Anti urine paint

Anti urine paint protects property and walls

Public urination is an offence punishable with a fine here in Qatar; since the launch of Law No 18 of 2017 on public hygiene the fine the offenders are facing is QR10,000. But is this enough to combat public urination? Fortunately there is a solution that discourages public urination by teaching the offenders a lesson: anti urine paint that ‘pees back’.

Cities from Hamburg to San Francisco have adopted anti urine technology to combat the problem. Anti pee paint not only protects the wall it coats, but it also splashes urine right back at its source. It’s pee back time.

If your property, business or service is being damaged as a result of public urination, this article outlines how you can use anti pee paint to protect your substrate and deter those thinking to ‘spend a penny’.

Urine repellent paint projects from around the world

Anti Urine Paint is used there where public urination is a problem.

Anti pee paint came to the attention of the world when Hamburg, Germany, announced it was coating the streets of its famous St Pauli red light district in order to curb public urination. The district put up warning signs on some of the coated walls saying “we pee back”. A railway station in Cologne followed the example by coating a particular trouble area in the car park. In San Francisco, where public urination is a problem so bad it degrades and fells lampposts, the Department of Public Works coated walls all across the city in Ultra Ever Dry. In Philadelphia, the transit authority coated subway lifts, and in the UK and Australia several city councils are considering anti urine paint to discourage public urination and eliminate the nuisance caused by it. In short, anti pee paint is a product that can protect residents’ doorways, but also stairways, walls, carparks, and any other substrate that suffers from this noxious problem.

Anti pee paint relies on nanotechnology

The strength of urine repellent paint is that it protects a substrate on the nanoscopic scale. These coatings, known as nano coatings, do not just form a layer over a substrate, but rather the individual particles actually form bonds with it. This creates a layer that clings firmly to the substrate on the one side, and provides a specific protective function on its surface. In the case of anti urine paint, this function is hydrophobicity or oleophobicity.

A hydrophobic substance “fears water”, and an oleophobic substance “fears oil”; what this means is that it repels water or oil. Anti urine paint is actually superhydrophobic; it has the strongest degree of repulsion possible in a coating. Its surface is covered in pointy nanoscopic geography which only allows liquid to touch a tiny percentage of it, ultimately repelling the liquid. Anyone trying have a sneaky leak against a surface treated with anti pee paint will find themselves quickly regretting it when their shoes and trousers get covered in urine.

Anti urine paint provides excellent protection on any surface

One of the great advantages of anti urine paint is its versatility: almost any substrate can be coated with anti pee paint, including steel, brick, concrete, metals, masonry, plastic, wood, fabric, and more. Factors which may affect your anti pee paint choice:

• Surface preparation is paramount: The substrate must be cleaned of all oil, grease, dust, dirt, and other foreign material for the coating to adhere properly. It can also be applied to smooth surfaces, though preparing the substrate by sanding it with 320-800 grit sandpaper will improve adhesion.
• Be aware that they do not dry clear. They will dry to a translucent white, like a slight milky look.
• It can only withstand moderate abrasion: Because the superhydrophobic properties of anti pee paint are based on the surface structure of the coating, abrasion can cause a reduction in performance.
• Longevity: Anti pee paint needs to be reapplied on a yearly basis, perhaps more often if it is in direct sunlight. UV radiation will cause it to deteriorate faster. However, if you buy a system with a bottom and top coat, you need only re-apply the top coat.

As well as being superhydrophobic, anti urine paint will provide other benefits for your substrate, including corrosion prevention, anti icing, improving the functionality and lifespan of a substrate, and making it self-cleaning. It can even be used for anti graffiti purposes.

Where to buy anti urine paint Qatar

Superhydrophobic urine repellent paint is new to the Qatari market, and availability is therefore still limited. The application process requires equipment and skills, and it is recommended that only trained contractors apply anti urine coating. For more information about purchasing anti pee paint for your business, or to be connected with one of our coating partners to complete your project, contact us! Our experts are here to help, just use our free quote service by clicking the “Request a quote” button at the bottom of this article.