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Last week I painted some fire lane on concrete, it looked so good when I finished, but now it looks so dirty.  I have been in other lots that do not look so grungy.  Is it the paint?

Hey Stripe Guy…it might be.
I find certain paints have more of a tendency to “pick up” dirt from the car tires…and let it embed into the paint.
...that said…it just may be un-fair to you. Here’s why…some lots are terribly dirty…making it all worse.
Next…there’s a picture on my Facebook Page = “Dan Zurcher”...showing one paint was used for the “curved line” and another paint was used for the “hashed out” lines…inside the curved line. You can certainly tell the difference. AND…this was at a McDonald’s = busy…busy…lots of traffic.
SO…I’ll bet it was the paint…but don’t be hard on yourself. We all battle it.
Does that help?
Dan

There are a lot of factors that can make paint on parking lots look grungy.  We have had projects where the white, yellow and red fire line grunge out.  Air dust is a big violator because it will stick to newly sealed lots and then picked up by tires and tracked over stripes making them loose their luster.  If you have a client that is questioning the dull or grungy stripes, take a bottle of water, wet a spot on the stripe and gently scrub it with a brillow pad.  Once you have done a few passes, rinse with the water in the bottle and the cleaned area will be bright again.  This will show how grunge will build up on stripes.  There is always a very thin petroleum slick on the surface after sealing, slurry sealing and paving.  This thin slick attracts air dust which will be tracked on the stripes making white stripes turn gray and yellow and red stripes dull out and look grungy

Tom McDonald
PMIS, Inc.