Stepping out in the morning to find your property defaced with graffiti can be heartbreaking. It's unsightly in many cases and may cause serious damage to surfaces like brick and stucco.
Before you call a cleaning service, know that investing in the right tools instead will save you money should the vandals strike again. Using a pressure washer, you can quickly return your vandalized walls to their prior state.
If the graffiti is on brick or masonry, it will be most effective to use a turbo nozzle. A turbo nozzle attachment will give your pressure washer that extra kick you may need and can cut the removal time almost in half.
When possible, it's best to avoid using chemicals. In some cases, graffiti can be removed with high-pressure spray alone, which is better as chemicals can be too harsh for some surfaces. However, there are times when you may need help from chemicals to loosen the graffiti before you pressure wash it. If the graffiti has settled into the surface for more than a few days, it'll be much harder to remove with water pressure alone. In these cases, products like Taginator and Tagaway can help dissolve the paint or marker.
When applying the chemicals with a pressure washer, dial down your PSI to around 80 psi to avoid driving the chemicals into the surface and leaving stains. You want low pressure to just apply the chemicals to the outer surface of the graffiti. Once you apply these chemicals and allow them some time to work, you can pressure wash with a higher PSI to blast away the unwanted art.
Begin spraying the damaged surface with a general, low-pressure spray pattern. Start with the nozzle about 2 feet away from the surface and move closer until the graffiti begins to wear. If this doesn't do the trick, switch to a general, high-pressure spray. Make sure you're not causing any damage to the underlying surface if the graffiti is on soft material, such as a wood fence or stucco wall.