Graffiti remover that works!

[navigator]

Greetings! I have been reading here awhile, but this is my first post. I want to thank everyone for their input on this board, it is VERY educational!

I kinda fell into this business: my small Arizona hometown (pop 50,000) had a sudden surge in graffiti occurances, and I could not let that sort of stupidity remain. The city was slow to respond, the property owners slower, so I took it upon myself to take care of (part of) the problem . I started out with Mostenbacher's Graffiti Remover and a hose, which gave poor results. Next I bought a small pressure washer (Sear's smallest gas) and used Goof Off Graffiti Remover, and the results were pretty good, but not good enough.

I did some research, and read that soda blasting was supposed to be the best way to remove graffiti, and spoke to the city about the problem and a possible solution. I learned that they were looking to hire out the abatement job, and one of the contactors they were considering was going to be doing some work with a soda blaster. I watched the crew at work, and it looked easy enough, but when they were done, the results were pretty poor: the unpainted cinder block walls were permanently scarred, and the graffiti could still be seen! I had looked into buying a soda blast outfit, but the hopper and hose part runs $7,000, and the 180cfm compressor runs $12,000. Out of my league! And judging by what I saw locally, not effective.

I kept looking, and found a product called Elephant Snot (http://www.graffitisolutions.tv/default.htm) that sounded pretty good. Well, it sounded like it would work; the name does not sound good!

I order some and tried it out, and it did a good job. I did a test job for the city, and they were happy with the results, but I was not. The instructions say hot water works better, so I searched eBay for a pressure washing outfit, and bought one. The Snot and hot water make a great combination, most times leaving no trace of the graffiti. Just did another job for the city, and I am quite satisfied with the outcome.

It works on recent spray paint tags, and older painted-over graffiti, too. So far the only problem is with red spray paint, which leaves a ghost, even after two applications of Snot, and one of Shadow Max shadow remover. Probably it's just me being too hard to please...

Anyway, I wanted to recommend Elephant Snot as a great product. It's a thick jelly-like liquid which clings to the wall and does not dry out, and it's bio-degradable and environmentally-friendly. At $60/gallon, it's a bit pricey, but is worth it. If you do use it, be careful about getting it on you, as it does cause burns (I have several).

In case you're thinking I'm crazy for buying a washer just for this, well, that could be...

I did some research, and there is not a pressure washing business in the city. Looking around at the storefronts (grocery, video, theater, etc), they are all quite dirty, so I figured I could get some work cleaning them. Maybe not so crazy?

 

[5 Star Johnny]

Sounds like pretty good stuff. Check out www.abrp.com They have some great removal products, but also have an abatement product that decreases the return cleanings immensely. Once the graffitti is cleaned properly, you apply this "graffitti shield". It allows the paint to stick & dry, and can be washed off with a simple cleaner & low water pressure. There are other silicone based detterents which don't allow the paint to stick at all, but make it run off. Apparently, this tends to "taunt" the "tagger", so they'll continue to look for places (like further up or other harder to reach spots) to tag until they're successful. Worth looking at.

 

[Revive]

Graffiti

Taginator, and Tag Away, without a question are among the best. I've used about thirty different ways including soda, and crushed glass through the pressure washer. Each has it's time and place. Red is hard to get off, depending on the substrate. We have a couple of those wonderful little buggers that have been using (permanent) Line paint, on hydro boxes. Took a while to get that one figured out.

Does any one on the planet know a secret to share about removal on Stop, and Dead End signs??????????????????????????????????????????????????
I've ruinned all kinds, some with,and some without the towns permission.

 

[PressurePros]

I second Tagaway and Taginator. Hands down best I have used.

 

[navigator]

OK, I ordered the Taginator special; the idea of spraying sounds lots better than brushing! I'll let ya'll know how the two compare. Thanks for the input.

The main targets are cinder block walls, which are very common here, and range from smooth grey to colored split-face. Most are not painted.

 

[jandjsales]

easy off oven cleaner has worked great for me, spray it on, let it stand for 5-10 minutes and wash it off. on a few occasions i have had to do second application in the mortar joints of brick. try it in an inconspicuous area on other surfaces.
were rubber gloves, protective clothing and a respirator, easy off is basicaly sodium hydroxide in an aerosol can.
jeff

 

[Scott Stone]

For what it is worth, You need a contractors license to remove Graffiti in Arizona.

 

[navigator]

Scott,

I searched the Registrar of Contactors site, the official state of Arizona site and even Mesa's website, and could find nothing to indicate that a contractor's license is required for graffiti removal or pressure washing. What is your source of information?

 

[jandjsales]

the day after i posted about using easy off oven cleaner, i got a grafitti call, and as i usualy do i went and picked up some easy off, i sprayed it on and let it dwell for a while, i fired up my unit and expected to rinse it off, like i have done numerous times. i had a heck of time getting it off and it can still be seen, but barely. i don't know what was different, the brick was a little more porous than typical brick and maybe these vandals used a more expensive paint, plus it had been there for a few months. the easy off still worked better than the expensive grafitti remover the maintenance guy used, he gave me some to try and it didn't do much at all.

jeff
jjjjjgrant@bellsouth.net

 

[navigator]

Slow replying, but my machine was down for three weeks, so I couldn't test anything...

Did today, and maybe I did something wrong, but that Taginator was very disappointing. The project was a cinder block wall with a large latex paint-over, and I assumed spray paint underneath. Wrong, it was white paint, and probably oil-based. Very hard to remove. But the Taginator would hardly even work on the latex, I ended up going over it with the Snot.

I will do more testing, but it seems that the material is used up quickly, once applied it tends to run down the wall, and while spraying is nice, the mist is hazardous (chemical burns).

I have another gallon to go, which hopefully will provide better results.

 

[PressurePros]

Tagaway is for painted surfaces. Taginator is for porous brick. That was perhaps the first issue.

Spray paint is nasty on oil based paints. The solvents in the spray paint liquify the paint and then the new paint bonds to it chemically.

 

[navigator]

The block wall is unpainted, the graffiti is white paint, and the latex paintover is brown. I need to remove both the paintover and the graffiti.

The Taginator website says their product makes scarificial coatings obsolete, but so far I don't think so. Today's experience, combined with the products' previous failure to remove red spraypaint from an unpainted block wall, tells me that to really protect a wall, a coating of some type is needed.

Hope I don't come across as having an attitude, but the results I'm getting are falling far short of the claims made for the product. And the stuff ain't cheap...

 

[PressurePros]

I understand your frustration. I can only speak from the experiences I have had with the products. I am by no means a graffitti removal expert. Both have worked well for me but you know how it goes, every situation is unique. It is distributed local to me by ETS. You could try giving them a call. They are located in Norwood, PA.

 

[Asbestos]

The problem may be that the spray paint that they are using has dyes in it as well as pigments. (ever have a paintbrush change color even after you washed it) Some cheaper paints could possibly have dyes that would need a differnt type of chemical to remove. A chemical that breaks down the binder of the paint may allow some of the dye to stay behind.

-just my 2 cents - could be worth $2.00 or I could end up oweing you. . .

 

[navigator]

Well, I have been comparing the two products (Elephant Snot and Taginator), and I have not been impressed at all with the Taginator. The shortcomings as I see them:

• More expensive to ship, due to being a hazardous product.

• More product is used, due to airborn loss and product running off of area to be cleaned.

• Product tends to dry out (our humidity has been in the 6-15 percent range).

• Product is more dangerous as the mist drifts on the breeze.

• Product take half an hour to work. Lost time...

• Product does not work as advertised. Not even close!

Elephant Snot is better in just the opposite ways:

• Cheaper to ship (ORM D).

• Product goes and stays where you put it.

• Product stays wet.

• Product works quickly.

In these photos, first is before, second is after; the left half used Snot, the right half used Taginator.

<img src="http://www.powerwashnetwork.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2513"> <img src="http://www.powerwashnetwork.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2514">

This is an example of my normal Elephant Snot results:

<img src="http://www.powerwashnetwork.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2515"> <img src="http://www.powerwashnetwork.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2516">

 

[Scott Stone]

Scott,

I searched the Registrar of Contactors site, the official state of Arizona site and even Mesa's website, and could find nothing to indicate that a contractor's license is required for graffiti removal or pressure washing. What is your source of information?

Sorry for taking so long to respond. My contractors license says "graffiti abatement and control" I don't think I would have been issued one if it was not necessary. It is an L-05 license which means it is restricted by the registrar, and so you have to actually call them to find out what it is.

 

[Splat]

Arizona has a couple of those (not covered by anything else) provisions in their contractors licensing. However my understanding of the law is if the job is under $750.00 (labor and materials) no state license is required, but the city or county may have their own license requirements. Just my 2¢.