Graffiti removal

[lizziehill]

Some delightful "artist" has graffitied on the side of my van in what appears to be permanent marker!

I've tried giving it a rub with some spray alcohol but it doesn't seem to be budging - any ideas?

Lizzie

[Derek]

Hi Lizzie

I would use a product like T-Cut to polish away the marks.

You can also get a special product for GRP, see Ants comments from another thread.

ant said:

The Farecla products are made for the GRP and the G10 that Lunnie uses is good if the vehicle finish is already quite bright, you can use it on the painted part of the vehicle also. If the body has gone all dull the I would use the Farecla G3 ,always use it with a wet cloth.( you can get most of the scratches out of the plastic windows with G3 aswell). Once you have got the shine back any cream or soft paste silicone based finishing polish can be used. The silicone based polishes make it much easier to get the squashed flies off in the summer.
Not wishing to be sued, the only polish I would never use because it leaves a residue you can't see untill a month or so down the line by which time it has baked on and is a sod to remove sounds like the french word for the Sea! In the past I've had to sand a Romahome body with 1200 wet and dry to get the residue off before starting to polish!
Lastly NEVER put a Romahome through a public car wash with those big fluffy brushes, you never know if the previous vehicle to use it was covered in sand, grit,very muddy and you'll scratch the windows for sure and maybe the GRP body.
Ant

Derek

[ant]

Hi Lizzie.
If the paint wont polish off you can try thinners, Hammarite thinners doesn't seem to effect the GRP, Cellulose thinners needs to be used more carefully and you would have to polish the shine back afterwards. I'm affraid elbow grease is also a requirement.
Ant

[Pauline]

Can't help with the advice Lizzie but just wanted to say what a shame there are such horrible people out there with no respect for others property

[lizziehill]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I'll give it a go.

Interesting point re. carwashes - hadn't thought of that!

Pauline, I agree... won't let them beat me though

[jayjay]

Oh Lizzie - I'm so sorry to hear this!

I don't know how to help, except offering some virtual elbow grease...

What about some of the stain removers in the laundry section for permanent marker removal? I know they are meant for fabrics and furniture, but you may just find one which does the trick.

[spiraltastic]

hi,not sure if it will help but wd40 gets rid of sticky marks,its worth a try i guess!if not you maybe could use a stain devil that you get for clothes! hope it helps

[jayjay]

Hi Lizzie, how are you getting on? Have you got it off yet? Hope it's not proving too difficult.

[martinw]

Hi Lizzie,

Try some aftershave, this will remove permanent marker from most things, but I dont know about GRP.

M

[djsooz]

Hi Lizzie,

Exactly the same thing happened to me. I have some unwanted writing in black permanent marker on the front of my van. Have tried varous things incliding graffiti remover but haven't quite got rid of it yet. I'm going to try some of the suggestions others have kindly left. WD40 and aftershave first I think. Its a pain isn't it.

Sooz.

[jayjay]

ooh sorry to hear you got hit as well, DJsooz.

I hope you've both found something to sort it out. It makes me so mad to hear of this kind of thing happening to people.

[rachel]

Sorry to hear about this - have you tried nail varnish remover, its worth a go.

[djsooz]

Finally got rid of the permanent marker on Rhonda, though there is a very, very slight shadow left. A friend at work also works in car valeting. After asking his advice about it he just said 'don't worry, I'll sort something out'. I assumed he meant to get me some stuff to take it off but and he and his boss went around to Rhonda while I was at work and removed it for free! The fact that there are such good people in the world kind of negates the graffiti attack.

Sorry Lizzie I don't know what they used. It was some kind of compound somewhat similar to t cut I believe.

Hope you got the marker off your van.

Sooz.

[peterholden]

It was probably a polishing paste called Farecella G3.

It is used in the motor trade to bring back faded paintwork. It makes cars look like new. It is suitable for fibreglass because ther are no silicones in it. I used it on my C15 when I first bought it because the surface had gone all rough and dull. It came up like new and all it needed after was regular washing and polishing.

It should be available at most acr accessory shops if you ask. It is not cheap but it does go a long way.