Need help with turf painting?
If you’re installing turf for a sports facility, you may need to apply paint to accommodate the necessary game markers on the field.
To help make this simple, we put together a quick guide to artificial turf painting.
Let’s take a look!
Turf Painting with Removable Chalk or Permanent Paint
The first point to take into account is that you can’t just use normal, everyday paint to mark lines on your artificial grass. This type of paint won’t stick properly to your grass, which leaves you the option of using specialist products.
At this point, you will see that there are different types of product that you can choose from. Your first choice is between removable products and the more permanent type of line marker.
This should be an easy enough decision to make. After all, you probably know at the beginning whether you are going to be leaving these lines here a long time, or whether it is just a one-off game or sports event that you are planning and want them there for.
Measure Out and Mark the Lines
Even if you have done this sort of thing before, you won’t want to just dive straight in and mark the lines using your paint or chalk. This sort of approach is almost certain to end in mistakes, so you will want to measure out and mark the lines first.
You could temporarily mark the lines using temporary line chalk that washes off with soap and water, or you could use masking tape or something similar. However you do it, this is the part where you need to take your time and get it just right.
This is a stage that you will want to carry out carefully and revise before you proceed any further. If you get it right now, then it is going to be a lot easier to finish the job well.
Consider the Use of Machinery
There are quite a few different types of line marking machinery that will help you to get perfectly straight, professionally painted line markings.
The right kind of machinery can let you paint perfect lines anytime and anywhere with no hassle. It will also make the job a whole lot quicker to carry out too. You could go for a simple, classic line marker wheel or else opt for a more complex piece of machinery for bigger and more complicated jobs.
On the other hand, if you are just marking out lines for some fun games at home, then you might not think that buying machinery is worth the time and effort.
Get the Right Colours
You might not realize that line marking paint and chalk comes in a wide variety of colors. While white is the classic color for most sports fields, you can also choose from a range of other colors too.
If you are marking the lines for a professional sports event, you will probably have regulation colors that you need to stick to. If it is just for fun, then you can let your imagination run wild and choose the colors that look more interesting to you.
Not everyone is aware that you can also paint on logos, messages and sponsor details in the same way. This is an enjoyable task that can let you experiment with.
Paint the Lines Slowly
If you have followed the previous steps and are using line marking machinery, then it should be possible for you to finish this job quickly. Certainly, if you watch an experienced line marker, you will see that they can fairly whizz up and down the field in no time.
However, if you aren’t yet an expert, you will want to take it nice and slowly. Also, if you are using a piece of line marking machinery, then you should read the instructions carefully to make sure that you use it in the right way.
Generally, you will want to walk along the lines at a steady pace, as this gives an even distribution of the paint. You might also want to take a break every now and then, to revise what you have done so far.
Touch Up the Lines as Needed
Once you have painted the lines on the field, it should look fantastic. The best modern line paints also last well, even when the weather is bad or the field gets a lot of use.
However, you might find that the lines get faded over time before you want to use them again. In this case, you will want to just give them a re-touch to get them looking fantastic.
This should be easier to do than initially marking them was, provided that you get to work before they all completely disappear. It shouldn’t be too difficult to go over the lines again and make the faded parts stand out, as you won’t have to measure and mark them out like you did the first time.
Removing the Lines
So, what about when you eventually need to remove the lines that you have painted for some reason? Some of the products currently available can be very simply washed off with soap and water, for example. In other cases, you might need to get a special paint remover.
If you need to get rid of the lines quickly and without any fuss, then you could consider using green paint and just painting over them. In this case, the most difficult part is going to be in finding the perfect shade of green to match your artificial grass.