CIWM - Goodbye to Gum

"The work was completed in November [2007] and the results speak for themselves. Chewing gum continues to rain down onto the pavement, but now it can be managed through fairly low-level, routine operations. Coventry Street was a recovery operation but, in future, treatment of new installations prior to their opening will protect the City Council’s investment at minimal expense."

"Pieces that did catch on the slabs could mostly be scuffed off or, if left for a few days,started to break up and disintegrate. Significantly in all cases there was no tell-tale oily footprint left behind(proof that the treated surface was resistant to oil, preventing the gum from sticking)."

This is a case study and the reported effectiveness of products mentioned within it
are taken from the reports of Westminster City Council with no independent testing by CIWM.

Magic Cote Solves a Sticky Problem

Magic Cote and Magic Cote Cleaning have managed to solve a sticky problem for Westminster Abbey. The Abbey was unfortunately being plagued by the unsightly mess of chewing gum, creating little black spots all over the 1100 year old ancient stone flooring.

With little success they had tried to remove the gum, but couldn't find a method could remove the chewing gum without damaging the surface beneath - part of the cathedrals appeal is the ancient and original look of the ancient stones. Magic Cote was approached by Westminster City Council because of the large amount of work we have done helping restore and protect street surfaces from chewing gum and staining.

Magic Cote and Magic Cote Cleaning used a very sensitive process of ice cleaning or ice blasting. The frozen Carbon Dioxide hits the chewing gum at high speed, freezing and striking the chewing gum until it has broken down completely. Magic Cote and Magic Cote Cleaning were so successful because it the process is able to work so finely to the millimeter, that you could strip one layer of paint without damaging another layer of paint beneath.

With no disruptive waste product being created Magic Cote and Magic Cote Cleaning could move through the abbey with little disruption, leaving the abbey capable of keeping it open to the public.

Article: Yorkshire Post

Councils using Magic Cote.

One million pound boost for Roman:

"Last month 7780 metres square of york stone paving was cleaned and covered in a protective solution - Magic Cote. The solution, which repels gum and other stains from the streets, has already been applied to Brick Lane's pavements, making a noticeable difference and helping to reduce the cost of removing troublesome chewing gum."

Tooley Street cleaning blitz:

"Team London Bridge have contracted Community Clean to deep clean the pavement and street furniture on the south side of Duke Hill and Tooley Street from Borough High Street to Weston Street.

This intensive cleaning regime will also implement a pavement protection coating called Magic Cote that will deter staining and chewing gum."

Improvements for Praed Street:

"This new paving will be treated with Magic Cote, a proven product that enables grease and chewing gum to be more easily removed."

Goodbye to Gum:

"Other ways Redbridge is tackling the issues of dropped gum are by using specialist methods to coat pavements by applying a surface protection. Pavements coated with the product called 'Magic Cote' makes gum easier to remove.

'Magic Cote' is keeping Gants Hill and Wanstead High Street pavements free from gum. These areas were chosen to trial the surface protection product and it's hoped further shopping areas in the borough will be treated in the near future."

Magic Cote Cleaning UK: Riding Through the Recession with Great Success.

Magic Cote Cleaning UK: Riding Through the Recession with Great Success.

Our Northern contractor and approved Magic Cote applicator was also busy through 2009 with a varying range of applications and restorations, ranging from house cleaning to street cleaning. Magic Cote Cleaning has a whole host of specialist equipment and experience with steam cleaning and chemicals. Along with Magic Cote they have recently introduced the MagicFreeze sensitive cleaning process, a dry ice kinetic cleaning method that can remove even the finest of layers without damaging the surface beneath.

Magic Cote Cleaning kicked off the year with a massive restoration and protection project in Blackpool Town Centre, totalling a whopping 12,000m2. The removal of chewing gum, stains and carbon particulates was so successful with the combination of StreetClean and pressure washing that the council noted the blocks looked cleaner than the day they were placed. With the council pleased with the restoration and the ongoing protection they asked Magic Cote and Magic Cote cleaning to restore and protect another area of Blackpool, the Town Hall entrance and pavements. With StreetProtect working well for Blackpool the council discussed with us a possible solution to a big problem.

Old Eldon Square is considered to be the “Jewel in the heart of the city centre” by Newcastle City Council and the new redevelopment will be the only green space in the city centre. Due to its high popularity, cultural importance as a site of remembrance and the new £170 million redeveloped Eldon Square shopping centre it receives high levels of traffic and therefore possible high levels of pollution. To protect the newly developed streets Magic Cote supplied Newcastle City Council with preparation and protection products to remove any unwanted cement dust and protect the streets from staining, while making the surface easier to cleanse of carbon particulates, chewing gum and algae. The contractors in charge of the major projects employed Magic Cote Cleaning UK to carry out the cleaning and protection works on all the separate stages after development.

Our portfolio of products also extends to structure cleaning, with Magic Cote Cleaning using them on houses and a McDonald’s roof. The buildings had moss, algae, carbon particulates and general grime removed to make the roofing material and bricks look brand new. They were then protected with a specialist solution that would slow the rate of growth and allow rainfall to cleanse the surface. It would also mean that when the surface is next cleaned it would require far less pressure and water – reducing costs and the damage to the environment.

Community Clean: Riding Through the Recession with Great Success.

Community Clean: Riding Through the Recession with Great Success.

Community clean “Established in 1995…has over 14 years experience in providing specialist cleaning and graffiti removal solutions for both the private and public sectors” and are Magic Cote’s approved Southern contractors, specially trained to use Magic Cote products. They were very busy in 2009 applying Magic Cote StreetProtect to areas such as the London Bridge BID, where they also provided “graffiti removal, chewing gum removal, pavement washing and general grime cleaning.

Tower Hamlets is another example of the popularity of Magic Cote above other sealants and coatings, and the excellent reputation and work of Community Clean. In 2009 Community Clean were asked to deep clean the streets of Brick Lane and Osborne Street in Tower Hamlets with Magic Cote StreetClean and protect the surfaces with Magic Cote StreetProtect (formerly Magic Cote Surface Protection MCI). The large area, spanning 7300m2, was in dire need of a deep clean to remove chewing gum, carbon particulates and stains – which in future would be prevented or made easier to remove by the application StreetProtect.

Community Cleans success in Tower Hamlets has granted them another contract of a similar size, to remove chewing gum and dirt, and then protect with Magic Cote StreetProtect.

Hampton Court Bridge is another restoration and protection project complete by Community Clean in 2009. It required all of their specialist skills because it was a difficult job to complete, with many obstacles. “The project was finished on time and to a very high standard. The feedback from the client, Surrey County Council, English Heritage and members of the public has been out-standing. The results have been so impressive that it has led to additional work on the adjoining walls and steps, including work on the original bridge wall that was constructed in 1864.”

Magic Cote’s and Community Clean's success with Magic Cote products is above and beyond much of its competition in the decorative stone protection market. Magic Cote and Community Clean are gaining positive feed back from all applications, gaining repeat customers and strong partnerships with councils. You would be hard pressed to find another sealant and coatings company who could boast the same kind of results and case studies as Magic Cote.

Brick Lane and Osborne Street Case Study:

Community Clean has wide ranging experience working in both the public and private sectors tackling nuisance issues, regeneration projects, high access challenges and environmental enhancement. Services have been supplied to local and central government, embassies, the prison service, medical institutions, major construction companies, civil engineering contractors, transport operators, housing associations, and the private sector.

We were employed by Veolia Environmental Services as a specialist cleaning and coatings service provider. The challenge in Tower Hamlets was to remove all the chewing gum from the pavement, deep clean the pavement using Magic Cote Surface Prep to remove all the staining and to enhance the appearance of the pavers. Once clean the specialist protection solution ‘Magic Cote’ was applied, which repels gum and other stains from the streets, as well as algae and grime from monuments. The area along Brick Lane and Osborne Street in Tower Hamlets spanned over 7300m2 of pavement.

Magic Cote was used because it is designed to be a more efficient and longer-term solution to pavement and monument protection than previous methods. It not only helps prevent marks, but also makes future cleansing cheaper and easier. Once the coating was applied the area was open to the public within 10 minutes making it less vulnerable to weather changes and minimising disruption to the public. Community Clean are the UK Southern area approved distributor and applicator of Magic Cote and support the 5 year manufacturer guarantee when the product is applied by us. We offered Veolia various team/equipment/shift variations to minimise disruption and we monitored the service throughout to ensure the best possible results were achieved.

The results have illustrated how the cost effectiveness of restoration and protection for an area of this size is considerable. Once a surface is treated it will repel all water and oil based staining such as chewing gum, tea, coffee, blood and cooking fats to name just a few. In fact, a treated area will wash away most surface contaminants during heavy rainfall, making it almost self cleaning!

Veolia were very pleased with the results and continue to reap the rewards of this long term investment.

Magic Cote - A better alternative to your average sealants and coatings

Councils are having to spend a great deal of money removing chewing gum from our streets, and to be honest it is money that could be spent elsewhere. According to information posted by Community Clean £150million is the annual cost to local authorities to remove chewing gum from our streets. Westminster, a user of Magic Cote products, was in 2007 spending £9million for a comprehensive gum clean up.

Many things have been tried to reduce the amount of people dropping chewing gum litter. Litter campaigns, on the spot fines, chewing gum bins or boards; people have even campaigned for a chewing gum tax, some taking it even further suggesting it should be banned completely. Each of these have been trialled and tested with varied success across the country - none of them should be ruled out, especially education. People always say prevention is better than the cure, but what if prevention just isn't working on its own? Falling short of taking away a countries free will to choose to chew gum at some point you are going to have to consider adding a remedy to dropped gum. So far some council’s have opted for sealants and coatings to stop gum sticking to the surface of the decorative stone streets. These often contain very simply resins, waxes and acrylics that don't come with simple applications and can do long term damage by preventing the stone from breathing according to EnCams. Councils will often choose to apply a sealant or coating because they are not on the expensive side and will do what they offer - for how long at to what affect is always the question you should ask of some sealants and coatings on the market. We are not saying that coatings and sealents are the worst thing in the world - we and many of our customers just feel that Magic Cote products are a better choice.

Magic Cote can offer you something a bit different; we don't call it a sealant nor a coating. Our Surface Protection (StreetProtect) forms a semi-permeable membrane, which allows the stone to exhale but not inhale liquids. This means it prevents stains from forming but doesn't cause the stone to erode from within like a sealed surface would. Our protection will protect against oils, fats and greases while making both chewing gum and carbon particulates easier to remove. Any gum that is dropped on a protected surface cannot anchor deeply so will stick for a short time before drying up and will either turn solid and flick off or turn to dust. Magic Cote has gone one step further and created a product that reduces the complicated applications of your average sealer and coating. Our Surface Protection won't require you to timetable with the elements before, during or after application - it can be applied in the rain. It requires only one application and is instant, there is no curing time so can be accessed immediately. By increasing when it can be used and reducing the time you keep people off it significantly reduces those extra hidden costs that come with shutting off areas and forward planning these cleaning and protecting operations.

If you are want to talk about sealants, coatings and our protection products then why not call us on 01246 290001 or email us at info@magiccote.co.uk.