I make with the tack rag I am blowing off the surface of the car with a lower pressure air blower at the same time. This gets rid of any lint that may have dropped off of the grease and wax remover rags. When using the tack rag I tack each panel separately. I never cross any door or hood gaps, but tack them lengthwise. If you tack across any cracks or gaps it can knock any dirt particles loose that the tack rag has picked up, defeating what you are trying to do.

     There is no pressure on the tack rag. I was taught to drag my thumb when using the tack rag. You would be amazed at what you can feel with your thumb if there is some dust or lint the tack rag missed. I tack again with no air and then I tack the top surfaces again.

     The tack rag should look almost as clean as when you started if all the prep work was done well. Tack rags are good for more than one-time usage so I put used tack rags in a zip lock bag and use them for spot jobs later.


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	Be sure to read Carl’s other articles...they are very informative

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