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Monday, February 02, 2009

The Joy of De-Tagging

Studies show that graffiti removal within 24-48 hours significantly reduces the likelihood of recurrence. Home Depot sells un-wanted, mis-mixed paint at its paint counter for $5 a gallon, which is the easiest remedy to a tagged wall. For stone, cement, wood or brick (i.e., surfaces that you do not want to ruin by painting), I have found success with a slightly more expensive and labor intensive graffiti removal product (like this, which you spray over the graffiti and then scrub off). Of course, calling 311 is always a good option, especially when the graffiti appears on the property of another when you do not have that property owner's permission to take action against the graffiti yourself.

Below is the product of about 45 minutes of my de-tagging work this past Saturday. Removing or painting over graffiti our neighborhood is a neighborhood chore that I find really easy and gratifying, mainly because it's easy to see your own accomplishment. I plan to attack our alley this coming weekend, which has somehow accrued a lot of tags in the past month.

6 comments:

Mr. Q said...

The graffiti appears to be on the rise over the last few weeks, doesn't it? From 14th over to 6th or 7th at least...

Thanks for your efforts ShawRez! Wish they weren't necessary, but it's appreciated!

Mari said...

Good job.

Anonymous said...

This is great, taking this into your own hands like this. Wow! Way to go!

si said...

a wonderful thing to do for the community. thank you

Amanda said...

I was searching for something else on dc.gov recently and found the following links. I wonder if they still offer the free kits?
Graffiti removal kits
DC graffiti policy

Anonymous said...

The DC government has been very responsive to the importance of graffiti removal recognizing the message that leaving it sends to the community. They require signed waivers from property owners to allow them to use either paint or power washing. Recently nearly a dozen tags were removed from Naylor Court and Blagden Alley. The newly appointed contact person is francisco.fimbres@dc.gov