Public restrooms usually fall victim to vandals. In these restrooms, it’s the toilet partitions that take most of the beating. This article discusses the different forms of damage done to toilet partitions and how to deal with them.

If you’ve ever been to a public restroom, you have most likely seen some sort of vandalism done inside. You’d also find that the toilet partitions Los Angeles in these public restrooms usually take the brunt of these vandals’ antics. 

If you’re to tackle the restoration of these vandalized public restrooms, it’s imperative to know and understand the different types of damage you have to deal with and how to effectively deal with them.

The Common Forms of Vandalism on Toilet Partitions Los Angeles

Public restroom vandalism is so commonplace that the prevention of such plays a big factor in the construction and design of these facilities. 

Some of the most common forms of public restroom vandalism include graffiti done on the restroom walls, mirrors, and the toilet partitions, the tampering and destruction of soap and paper towel dispensers, and the tampering and destruction of other restroom accessories like hand dryers and vending machines.

Toilet partitions are especially easy to vandalize. Their purpose is to provide restroom users privacy. Unfortunately, this also gives users the opportunity to vandalize secretly, without getting caught. 

The following are the most common vandalisms done to toilet partitions in public restrooms:

Graffiti

Among these forms of vandalism, graffiti takes the cake as the most common one. This can be done by practically anyone with a marker – from professional street artists to random school girls who want to publicly yet secretly profess their love for their crushes in writing.

Restroom graffiti can be done in spray paint, permanent markers, and pen ink. And depending on the material that the toilet partitions are made from, they can be a pain to remove.

Drilling/Carving/Scratching

While graffiti only affects the surface of a restroom’s toilet partitions, drilling, carving, or scratching the partitions is a type of vandalism that affects the partition material itself. Vandals achieve this with the use of sharp objects. They use them to scrape away at the partition material to write words, create patterns, or just do random scratches out of boredom. In the most extreme of cases, vandals even drill holes into the partitions.

Beating

Sometimes, public restroom fixtures literally take beatings from people. Some people take their anger and frustrations out on toilet partitions. To partitions made from light materials, these beatings can leave marks and dents. Door hinges and other stall hardware can come loose from these beatings as well. 

The Restoration of Damaged Toilet Partitions

Dealing with damaged toilet partitions involves doing three things: cleaning, repairing, and replacing them. The action to be taken would depend on the damage done to the partition and the material it’s made of.

Cleaning

Depending on what your toilet partition is made of and on the type of cleaning materials and supplies used, it is possible for graffiti to be cleaned off your toilet partitions.

• Powder-Coated Steel

Graffiti can be removed from this material using a specialized graffiti remover. The catch is that most commercial graffiti cleaners aren’t compatible for powder-coated steel – these chemicals may not work. Worst case scenario is that these chemicals can actually do additional damage on the partitions.

• Phenolic

Any commercial, dedicated graffiti cleaner can remove even the most stubborn graffiti markings on this material. An anti-graffiti coating can also be applied to toilet partitions of this material to prevent further vandalism.

• Plastic Laminate

Unfortunately, getting graffiti off this material would be a challenge. Abrasive cleaning agents can do permanent damage and discoloration on your toilet partitions. 

Because this material is porous, it’s not even recommended to get these partitions wet at all – not with cleaning agents, and not even with water! They may absorb too much liquid and lose their lamination.

• Solid Plastic

Your best bet for removing graffiti from solid plastic toilet partitions would be a light, penetrating oil. Harsh cleaners can damage the material. Paint thinners, in particular, can do a lot of damage as they can soften and deform the plastic.

• Stainless Steel

As with phenolic toilet partitions, removing graffiti from stainless steel partitions can be as easy as using a commercial graffiti cleaner.

When removing graffiti from stainless steel, it’s not recommended to use steel wool or any other harsh scrubbing pad. These cleaning materials can disturb the smooth finish of the partition and create visible scratches on the surface.

Repairing

Scratches are unsightly on toilet partitions Los Angeles. Fortunately, scratches don’t necessarily equate to replacements. Depending on the toilet partition material, they can be repaired in a few simple steps.

• Phenolic and Plastic Laminate

While phenolic is a stronger material than plastic laminate, these materials are both resistant to scratches. When scratches do appear, the way they are dealt with are the same for these two materials.

Light scratches can mostly be removed with a coat of wax. Deeper scratches can be hidden with a filling of hard wax or liquid fillers.

• Solid Plastic

Because solid plastic is a softer material compared to phenolic and plastic laminate, it scratches easier. Fortunately, though, these scratches won’t be visible for the most part as solid plastic is the same color on the surface as it is throughout its entirety.

Should you still decide to repair your partition, you can blend them with the use of a blow dryer or heat gun, being careful not to actually melt the plastic.

• Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is a formidable toilet partition material. Against scratches, however, it isn’t really the best.

The most effective way to get rid of scratches on this material is with the use of a stainless steel scratch removal kit. 

Replacing

When there is considerable damage done to your toilet partitions, replacing them may be the better (and even cheaper) option for you. 

To prevent further damage, you may want to consider upgrading your partitions to phenolic as this material is the easiest to clean and repair.