Graffiti Schrift

Friday, October 15, 2010

Graffiti Prevention - Practical Tips and Ideas

Graffiti is the illegal spraying of paint, dye, permanent inks or other substances to mark buildings, fences and surfaces open to the public. It is a community problem that drives down business revenue, lowers property values and promotes a view that it is an unsafe community.

The following ideas can help graffiti prevention and graffiti removal:

o Remove graffiti as soon as possible. Graffiti vandals move to another location once their "art" isn't displayed any longer. Graffiti is easier to remove in the first 24 hours as it hasn't been exposed to the elements for too long and hasn't had much of a chance to penetrate into the surface.

o Install video surveillance cameras

o Install lights, maybe sensor lights.

o Make access to the site harder. Install gardens with thorny plants or shrubs near to or to cover walls. Move bins from near walls as they are great climbing tools for access to roofs.

o Keep your property looking neat and clean. A property that looks neglected attracts graffiti vandalism.

o Install a sensor sprinkler system

o Take photos and report graffiti to the Police as they sometimes keep a database of graffiti in the area

o Apply a sacrificial or non-sacrificial anti-graffiti coating to the surface. An anti-graffiti coating is a transparent layer that can be applied to porous materials such as brick, limestone, concrete, etc. as well as metal. The layer of coating keeps the graffiti at the surface, not letting it penetrate into the porous surface which makes the removal of the graffiti much easier. You should choose the best coating that suits your particular situation. They are explained as follows:

Non-Sacrificial Anti-Graffiti Protective Coating

Anti Graffiti Protective Coating can be applied to any surface that vandals want to graffiti. It comes in a matt or gloss finish and can be painted, rolled or sprayed onto a surface. The coating can be clear or tinted to your required colour.

When you get graffiti on a surface that has Anti Graffiti Coating applied, it can be removed with ease by either yourself by applying warm soapy water or a mild graffiti remover, agitating the graffiti, then hosing off with water or calling in your local graffiti professional.

Sacrificial Anti-Graffiti Protective CoatingSacrificial Anti Graffiti Coatings are great for all types of surfaces. The Sacrificial Anti Graffiti Coating is easy to apply by painting, rolling or spraying. When you have been vandalized with graffiti, it is a matter of applying hot soapy water to the area that has graffiti.

The graffiti will disappear as well as the coating. Letting the surface dry for 15 minutes, the Sacrificial Anti Graffiti Coating is re-applied to the area that was removed.

The difference between sacrificial and non-sacrificial anti graffiti coatings is that sacrificial is removed with hot water only and no products are required. The sacrificial coating then needs to be re-applied.

Both coatings can be applied over painted surfaces or non-painted surfaces depending on your requirements. It can be applied to most surfaces such as brick, concrete, metal, perspex, road signs, wood, etc.

All in all, the best strategy to prevent graffiti is immediate removal within 24-48 hours. Contact your local council as they usually have a graffiti prevention strategy in place.

Anti Graffiti Systems for DIYAnti Graffiti Systems for DIY

Graffiti is a major problem all over the world costing tax payers millions of dollars every year in the prevention and removal of unsightly tags and graffiti. Some graffiti is true art, but unfortunately most is obscenity and tags. Tags are people's ID mark, and can be either their initials or just some obscure symbol which only they or other taggers know. Tagging is not just kids, but grown adults travelling the country leaving their tag in an underworld game of tagging. The idea of this game is to leave their tag in as many and difficult positions as possible. This makes for unsightly landscape that is costing business, governments and the public sector a fortune. Up until now professional companies have been called in to apply anti graffiti sacrificial coatings and to remove the graffiti with a cocktail of dangerous chemicals.

There are countless numbers of ways to remove and prevent graffiti, from re-painting through to sacrificial coatings. Re-painting is often used but is time consuming and expensive. A very popular method is to use a sacrificial coating. These are generally wax based, and once attacked with graffiti are completely removed and re-applied. A very expensive exercise, considering more often than not they are attacked with graffiti again the next day.

The best way to combat these graffiti artists is to remove the graffiti before anyone has a chance to see it! If their handy work is removed immediately over and over they will often give up after 3-4 times of removal. It is very frustrating for a graffiti artist not to see their work the next day and also becomes a waste of time and paint on their behalf. Time is crucial! To be able to achieve this you must have a anti graffiti system that will enable quick and easy removal over and over without damaging the material underneath and the costly replacement of the coating every time it is attacked with graffiti.

I have tried many different anti graffiti systems to deter these people from attacking my factory walls, and up until recently have had limited success. Last year I came across an anti graffiti product that is painted on the wall and can be attacked by graffiti and removed again 4-5 times before having to re-apply the skin, all at a reasonable cost.

There are major advantages with this anti graffiti product over others that I have used. Not only will it allow the quick and easy removal of graffiti, but it also protects the surface from harsh weather conditions such as UV damage, salt corrosion and various forms of chemical attack. This anti graffiti skin can be applied to almost any surface including concrete, metals, vinyl and timbers and will last in excess of 5 years if not attacked by any graffiti. You also have the ability to re-apply the anti graffiti skin to small sections that have been continuously attacked, rather than to have to do the complete wall as with other systems. The anti graffiti skin is invisible on most surfaces and will actually enhance and protect any surface that it is applied to. The best thing about this system is that it can be applied by anyone very easily. The skin can be rolled, sprayed or painted on to virtually any surface. The removal of graffiti or tags is just as easy. Using a spray bottle, the anti graffiti removal product is sprayed lightly on to the graffiti, left for 30 seconds to penetrate and simply wiped off. It's that easy. Since using this anti graffiti system I completely stopped the graffiti on my factory walls within 3 attacks as I was able to remove it that morning before anyone had a chance to see it.