FEATURE VANDALISM Sometimes however the situation calls for sterner methods and then you have to be careful not to damage the exterior of the building. The first thing you need to do is work out what the appropriate technique is to tackle the problem which depends on the type of paint or spray used to create the graffiti in the first place as well as the structure of the area affected. Depending on the answers to these questions there are several options available: When trying to actually remove the graffiti rather than simply hiding it then the first port of call will probably be to try chemical removal. This can be extremely effective but requires great care and attention or the surface of the building will likely end up damaged. If the graffiti has been applied to an already painted wall then the chemicals will remove the paint as well as the graffiti. It is also harmful to the environment. For businesses looking for a greener option there are organic cleaners on the market which cost a similar amount to chemical cleaners and pose less of a health and safety risk. Other possibilities include laser removal, scraping, sanding, power washing, abrasive blasting and graffiti removal gels. MECHANICS Even when you know what approach to take to tackle the graffiti there are still several things to be aware of. First of all it is important to act as soon as possible, studies have found that the faster a piece of graffiti is removed the less likely there is to be a re-occurrence in that area. On top of this the longer the graffiti stays in place the harder it is to remove. That being said it is usually better to attack graffiti on a warm day as heat speeds up the rate at which most removal products take effect. Then you have to consider the balancing act of scouring the area vigorously enough to remove the graffiti but not so hard that you damage the wall underneath. Of course you also need to be aware of the type of building you are cleaning. Chemical products that might work perfectly well on modern sites can be ruinous to historic buildings, particularly those with stone facades. Whilst local authorities are not responsible for cleaning graffiti from private properties including houses and businesses many do work alongside the local community with neighbourhood watch style schemes and even inspection teams. Furthermore, as it has with just about every other aspect 20 APRIL 2016 CLEANING HYGIENE TODAY of life, big data has started to seep into the world of graffiti. Most big cities use a database of information and analyse trends to predict patterns in graffiti offences. This allows the authorities to tailor their inspection routes, reducing the time taken to find and remove graffiti. Other initiatives have seen local authorities partner up to combat graffiti across borough boundaries, and to share information on best practice, work in partnership with the probation service and the Youth Offending Team, who both use young offenders to remove graffiti and flyposting from locations identified by the Council. Selling spray cans to people under the age of 16 is now an offence as well. Many local authorities share information on tags and run educational programmes aimed at school children. The city of Florence has even gone so far as launching an app at historic monuments which allows visitors to scrawl “digital graffiti” on a touchscreen. The images are then stored in an archive for posterity. It is hoped that this will prevent any more graffiti on landmarks such as Giotto’s Campanile. However in spite of such innovations the war is far from won. News outlets in Cambridge reported earlier this month that a small core of vandals “could be using harder to remove paint to stymie street cleaners, and are even resorting to applying multiple coats of paint to designs to prevent them from being removed easily.” In their most recent environmental report, they logged 98 incidences of ‘detrimental graffiti’ in Castle, Market and Newnham wards between October and December last year. That is massively up from the 72 incidents recorded in the same time frame last year. According to Southwark Council the UK spends over £1 billion per year cleaning graffiti. London alone is responsible for over 10 per cent of this. The British Transport Police estimates that it spends a minimum of £5 million each year on the problem and that doesn’t include the loss of revenue during cleaning or the delays to services. Compare that to the roughly £150 million spent nationally cleaning up chewing gum every year and you see that being efficient and innovative when it comes to cleaning graffiti is more important than ever. For businesses looking for a greener option there are organic cleaners on the market which cost a similar amount to chemical cleaners and pose less of a health and safety risk. ” FACTBOX The word “graffiti” comes from the Italian word graffiato, which means “scratched.” Art historians believe the term arose from the fact that the earliest forms of graffiti were carved on walls with sharp objects. Or maybe the word graffiti comes from the Greek word “graphein” which means “to write”. It depends on who you ask. The modern form of graffiti we are all familiar with is usually dated back to 1960s Philadelphia. According to the Guiness Book of World Records the longest Graffiti Scroll was created in Pakistan on the 3rd March 2012 and it measured 1,924 metres in length, and took 274 people to complete.
Cleaning Hygiene Today April 2016
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