Graffiti has been a problem in urban areas for decades, but it’s spread far beyond the city limits. ‘Taggers’ use anything from permanent felt markers to aerosol spray cans to leave their marks on anything that doesn’t move – or at least stays still long enough for them to leave their artwork on it. In the process, they rack up an impressive £200 million cleaning bill – footed by you, in the form of county taxes.
The manufacturers of markers and paints haven’t helped the matter much, either, though it’s only a side effect of them giving us what we want. When you apply a coat of paint to that porch chair, for example, you want a reasonable assurance that you won’t need to repaint it next month. Paint manufacturers put billions into researching ways to make their paints adhere to surfaces better and last longer. The end result – paints that will stay on your patio deck for decades. Unfortunately, those same paints are near to impossible to remove when they’re used to brand an innocuous business front with some tagger’s logo.
The solution being used by more and more municipal councils and private businesses is the application of anti graffiti finishes on any surface that is likely to collect signatures and the other expected drivel. Anti graffiti finishes come in several different types and offer differing levels of protection. While they don’t prevent graffitists from making their marks, they do ease the difficulty of cleanup – and if you’ve every been faced with a scrawled epithet on a white-washed wall, you know how important that can be.
Sacrificial anti graffiti coatings
One method of easing the removal of graffiti is the application of a coating of wax or acrylic that protects the surface beneath it. Anti graffiti wax is the least expensive short term solution, and may be suitable for a surface that isn’t likely to be targeted. Once the wax has been graffitied, the wax and graffiti are removed together by melting the wax, often with a stream of hot water. The drawback, of course, is that the sacrificial anti graffiti coatings are one use only. Once you’ve removed the graffiti, you need to reapply the wax to restore the protection.
Semi permanent anti graffiti coatings
A step up from the sacrificial coatings are semi permanent anti graffiti coatings. These are often based on polymers, polyesters, acrylics or epoxy and can be applied in multiple layers. While the graffiti agent – marker, paint or whatever – adheres to the coating, it doesn’t adhere to the wall or surface beneath it, and can be removed. Most often, removal will require the use of some chemical cleaner, and eventually, sometimes after only one or two cleanings, the anti graffiti barrier will have worn away, exposing the underneath surface.
Permanent anti graffiti coatings
Generally the most expensive up front of the anti graffiti measures, permanent anti graffiti coatings are likely to save money over the long run. The coatings are similar to those used in non-stick pans. They offer nothing for the paint or markers to adhere to, making it easy to simply whisk graffiti away with nothing more than soap and water.
In addition to anti graffiti coatings, many providers of industrial cleaners supply powerful anti graffiti cleaners which are meant to remove the spray paint or marker while causing as little damage to the underlying wall as possible. For buildings and areas that are less tempting targets, this solution is sometimes quite enough.
