Make your mark on graffiti
December 1st 2009 Australia is still a land of discovery as Steve Poole of Graffiti Removal explains. He travelled there a few years ago to source a graffiti removal system that was gentle, effective and simple
Graffiti is applied in hundreds of different guises – spray cans, marker pens, leather dyes – the list goes on ad infinitum. Offenders add different inks and dyes to their marker pens including acetone to make the dye burn into the substrate they are working on. Add to this the myriad of surfaces graffiti is being applied to and the problem multiplies exponentially.
Traditionally graffiti has been tackled by using inappropriate products, high pressure and in many cases, damaging abrasives such as sodium bicarbonate and sand.Manufacturers have created systems with over 15 products making graffiti removal complicated, slow and often ineffective.
Graffiti Removal manufactures products originating from Australia. John Rose from Adelaide had spent 20 years perfecting a system which was quick, safe and non damaging. Following a phone call one January evening in 2003, Steve Poole, MD of Graffiti Removal, landed in Adelaide a week later to meet Rose.
"From our discussions over a week it was quite clear John was either mad or brilliant. In actual fact he was both," says Poole. Descriptions of removing graffiti with hose pipes and claims that graffiti would 'disappear in front of your eyes'were difficult to believe for seasoned graffiti remover Poole. However, all was revealed when the plane touched down in Adelaide.
Fantastic four
The system is made up of only four mainstream products; Spray Can Paint Remover, Heritage Graffiti Remover, Sensitive Surface Graffiti Remover and Trace and Ghost which is designed to remove the burnt-in marker pens from porous and non porous surfaces.
Having only four products makes the system easy to teach, eliminating the hit and miss nature of removing graffiti. The graffiti is divided into three blocks with an appropriate removal methodology for each block incorporating the four products.
The system is not only quick and very effective, it does not require the use of damaging abrasives, high pressure jet washers and huge quantities of water. Originating from Australia where water conservation is essential, the system has inbuilt 'green' credentials.
With graffiti removal no longer causing damage, it means a 'clean all' approach can be used with confidence instead of just cleaning publicly owned buildings. This is crucial in the fight against graffiti crime. Graffiti offenders do not distinguish between privately or publicly owned property. Leaving a single piece of graffiti sends the message that graffiti will be tolerated and will quickly attract more graffiti.
The second key point is the importance of removing graffiti as quickly as possible. The faster graffiti is removed the less likely it is to reappear. Once an area has been cleaned it must be regularly checked and re-cleaned as necessary. Swansea City Council have found that approximately 80% of graffiti cleaned has not reappeared for six months after using these specialist solutions.
"Our removal rate prior to the Graffiti Removal system was, say, 350 tags per month," says Richard Allen of Cambridge City Council."After we took on GR, our rate went up to 1,500 and Cambridge is now a clean city.We do a good job and we have the best chemicals to do it with."
Training is essential
Graffiti Removal is now a specialist trade – removing the wide range of graffiti materials from such a myriad of surfaces is a real skill and proper training is required.Nationally accredited courses are run to cover all aspects of removal and explain the health and safety aspects arising removing graffiti; often in public areas.
As the graffiti vandals create new dyes and become more daring in their exploits, the graffiti removers have to become quicker and more effective. With decreasing budgets, the challenge is to make the whole removal process efficient. removing all damage to property and the environment. | 
