VOTE SAXON

February 27, 2022 8:34 PM

In the past week I've spotted some extremely obnoxious pandemic disinformation stickers in my neighborhood. What can I carry with me, besides a big old Sharpie, that would allow me to deface these when I spot them as quickly and effectively as possible, without harming the underlying surface (which is usually city property--I'm not looking to get picked up for vandalism)?
posted by praemunire to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

Response by poster: (I should add that I need it to be light, small, and simple to use.)
posted by praemunire at 8:34 PM on February 27, 2022

How about another sticker to put on top of them?
posted by kimdog at 8:35 PM on February 27, 2022 [10 favorites]

Response by poster: I don't want to get summonsed for attempting to counter other people's summonsable behavior at this level.
posted by praemunire at 8:36 PM on February 27, 2022

Best answer: The ones I've seen in my neighborhood scrape off pretty easily with just a fingernail, so maybe something that is that-level hard, like one of those razor blade scrapers (very lightweight and small) or, yes another sticker that would be small enough to just obscure part of a URL or phone number.
posted by jessamyn at 8:37 PM on February 27, 2022

Best answer: Plastic razor blades might work, even if you can't rip off the whole thing. They won't scratch most metals. You might end up ripping off the upper paper layer and leaving the adhesive behind, but that is better than nothing.
posted by soelo at 8:56 PM on February 27, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: duct tape or a refillable black Pilot 1/2" head marker.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 9:11 PM on February 27, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Be careful when attempting to remove the stickers. I don't know if the antivaxxers in your areas are as ruthless as the white supremacists are in my area, but here when the white supremacists put up stickers they hide razor blades underneath so that anyone attempting to remove them with their bare hands slices themselves.

Best to use a tool instead of your fingers.
posted by Jacqueline at 10:04 PM on February 27, 2022 [25 favorites]

Best answer: Personally, I was thinking a custom self-inking stamp in red ink that says something like "debunked" or "Misinformation". Those are small enough to fit into most pockets, and you can easily get one made in any big office superstore for like $25 and up.
posted by kschang at 2:18 AM on February 28, 2022 [23 favorites]

Best answer: We have a 'razor blade scraper' meant for the glass cooktop that happens to work very well for this. You can get them at home improvement stores or car part stores meant for scraping old stickers off windshields (cheaper). Obviously get one with a cover. Another option might be one of those 'identity theft' stamps meant for rolling over address labels.
posted by cobaltnine at 5:15 AM on February 28, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Sounds like a perfect use for ID Police, the hilarious as-seen-on-TV roller thing you're supposed to use to obscure your personal information on bills!
posted by Don Pepino at 7:28 AM on February 28, 2022 [8 favorites]

Best answer: If you’re looking to add some irony, you can damage the ink and remove poorly printed stickers with hand sanitizer.
posted by donut_princess at 8:03 AM on February 28, 2022 [6 favorites]

Best answer: +1 for a retractable plastic razor blade scraper. They are very effective at removing decals and sticker-type crap with minimal damage to underlying surfaces.
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 2:01 PM on February 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've used both hand sanitizer and stickers similar to these to obscure gross stuff. My municipality wears its sticker culture proudly, so I can't imagine someone actually getting ticketed for non-advertising shenanigans, but YMMV.

I have run across city/county workers doing graffiti-removal and asked them a bit about their guidelines. It sounds like they'll come out pretty quickly for anything that's bigoted, clearly gang-related, lewd, libelous or dangerous misinformation. Maybe that's an option if your neighborhood gets strafed again?
posted by annaramma at 9:53 PM on February 28, 2022