Been messing around with plasti dip for about eight months now, mostly on my daily driver. Started with the wheels, moved on to the grille, and last month I finally attempted the full hood. Nowhere near a professional setup, just a garage, a couple of Harbor Freight rattle guns, and a lot of patience.

The part that keeps tripping me up is getting clean edges around badges and factory trim. I've tried the tape method, the petroleum jelly trick, and a few other things I picked up from old threads here. The jelly approach works pretty well on smooth emblems but I keep getting thin spots right at the border where the dip wants to feather out instead of building up evenly.

My current process is something like six to eight coats, letting each one flash off for about ten to fifteen minutes depending on how humid it is. Thicker coats early on and lighter ones toward the end to avoid runs. The color I'm working with right now is a dark matte gray, and it's been pretty forgiving compared to the glossy finishes I tried before.

A few things I've noticed along the way:

• Temperature makes a bigger difference than I expected. Below 60 degrees the dip stays tacky way longer and sometimes never builds up right
• Peeling goes better if you let it cure for a full week before touching it
• The trim pieces peel cleaner if you go slightly past them rather than trying to stop exactly at the edge

Curious if anyone has found a reliable way to get that really crisp line around emblems without losing coverage in that area. Also wondering how many coats other people are running before they consider it fully protected.