Cleaning String Line

I got a reel of 1/4" Nylon String line that I use to line up long runs. After about 3-4 months the line is just caked with layers of paint. I figured out a way to remove most of the paint from the 1000 foot string line. I unrooled all the string line and and kept folding it in halves till i had approximately 20-30" foot long string line entwined. ( Iwill Post PIC) then I wrapped it around my tree and kept twisting the sucker till the majority of the paint just chipped off by the entwining..

Here is another pic of what I mean . You can actually see the paint just coming off. Hope this helps out someone in cleaning their string line. So far its worked for me.

Hey Laredo! Just wondering what is causing so much the paint to get on the string. If we paint close enough to get paint on the string we get a string stencil.

Try using baler twine. It comes in rolls of 2000 feet and is about $12 a roll. I reuse until becomes caked. This only happens when I am striping sports fields. For I follow the string on parking lots so I do not get a non paint line in the stripe. You can also use it for roping off your work areas.

Hey Stripes, what's a string stencil? I get much paint on the line i guess cause I use the string line for just about all my work. I really dont like chalk lines, maybe cause i have a 3 man crew and we can get the job done really with a string line. We tried the chalk line once years ago and I personally fel that laying out a lot then just have your guys hold the string line beats having to layout the lot then chalklining it. Maybe i just need to figure out how to use a faster method and use it more efficiently.

Laredo, the string "stencil" is the blank line left by the string on the pavement as you are striping if you spray too close or on part of the string. BTW if you have 3 guys on a crew to speed things up, we measure, square out, put out our 18ft lines with string line (starting point) and then let the 2 guys go ahead of the striper chalk lining. If your guys are holding the string as you stripe you are losing valuable time. Domingo

Laredo, in my humble opinion (IMHO), if you have a 3 man crew then you have at least 1 and possibly 2 people too many on your jobs.

RandyV wrote on Feb 21, 2007:Go to #7

Laredo, in my humble opinion (IMHO), if you have a 3 man crew then you have at least 1 and possibly 2 people too many on your jobs.

That depends on your situation I think. For us, a third person reduced the time on a job by about 50%. Now we can easily do multiple jobs a day. That means more money. It is most helpfull when there are other things to do besides just layout and striping, like Fire Lane and/or Stenciling, which is most jobs.

Its quite normal for that to happen to string line if you have a look at your front wheels on your machine you'll see that they are caked in a paint dust from the gun. Obviously with a string line you are spraying next to it and not on it, over time the you will get paint dust sticking to the line. When we use sting line we buy the normal builders string line for double spaces for single we use the protractor quickest thing since Jessy James ! I will put three or four on a job that is big enough to warrent it. like dock yards and multilevel shopping malls, large factories. Instead of the job taking one man 4 days with four trips there and back it would take one day to get the job complete and invoiced, we will get through between $9,000 or $10,000 worth in a day remarking if its just lanes and lanes of painting. I always look at the cost, size and difficulty of a job before I send more than 1 person.

Why wouldn't you just buy some more string line? Is it really that expensive? The last thing I want to spend my time doing, is cleaning paint off a string!.... As far as number of workers on a job, I'm with Wend. I think there are too many factors, from one job to the next to make an accurate comment on what is right or wrong. Of course if I have a job with nothing but striping and I have one machine. It wouldn't make sense to take three guys. Then again, I may have a job with loads of striping, a dozen H/C's, arrows, light piers, bollards,wheel stops and a couple miles of fire lane. With 4-5 machines with dedicated colors or multiple yellows or whites, it makes a whole lot of sense, to have several guys. When we're stenciling fire lanes rotating 6+ stencils, two guys can't even keep up with me on a driver. The best example I can think of is a 24 hour fast food joint that took 4-5 hours alone, took about half the time with two guys. Better yet, with three took less than 90 minutes. The real question is how fast does the job need to be done. All in all, that is what determines how many workers you should take to a project. If you're not really busy, there is no problem taking two or three days to complete a project. Deadlines, it's all about deadlines. Super needs a CO in two days....lot needs to be pressure washed before striping. Cleaning with one guy takes 22 hours...two guys takes 11, and so on. Then you've gotta stripe it. I've done it alone. But I really don't like sleeping in my truck on the jobsite.

Why wouldn't you just buy some more string line? Is it really that expensive? The last thing I want to spend my time doing, is cleaning paint off a string!.... As far as number of workers on a job, I'm with Wend. I think there are too many factors, from one job to the next to make an accurate comment on what is right or wrong. Of course if I have a job with nothing but striping and I have one machine. It wouldn't make sense to take three guys. Then again, I may have a job with loads of striping, a dozen H/C's, arrows, light piers, bollards,wheel stops and a couple miles of fire lane. With 4-5 machines with dedicated colors or multiple yellows or whites, it makes a whole lot of sense, to have several guys. When we're stenciling fire lanes rotating 6+ stencils, two guys can't even keep up with me on a driver. The best example I can think of is a 24 hour fast food joint that took 4-5 hours alone, took about half the time with two guys. Better yet, with three took less than 90 minutes. The real question is how fast does the job need to be done. All in all, that is what determines how many workers you should take to a project. If you're not really busy, there is no problem taking two or three days to complete a project. Deadlines, it's all about deadlines. Super needs a CO in two days....lot needs to be pressure washed before striping. Cleaning with one guy takes 22 hours...two guys takes 11, and so on. Then you've gotta stripe it. I've done it alone. But I really don't like sleeping in my truck on the jobsite.

Ditto. I feel the same way about the time. Not only that, there is something about safety in numbers. There are some parking lots/malls/shopping centers, that it is not safe to work alone. 4 eyes can see more than 2. Not only that the time savings in getting jobs done can't be beat. I'd rather do 2-5 jobs on a given day vs. 1 or 2. It just allows for more opportunity. It's a pain in the a$$ to be laying out a job on your own, moving bigfoots, tapes, etc. I guess it's just what makes you more comfortable. Just my 2 pesos.

Ditto. I feel the same way about the time. Not only that, there is something about safety in numbers. There are some parking lots/malls/shopping centers, that it is not safe to work alone. 4 eyes can see more than 2. Not only that the time savings in getting jobs done can't be beat. I'd rather do 2-5 jobs on a given day vs. 1 or 2. It just allows for more opportunity. It's a pain in the a$$ to be laying out a job on your own, moving bigfoots, tapes, etc. I guess it's just what makes you more comfortable. Just my 2 pesos.

The Main reason I take 2 other guys with me is to hold the string line on lines that were previously striped but were crooked. when we are striping across a big parking area that has 5 or even 6 isles, we definetly work alot faster throwing the string line across the parking area to straighten up the existing line work. this method is best for me. The stringline after some months gets caked with overspray. instead of buying another string roll i rather just clean my string line while drinking a bud and cookin tripas. I am not saying that having three guys on a parking lot is the best thing for everyone but it works great for me in situations like the one I explained. I bet it is easier doing it with a LL but i Dont have one yet. I am comftorable for now just walking and pushing. It has worked for me so far.

Once you get a LL you can fire two of the three.

I LazyLiner and a couple BigFoots! I think cleaning that stringline is ridiculous, if you have more time than money, OK, but even high priced string is cheap. And I agree with Randy...

I use flourescent green weed eater string on long line ups, the paint flakes off much like the LDPE that stencils are made of. You can also tie knots anywhere you want ( for anchor points) and then untie easily. and it hardly ever tangles to the point of frustration.