[drive surgeon]

hi guys, hope all is well,  been asked to remove graffiti off a wall, its only around 2 sq metres of white spray paint on a brick wall,  trouble is i have only have cold water pressure washer and a turbo nozzle,  can i use chemicals?  put chemical on leave to soak in then blast off?  or do i need hot water?  never done graffiti so dont know. also do i need special nozzle rather than a turbo nozzle, like one used to blast off the snots when brick cleaning on sites?  cheers guys 

[Pristine Clean]

Hi Drive Surgeon,

Yes you can use chemicals, but you will probably also need a soft wire brush that wont damage the brick surface.

Most cleaningt companies sell Grafitti remover - you need a strong one that you soak in and leave.

You may not alway remove every part.... depends on how deep its gone in to the brick work, thats where the wire brush comes in.

[Pristine Clean]

DCL00205 Democlean Graffiti Gel
5 litre can of Democlean Graffiti Gel - suitable for most surface
Price: £65.00 (Excluding VAT at 17.5%)

paste the link into your browser  - there are alternative chemicals obviously you need to find a store near you.

www.demon-pressure-washers.co.uk/

[mark.laycock1@ntlw]

hi drive surgeon, can you take a photo of the area to be cleaned.

[trevor perry]

hi drive surgeon try a firm called graffittihotline they are on the web and sell graffitti remover in small bottles the stuff is good and they are very helpful.

[Richy L]

hi drive surgeon try a firm called graffittihotline they are on the web and sell graffitti remover in small bottles the stuff is good and they are very helpful.

i would definately reccomend these.
They will answer any questions you have too.

give them a call.

you dont need a turbo nozzel on full power or you may damage the brick,or at least the pointing. its the chemicals that do the work

[drive surgeon]

hey guys sounds great, thank you so much , will let you know how i get on, many thanks.

[Andy Foster]

I wouldn't use a turbo nozzle if I were you... you'll probably remove the pointing as well!!!

[drive surgeon]

think i might need a different nozzle, i have two lances, one with a turbo on and one which is a fan spray, think i need one which gives a small high powered fan to remove mortar on site cleaning new houses, as you dont use a turbo nozzle on those either,  the brick cleaners will know what i mean.

[Andy Foster]

I have been doing brick cleaning for a while now and I have no idea what you mean I'm afraid!?!
I use a split adjustable pressure lance the same as i use for edges and rinsing down on domestic driveways and the same as I use on graffiti removal, the same as I use for gum removal, or paint removal or... in fact I only have one lance and have only ever needed one hand held lance, you don't need to spend money on an extra one it would be a waste of money.

Andy

[dandandan]

Hi Andy,what size nozzles have you got on your split dual pressure lance?Have you got 2 different sizes?thanks Dan

[drive surgeon]

oh!  i have two lances one which is a turbo and the other an adjustable spray but it is sort of a fan spray but its mainly for swilling and not powerfull enough to remove graffiti,  they are both from tech clean, does anyone have the same models from tech clean?  you get the adjustable one free with the powertech 250 machine,

[drive surgeon]

the end has two small nozzles covered by a black cover to stop splashback, maybe i need to change those to get a more powerfull fan spray to remove graffiti and brick snots etc :

[dandandan]

Sounds like mine,with a turning handle to control pressure and a black cup on the end containing 2 tips,i was told by someone to put 2 different size nozzles on it to get better adjustment.dan

[Andy Foster]

There should be a brass and a steel nozzle on your split lance under the black cover.
The steel one gives you the power and the brass is a larger bore which gives you the rinse effect.
The nozzles should be the correct ones to match your pump and if this is so, will be plenty strong enough for removing graffiti.
Steam is the best method for removing graffiti followed by a ghost remover of some description for the stubborn strongly pigmented graffiti.
However, cold water can be used to remove the bulk but it will take repeated applicaions of the Ghost remover to finish it off using cold.

[drive surgeon]

yes dan dan dan it must be the same, i think we need to change them to get higher pressure,  i might keep my lance and buy another one speciallt for  graffiti cleaning and snot work as the nozzles that are in at the moment are only good for swilling a drive after pressure cleaning,  not good for removing stuborn stuff,  to save messing around removing them i will just get another lance so i have 3 as the other one does come in handy.  is it best to keep the spray cover on or take it off when brick cleaning?

[steve_doyle]

This thread gives more weight to the argument that some peoples gear isnt set up correctly,

as andy says, one twin lance (like tech cleans) should be enough to do every job you need and certainly powerfull enough, you shouldent need to be swopping nozzles around.
 Unless you want a turbo lance as an addition then you should only need the one standard twin lance for everything.

steve

[drive surgeon]

i think i might take the end black cover off as with that on the lance seems to give like wot i can only describe as a tube effect rather than a high pressure fan,  it must look like a fan without that end piece on. also i cant get right upto the wall with that on.

[steve_doyle]

dont think it will make much difference ds, If it is catching you will be getting lots of water just running from the bottom of the guard rather than spraying out at high pressure.

bit of a daft question but when you twist the handle the water does swich nozzles doesnt it?

[dandandan]

I only use twin lance for washing down,mine has got a chrome tip and a brass tip, one for detergent and one for pressure.The other lance i have is a normal one which i change the tips,the coloured spray tips and my rotary head,Only used twin lance a couple of time.

[drive surgeon]

going to try this graffiti removal lark, been asked to give a quote on this job, just white spray paint on brick.

[drive surgeon]

do people find graffiti hard to shift,

[Andy Foster]

If you have got the right kit and the right chemicals then graffiti removal is a doddle.
Try to do it without the above and you are just making life hard for yourself and will probably end up not getting the results the customer expects and deserves.

The answer to your question for me is no.

Andy

[drive surgeon]

is hot water better than cold for graffiti cleaning? am i best selling my cold water machine and using hot water for all cleaning?

[Andy Foster]

    
You have already asked this question and it has been answered.
    

[drive surgeon]

sorry andy just realised, i did not read the answer properly, rushing too much!  thanks,  think i will need a new machine then, hot sounds best,  on low pressure i take it.