Glossary
Anti-graffiti coating
A clear protective layer applied over a mural or sculpture so tags can be cleaned off without damaging the artwork underneath.
Coatings come in two families. Sacrificial coatings (usually wax-based) come off with the tag during cleaning and must be reapplied each time. They're cheap per application but need a budget line for the long run. Permanent coatings (polyurethanes and newer nano-coatings) survive repeated cleaning but can subtly shift a mural's colour or sheen.
That shift is why the artist should be consulted before anything is applied: a coating that changes how a work reads can raise the same integrity concerns as any other alteration. The best time to decide on a coating is in the commissioning contract, not after the first tag.