How to Remove Graffiti With Oven Cleaner

Graffiti is colorful, cartoon-type handwriting and drawings applied to surfaces without permission from private properties. Spray paint, automotive paint and other materials on buildings, fences and other surfaces can cause neighborhoods and communities to appear unwelcoming, neglected and dingy. The longer graffiti remains on surfaces, the more difficult it becomes to remove. Oven cleaners contain heavy-duty, grease-fighting solvents that can remove graffiti from glass, aluminum and metal. Using oven cleaners with certain techniques can effectively remove graffiti from surfaces.

• 1

  Put on long clothing, rubber gloves and eye goggles to prevent the oven cleaner from burning you.

• 2

  Lay plastic tarps on the ground around the affected structure to collect hazardous chemical runoff from the oven cleaner.

• 3

  Hold the can of oven cleaner 12 inches away from the surface. Spray an even coat of oven cleaner over the graffiti. Apply the oven cleaner according to the manufacturer's directions on the product's label. Keep the oven cleaner on the surface for the recommended amount of time.

• 4

  Fill a 3-gallon plastic bucket with warm water. Dampen a nylon scrub brush in the water.

• 5

  Scrub the surface with the wet nylon scrub brush. Frequently rinse the scrub brush in the warm water. Remove all graffiti from the surface.

• 6

  Attach a spray nozzle to a garden hose. Spray the surface with water from the garden hose to rinse away the oven cleaner and paint residue.

• 7

  Allow the surface to air dry. Repeat the process if any traces of graffiti remain on the surface.

• 8

  Contact the hazardous waste department for disposal of the oven cleaner runoff.