Watched a painter in Fresno use a $3 pool noodle on a fender and I've never gone back
I was at a shop in Fresno helping out on a nasty insurance job when this old painter grabbed a pool noodle, sliced it lengthwise, and slid it over the fender lip before he even touched his gun. He said he got tired of fixing chips on edges he'd already sprayed, and now he buys them 6 for $10 at the dollar store and keeps a box by his booth. So my question is, what cheap hardware store junk do you keep around that does a real job in the booth?
Funny you bring this up because for years I figured anything that cheap was a waste of time and I'd just touch up the edges after. Then a guy showed me how he tapes foam pipe insulation over door edges and I felt like an idiot for all the hours I spent chasing chips. Now I keep a whole bin of that stuff plus cheap chip brushes and acid brushes for seam sealer. None of it costs more than a few bucks and it saves way more time than it costs.
10 years ago I would've laughed at the idea of a pool noodle touching a car, but edge chips ate up so much of my time that I finally tried it. A $3 piece of foam keeps me from sanding and respraying spots I already finished, which is hours I get back on every job. It's wild how the cheapest stuff in the shop ends up saving the most money.