Anti-Graffiti Counterattack: Lacquers to Protect PVC from Paint Solvents
‘Tis always the season for graffiti – unfortunately. How to repel the aggressive solvents in graffiti spray cans? As a spin-off of the EU-backed textile project CONTEX-T, Belgian-based Sioen Industries has developed a unique lacquer to stand up to them. It is time to fight back!
A general problem in cities and roads all over the world, graffiti can make our life miserable. Once applied onto surfaces like walls, plastic and wood, the paint is very difficult to remove. This is no different for PVC coated polyester substrates.
“Since graffiti paints are all based on aggressive solvents, PVC coated textiles such as trailer covers, tents and textile architectures, train covers, banners and others are irreversibly damaged due to the penetration of solvents and pigments into the substrate” explains Bert Groenendaal, R&D manager at Sioen Industries.
“Cleaning graffiti off buildings, statues, trailers, tents and other surfaces costs billions of euros/dollars annually. Many cities have started anti-graffiti programs but vandalism is still a major problem” he continues.
As part of the European project CONTEX-T – teaming up European SMEs to develop new textile architectures - Sioen succeeded in developing a coating to prevent taggers from vandalising public and private properties. It is a clear coat that can be applied on top of existing paint or untreated surface.
“The Sioen anti-graffiti lacquer was initially created for the protection of truck side curtains and tarpaulins. Sioen Chemicals has now developed an anti-graffiti lacquer that is suitable for metal, bricks, tiles, concrete, wood and also PVC”, details Groenendaal.
“The principle is rather simple: the lacquer is applied either by coating or spraying, resulting in a barrier for all kinds of graffiti paints”, continues. “We call it SIOEN GRAFFITI STOP. Thanks to this protective layer, you can remove graffitis in a blink of an eye! This also helps increasing the lifetime of these materials, enhancing even more the sustainability of PVC coated fabrics.”
“The design of this product is more complex than we think”, says Mr Groenendaal. “Based on an advanced polymer technology, the active substance in the formulation is a tailor-made graft-type acrylate copolymer with excellent surface properties. In spite of that, it is a two-component system that can easily be formulated to its final application form to become a sprayable, solvent-borne, crosslinkable, topcoat material with excellent anti-graffiti properties on PVC surfaces”, Groenendaal adds.
Taggers might think twice next time they attempt to make their mark.
