Originally published at: Powerwashed sidewalk stenciling | Boing Boing
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Someone get Banksy a power washer.
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The idea reminds me of malicious compliance.
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It sure did give me ideas about the next time my HOA says I need to power wash my walk, stoop or siding! 
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My neighbor does this using his doily-frilly doormat on the sidewalk. It looks cool.
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As I mentioned in the last power washer article, I’ve actually been trained on/used those things, and “partially cleaning” is not exactly what’s going on there - they’re literally etching away the surface of the sidewalk and carving that logo into it. There’s a concrete block with my initials through it sitting in the back lot of the post-fire cleaning place I worked for (along with the initials of everyone else they’ve trained) that demonstrates this.
Admittedly, the guy in the video is using a pretty low strength power washer, since that floppy stencil would have been utterly destroyed with the one I was using, but the principle remains - long after the dirt and grit have re-established themselves on that sidewalk, you’ll still be able to spot a faint outline of the logo that was carved into it.
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Great idea! I now want a giant stencil for the concrete paving slabs on my drive, that says “Go Away”.**
** Actual words may differ, but convey similar meaning. 
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When I was little, I used to try to write my name in the snow with my pee, also.
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“there is probably no law against partially cleaning something”
Someone please explain this to the owner of the Tesla on which I wrote “Eat the rich” with my finger on his dirty window.
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Grinchy! 2% classy since it’s so detail-conscious! State House Sidewalk Props here we come!
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The idea reminds me of malicious compliance.
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Extra likes for quoting The Good Soldier Švejk by proxy. I gave my mum a copy of that may years ago. A good book.
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Could be a different technique, he has to repeatedly go over the same location multiple times, and it looks to be a pretty wide stream. A few degrees of angle makes a pretty big difference in the force of output (as does distance), and you already noted how flimsy that stencil appears…
Now, this isn’t my field, so I will concede I may not be aware of something. But I know there’s a big difference between my 30/15/5/0 nozzle heads, and I’m pretty sure the city would prefer businesses not etch permanent slogans into the sidewalk. I could imagine there’s room for both approaches. 
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This also reminds me of the stenciled superhydrophobic stenciled artwork. Back when I went to church with/for my ex, I always wanted to do a set of footprints walking up to our Episcopal church here in Seattle. 
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No eye protection. Good for him.
The Trumpists are on the cutting edge. They’ve found a way to get charged for removing algae.
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