Skip to main content

Teflon as a graffiti deterrent/ solution

Self promotion, rebel statement or just plain visual bullying?

What about Teflon as a protective layer for signs and wall surfaces that are frequently damaged by graffiti?
Teflon is usually used in non-stick cooking pans to protect the bottom of the pan from sticking to burnt food. Would you believe my wife and I have been testing paint properties when sprayed on old Teflon coated cooking pans and the results are worth exploring but not as good as you would think.

Paint applied to the sides of an old pan where the Teflon is the least damaged was the easiest place to get the test paint to come off... but it still took a bit of effort. Our target is to find an ease of paint release that would allow a high pressure hose to remove the graffiti paint without damaging the original surface. In practice this would allow a community owned tank truck to go around the neighbourhood and power clean the the signs and damaged walls without the need for extensive manual work.

Why work on graffiti deterrents?
When I operate out of Australia, I work from a wonderful beach side town surrounded by wondrous natural beauty. That all comes to a jarring halt whenever I see that beauty marred by graffiti.

Ever since this problem really started to bother me I have been looking at various solutions.

For example a colour matching system that allows people to place a sheet of white paper up against the graffiti damaged wall to get a colour matched printout of paint colour needed to paint over the graffiti.

Or on the other extreme a rental service that allows owners of buildings that have been frequently damaged by graffiti to cheaply rent surveillance material that is optimized to allow formal identification and laying of charges with the authorities.

Visual bullies?
School yard bullies are kids that throw their weight around, forcing their will on other kid's because they can get away with it and because its too hard for teachers to be watching them all the time. In my mind non commissioned grafitti-ing is visual bullying. They are pushing their ideas and self promotion on the other people in the community who pay for the signs and walls and buildings they abuse. Often they are selfish kids who just don't care about anyone else. How would they like it if people came into their homes and tagged their personal things or their cars?

Now.... got to get off the soapbox and get back to inventing.

Additional notes
This company has an anodized coating system that seems to be very paint resistant.
http://www.idplate.com/applications/paint-resistant-labels-tags/default.html

Comments

Real Time Web Analytics