You arrive at work and are greeted with a huge eye sore: graffiti. What do you do? The answer is to call our team immediately for Houston commercial cleaning services to remove the graffiti from your workplace.
Graffiti removal can be incredibly difficult. Trying to do it yourself often results in worse outcomes than calling professionals for the job in the first place. If you don’t have the knowledge and experience to clean away the graffiti on your building, it can lead to things like stains, smeared graffiti, or even damage to the surface underneath. Therefore, it’s best to work with janitorial professionals to get rid of the graffiti instead of risking these serious consequences associated with DIY graffiti removal. In this article, we’ll discuss some general information it may help facility managers to know about graffiti cleaning.
When to Get Houston Commercial Cleaning Services for Graffiti
Practically any time you discover graffiti on your property, it’s best to call for professional Houston commercial cleaning services. Since most graffiti uses materials like spray paint and permanent ink, they can create lasting marks and damage.
However, what’s worse is that many graffiti removal techniques can also be permanently damaging. Many of the solvents recommended for removing graffiti can eat away at a lot of different materials. Even power washing with the wrong settings on the wrong materials can cause serious damage that might even look worse than the graffiti.
Therefore, it’s important to choose an experienced team to clean away graffiti from your building. Our team arrives promptly and uses the right tools and methods to remove the graffiti without damaging your building in the process.
Important Tips for Graffiti Removal from your Houston Janitorial Services Company
There are several things to keep in mind when you’re dealing with graffiti. If you need Houston commercial services for graffiti removal, then you should know that you shouldn’t delay cleaning and you should also make sure to choose a team who will use the gentlest methods possible to get rid of the vandalism for you.
Remove the Graffiti ASAP
As soon as you notice graffiti on your property, you need to call your Houston janitorial services company for help. Waiting can create several unwanted consequences.
The first is that graffiti can be harder to remove the longer it sits. Generally, graffiti is made of either spray paint or ink. These substances tend to cure and harden over time. The pigments in them also can sink in and cause stains the longer they’re left on a surface. Cleaning off the graffiti will be much easier and more effective if you give us a call ASAP.
Additionally, graffiti often attracts more graffiti. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is the broken windows theory, which is where people are more likely to commit crimes like vandalism if there are signs it’s been done before. Also, graffiti is frequently the result of gang tagging to mark territories and advertise drug sales. Often, this encourages rival gangs to add their own tags to an area to create conflict. So, it’s best to clean up graffiti as soon as possible to prevent more vandalism to your property.
In addition, it may go without saying, but having visible graffiti on your property can also affect how people view your business. It doesn’t look professional and might detract from your company’s reputation.
Use the Gentlest Options First
When you need Houston commercial cleaning services for graffiti removal, you should also make sure that you choose a team that will do it right. This means using the gentlest methods possible to remove the graffiti. In many cases, this means trying several different methods, moving to harsher techniques only as needed. Otherwise, they might cause damage to your building.
Many companies will go in with the harshest possible product to quickly remove graffiti. However, as we mentioned, that can be a risky strategy, so it’s better to select a company you can trust not to do this.
Types of Solvents for Graffiti Removal Houston Commercial Cleaning Services
There are many different types of solvents that we can use to remove graffiti. The one we choose is based on the material of the graffiti, the material underneath, as well as the timeline since the vandals applied the graffiti.
Here are some solvents that may help remove graffiti from your building:
- Acetone
- Alcohol
- Paint thinner
- Mineral spirits
- Methylene chloride
In addition, there may be certain non-solvent tools we might be able to use to remove graffiti. For instance, power washing is an option we might use in certain circumstances.
Houston Commercial Cleaning Services: Removing Graffiti Based on the Material Underneath
As we mentioned, we need to tailor the Houston janitorial services for graffiti removal to the material underneath to avoid damaging it. Here are some of the most popular methods to remove graffiti from these common types of building materials:
Metal
If you have graffiti on a metal surface, we may start with a penetrating oil like WD-40 to soften up spray paint so we can wipe it away. Fine grit steel wool can also work well, but we must use it carefully to avoid scratching the metal. If it still doesn’t work, then we might move on to power washing.
Plastic
Houston commercial cleaning services for removing graffiti from plastic also often starts with WD-40 and might also include a very fine steel wool to scrape paint away. If it still doesn’t work, then we may recommend painting over the graffiti instead, which we can also assist you with through our building maintenance team.
Concrete & Brick
Concrete, brick, and other types of stone are porous and can really soak up ink and paint. This makes it really difficult to remove graffiti from. However, low pressure power washing is a common option we might use. When applying solvents, it’s important to get them into all the little pores. In many cases, you may need to paint over the graffiti.
Stucco
Stucco is one of the most difficult surfaces to remove graffiti from. Since it’s so delicate, many Houston commercial cleaning services can damage it. Often, seriously low pressure power washing can help. Otherwise, we might use a pumice stone paired with some solvent to gently remove the graffiti. In other cases, we may recommend painting over the area.
Glass
Graffiti on glass is often pretty easy to remove with the right tools. In most cases, we can scrape paint away with a razor blade and follow up with basically any solvent to get anything left behind. For ink like permanent marker, alcohol works well.
Drywall
In some cases, you may find graffiti on drywall inside your building. While there are methods that can remove paint or ink from painted walls, these methods often ruin the paint or even damage the wall. Therefore, most of the time we recommend hiding the graffiti with a fresh coat of paint.
Get Fast, Effective Houston Commercial Cleaning Services from Accredited Building Services
When you need commercial cleaning and building maintenance, choose our team at Accredited Building Services. We’ve been providing cleaning and maintenance to businesses since 1980 and are here to ensure your building is clean, sanitary, and professional. Get in touch now to request a quote or call us at (281) 578-2296 for immediate help from our team.
