APE APE April 2020 | Page 38

EXPERT ADVICE after company had left and the dishes were done. I striped the crosswalks and stop bars at a well-known big box store. I remember seeing people standing in line waiting to get into that store. It was early morning and had officially crossed over into Black Friday. I’m sure they thought I was nuts. I remember spraying the first crosswalk in halves. That was unneces- sary, even during cool weather. I striped the others and blocked the entire lane. The traffic was obviously light, but, again, acetone dries rocket-sled fast and I had no tracking issues. I love the paint. It extends my season at both ends. It’ll extend yours, too. Come Clean With Xylene Another thing to know about using ac- etone is that the cleaning agent is xylene. In my town, xylene costs as much as the paint and you can’t simply dispose of it. But these issues have easy fixes. To mitigate repetitive costs and disposal issues, I don’t clean my machine. Many stripers don’t. The first time I chose not to clean my machine was on a 400-car restripe. Half the job was slated for Mon- day, the other half for Tuesday. Monday night, after the job, I didn’t sleep well. But, Tuesday morning, I pulled the trig- ger and all was well. Here’s some added advice, do not travel with 4 gallons in an open paint bucket. It’ll splash. I only trav- el with a few inches of paint in the open bucket. There are a few tricks to delay skinning over, but I rarely employ those. I do, how- ever, have a strict rule when it comes to changing from latex to acetone (or the other way around): Never let water touch acetone, and never let xylene touch latex. Here’s the routine: Flush out the latex us- ing water. Then push out the water using xylene, before installing acetone. When the opposite is needed, start by pushing out the acetone using xylene. Then push out the xylene using water, before install- ing latex. One time I pushed out water with acetone paint. Silly string came from my gun for the longest five seconds of my life before the acetone showed up. As a rule, I only let the cleaning agents touch each other. Bottom line: Acetone based traffic marking paint is my go-to cool and cold weather paint. Yes, the paint may turn a slight green color under very few, select circumstances, and it does cost a little bit more overall. But, with ace- tone’s lightning fast drying rate and its lack of tracking issues - it extends my season and adds to my bottom line - I’ll take those trades. American Striping Company • The all time best, small business start up, ever. • 6K to start. No shop. No inventory. • Part-Time or Full-Time. • Buy Our Book. Contact Me Today! (614) 237-8884 [email protected] We also provide striping supplies & manufacture stencils! » Striping Supplies » Striping Stencils www.americanstriping.com For More Information On This Advertiser Please Visit www.CallAPE.com/e-inquiry www.callape.com For More Information On This Advertiser Please Visit www.CallAPE.com/e-inquiry [38] 1.800.210.5923