Urine Repellent Paint | Anti Urine Coating
Urine repellent paint: say goodbye to that horrible smell on property and walls
Anyone walking through a modern city has smelt it; passing a dark alley or secluded doorway and suddenly there is the waft of stale urine. Public urination is a problem for city managers everywhere despite it being illegal in every US state, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent cleaning urine from walls and pavement. Nasty smells and stains linger on our streets, especially in areas with a vibrant nightlife and patrons too drunk or too lazy to use a restroom. The problem can be on residents’ very doorsteps. But now cities the world over are investing in a coatings-based solution: urine repellent paint.
Hamburg, Germany started the pee proof paint trend, coating the walls of the red light district and putting up signs saying “we pee back”. Rather than wake up to a city that smells like a sewer (particularly in the heat of summer), American cities are applying the same idea to their anti-urination efforts. San Francisco was the first, but now other cities such as Philadelphia are following suit. Anti pee paint not only protects the substrate, it also splashes urine right back at its source. It’s pee back time.
If your property, business or service is being damaged because of public urination, this article details how urine repelling paint works and how to use it to protect your property.
Nanotechnology makes urine repellent paint ‘pee back’
Urine repellent coating repels both water and oils.
A substrate is protected from urine on a 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 adheres firmly to the substrate on the one side, and provides a specific protective function on its surface. In the case of pee repellent paint, this function is hydrophobicity or oleophobicity.
Hydrophobic refers to “fearing water”, and oleophobic substances “fear oil”; this entails that it repels water or oil. Anti pee paint is, in fact, 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 urine repellent paint will find themselves quickly regretting it when their shoes and trousers get covered in urine.
Buy anti pee paint in the US
You can buy a quart of superhydrophobic paint online. The application process, however, requires equipment and skills, and it is recommended that trained contractors apply urine resistant paint.
Rust-Oleum Never Wet Multi Purpose Kit
- Frosted Clear
Rust-Oleum Never Wet Multi Purpose Kit
- Silver Gray
Rust-Oleum Never Wet Multi Purpose Kit
- Bright White
Rust-Oleum NeverWet 6-Can Bulk Spray Kit
- Frosted Clear
Ultra Ever Dry Top and Bottom Coating
- For industrial use
Apply anti urine paint to steel, brick and many more surfaces
One of the great positives of urine repellent paint is the versatility of the coating: Almost any substrate can be coated with anti urine paint including steel, brick, concrete, metals, masonry, plastic, wood, fabric, and more.
Top 4 factors to consider in choosing anti pee paint:
- 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.
- 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: Urine repellent 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.
- Be aware that they do not dry clear. They will dry to a translucent white, like a slight milky haze.
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 protection.
Taking pee-proofing around the world: A look at other anti pee paint projects
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 to eliminate public urination. The district put up signs on some of the coated walls saying “we pee back”. A railway station in Cologne followed closely behind, coating a trouble area’s car park with the revolutionary paint. In the UK, Hackney Council coated their walls in Shoreditch and Dalston with urine repelling paint in a last-ditch attempt to protect them from “lads” out and about on the town. Public urination costs Hackey Council approximately $150,000 a year in cleaning costs.
In San Francisco, the Department of Public Works coated walls across the city in Ultra Ever Dry, a super-hydrophobic coating. The San Francisco Public Works Director has described the project as “95% successful”. And it isn’t just humans causing the problem, our dog and cat friends are equally guilty – a lamppost in San Francisco was so corroded from urine that it fell into the street, narrowly missing a driver. In Philadelphia, the transit authority coated subway lifts with pee repellent paint. In short, this is a product that can protect residents’ doorways, but also stairways, walls, carparks, and any other substrate that suffers from this noxious problem.
Pee proof paint manufacturers and suppliers
With the success in San Francisco, many American cities and consumers are turning to anti pee paint. There are several companies operating in the US who produce urine repellent paint, including Ultra Ever Dry, the paint used in San Francisco. It is easy to apply, and like all coatings you must first properly prepare the substrate for the best application.
| Urine repellent coating Manufacturer | Brand/Trademark/Product |
|---|---|
| UltraTech International, Inc. | Ultra-Ever Dry |
| Rust-Oleum Corp. | NeverWet |
| Seashell Technology, LLC | Hydrobead |
| BASF Corporation | MasterProtect C 350 |
For more information about purchasing urine repellent 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 100% free quote service by clicking the “Request a quote” button at the bottom of this article.
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