August 31st, 2010 by bbergman

Graffiti is an ugly problem that cities across the U.S. face every day. The costs, time and work associated with cleaning it up is overwhelming for business owners who have their buildings tagged with paint and residents vandalized by graffiti.

It is no picnic for residents and city officials either; the emotional impact on homeowners is even greater partly because graffiti might represent growing crime in the area, which none of us want in our community.

Also known as tagging, it’s an ugly form of vandalism that hits city revenues, community morale and property values. If that wasn’t bad enough, it also promotes crime and communicates a damaging message that no one cares about the appearance and safety of the region.

Many cities around the country, From Phoenix, Arizona and Fort Collins, Colorado to San Francisco and New York City, are developing initiatives and taking action to reduce and eliminate graffiti.

Some cities are launching hotlines that allow people to report signs of graffiti in their area. Residents in various regions of New York can call and put in a request for a local clean-up team to remove paint from their buildings caused by vandals.

In Sunnyside, N.Y., city officials secured a one-year, $30,000 anti-graffiti grant that will help them establish a hotline program that promises to respond to local businesses and homeowners within seven days at no cost.

Anti-graffiti organizations like SodaBlast Systems’ Best Graffiti Removal, work with city officials and business leaders to remove it as quickly as possible to restore the property to its original condition.

May 6th, 2010 by bbergman

Today’s blog post continues our week-long look at graffiti clean-up. Many people wonder how sodablasting effectively and permanently eliminates graffiti from a variety of surfaces without removing the underlying paint color or damaging the surface. Or why power-washing with water or heavy-duty chemicals isn’t as effective as bicarbonate sodium is.

Some people imagine the only way you can remove graffiti for good – and forever – is by using harsh chemicals combined with multiple rounds of dark-colored paint.

When you sodablast graffiti paint from a surface – whether it’s wood, concrete, stucco or brick – it’s important to set the PSI so the impact of the cleaning material is set to the right level to do the job you need it to do. After you start with a low-level PSI, you can adjust up or down, depending on the sensitivity of your project and surface.

The fact is, a quick power wash and/or fresh coat of paint certainly wouldn’t harm the surface or do any damage to the graffiti removal process. Many sodablasting contractors, sand blasters and various other media blasters would recommend following through on those steps, esp. if your surface that was tagged is in need of a make-over (speaking of which, that could be a good time to spruce up the property, clean up the vandalism and add new life to the area!).

Sodablasting is also an eco-friendly, “green” process that is safe to use anywhere. Don’t let the dust scare you or the clean-up tasks persuade you to use an alternative. It may look like a lot, but it’s not. The dust subsides quickly and the clean-up is nothing more than washing away the baking soda and storing your supplies/materials away.

Do you know of any websites that address graffiti clean-up? Share them by shooting us an email.

May 5th, 2010 by bbergman

When was the last time you saw tagging in your neighborhood? Did it look like it was tagged by a “wanna-be” up-and-coming artist-type with more talent than attitude? Or did it resemble something you might see in a movie about hard-core, blood-thirsty street gangs?

Actually – it doesn’t matter who tagged the downtown bakery or the sidewalk in front of your Avon lady’s house. It’s a tacky and ugly form of vandalism that drives down community morale and property values.

In fact, people don’t realize that its occurrence is only half the problem – leaving it behind for the entire community to see day after day is even more damaging. It sends the message that city officials may not care about the area when tagging is not cleaned up; it makes people feel unsafe in their neighborhood – many fear the graffiti is a sign of a harmful gang that might return.

We know of many cities in New Mexico, California and Illinois – among others that rely on sodablasting to remove the graffiti in a timely manner that is affordable, safe and efficient.

Some cities and businesses even opt for a quick blast so they can paint over the offending content without leaving a “shadow” behind. We have all see areas that were repainted and have a “shadow” in place of where the offensive graffiti used to be.

May 4th, 2010 by bbergman

Cleaning up and dealing with graffiti is a nasty, time-consuming mess that requires money, energy and patience to deal with. With many small towns and cities dealing with a battered economy these days, they simply don’t have the resources, funding or manpower to fix what vandals create when they tag buildings, walls and ground.

Larger municipalities may not want to invest their valuable resources in long-term solutions. And even if they are willing to shell out the money and labor to remove it, these kinds of jobs generally require official approval, proposals that outline when and how the job will be completed as well as bid details that include pricing.

That’s why it makes sense for business leaders, city officials and home owners to call on a private contractor to handle the job – and headaches – associated with removing graffiti, paint and other various forms of tagging art from the surface.

Sodablasting is ideal because it can be used on wood, brick, stucco and concrete – virtually anywhere – without damaging or permanently altering the surface. And whether it’s an exterior building, garden wall or concrete sidewalk, the graffiti can generally be removed, cleaned up and restored in one day.

When you call a sodablasting contractor, make sure to ask what their experience is with blasting graffiti. Inquire about costs per square foot, whether they can repaint if you need it done – or if they know someone who can repaint – and how long they expect the job to take to complete.

January 8th, 2009 by jacobg

Any business owner knows that graffiti can be unappealing to customers, but did you know it has other sociological side effects? Recent field experiments have shown that people in an alley with graffiti are 33% more likely to litter than people in a graffiti-free alley. These studies have also shown a 12% increase in theft.

In the mid 1990’s New York started a program that would clean up graffiti, litter, and signs of vandalism. After the streets were well maintained, petty crime rates dropped. Programs like this have caught on in other major cities, Chicago for example has a city crew who removes graffiti using a truck-mounted soda blaster.

The SodaBlaster can remove graffiti in a fraction of the time required by other methods and is environmentally friendly. Soda blasting has a huge advantage over sand blasting because it is safe for almost any surface, whereas sand is harsh and can destroy many materials.

SodaBlast Systems manufactures their blasters in the USA, all of their products have a lifetime warranty, and use patented technology that insures uninturrupted blasting. They have a new website devoted to Graffiti clean-up. Check it out at BestGraffitiRemoval.com.

December 28th, 2008 by jacobg

Graffiti Removal is one of a thousand easy tasks for the SodaBlaster. Graffiti can make a business look shabby and be a major turn-off to customers, but don’t worry; SodaBlast Systems has got you covered. The SodaBlaster uses patented technology that blasts away graffiti faster than any other method, and is 100% environmentally friendly. Watch the video below to see it in action.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5c7Ei-uRDI

SodaBlast Systems has just launched a new website dedicated to Graffiti Removal, check it out at BestGraffitiRemoval.com.