I also tape down the chord I am soldering and the flexwatt. I cut the plastic off plus a little extra around the metal strip so the rest does not melt. Hold the soldering gun straight up and not on an angle. You do not want to bend it and take the chance of the hot gun touching anything else and melting it. If you are going to solder, make sure you do it on top of something that cannot get ruined by heat. Trust me on this one. I have enough marks on top my desk at work from this. I picked up a cheap putty scraper for like a dollar and haven't looked back.