Customers come up with some very good questions and many of these apply to other users of field marking equipment and paint supplies. Here's a good representative series of questions from a Salvation Army Kroc Center with both natural grass and synthetic turf (in doors) sports fields.

"Could you give me some info on these products? We have 2 Soccer fields and a turf indoor field. would these products be what we would need to have them painted, or appropriate to what our needs may be. I don't know much about them and need to know if its something we would actually need. would I actually need the heavy duty gas powered one or do you think i would just need the little push one. How about the paint would that paint work? How would we go about removing the paint from the Turf Floor? On the soccer fields, would the be sort of swept away when it rained? Just some questions I have about these products before I order them. Thanks you again for working with us on these various items."

And here's our response based on an earlier reply that included field marking equipment and paint/chalk applications.

The Graco FieldLazer S100 can apply both diluted (bulk liquid chalk) and the removable synthetic turf paint (no dilution). The S100 produces sufficient pump pressure to apply the undiluted paint (maybe with a little water, 8 ounces per gallon at most) as well as diluted field marking paint/chalk for outdoor use.

Most customers will use a product such as SwitchBack Ground Boss for the natural grass fields since this will last longer (at least two passes for mowing) then aerosol and bulk liquid chalk products I provided pricing for. The Ground Boss is priced in the $75 to $100 per pail depending on how many pails are purchased. This product can be diluted up to 4 to 1, most customers dilute 2 to 1 for excellent coverage and duration.


The chalk products, both aerosol and bulk liquid chalk are very temporary and can be removed by foot traffic and water/rain. These products perform similar to powdered chalk on baseball and softball fields. The TrailBlazer Rally Day for synthetic turf application is designed to hold up for tournament and potentially a season depending on foot traffic. This product can be removed with a cleaning agent such as the TrailBlazer Trail Wash. Trail Wash comes in 4 1-gallons cases or 5-gallon pails. You spray it on the synthetic turf using typical hand pump sprayer (it can be diluted). Then you use a brush or mechanical broom to help break down the paint followed by rinsing it with water. The key is not to allow the Trail Wash to dry before agitating the turf.


Depending on the staff support and cleaning equipment I would recommend the aerosol or bulk liquid chalk for the indoor facility, especially if you are playing many different sporting events with different dimensions. Although you would be lining the fields more often you will not have the scrubbing activities to remove the paint.

Here are a couple other blog posts that you may find useful.
http://trumark.blogspot.com/2013/01/sports-field-marker-suggestion-for-high.html
http://trumark.blogspot.com/2013/03/football-soccer-field-markings-for.html

The customer came back with further background.
I do need to clarify that our turf field is indoor. We will not be able to use water to get the paint up is there another option. our indoor field is right next to a basketball court and the water would not be a viable option for this.
We have 2 outdoor fields. We dont have any seasons planned at the moment but we could have tournaments  or such things in the future and would like to be able to provide for those. We will also have various camps in the summer and if its just a bunch of kids playing on it we wont really need to spray new paint on for those,
So we should only need a limited amount but in the future we will need more. just trying to get an idea of how everything is going to work for the future.
Our outdoor fields are:    Soccer Field East: Playing Field 224.5 X 360’ = 80,638 Sq. Ft.
                              -w/ 20 ft. safety zone increases to 105,585 Sq. Ft.
                        Soccer Field West: Playing Field 209.5’ X 344’ = 72,124 Sq. Ft.
                               -w/ 20 ft. safety zone, increases to 95,875 Sq. Ft.
Our indoor field is:  75 X 100 =7,500 Sq. Ft 

So knowing more about the facility and the expected use the following was provided to help the customer understand better his cost benefit analysis and return on investment.

Given what you explained on the indoor facility I would recommend a chalk solution, either/both aerosol and bulk liquid chalk. These lines can be removed by foot traffic or broom action, no water necessary (you might use a shop vacuum to help pick up the dust).

A standard soccer field with penalty and goalie boxes is just over 3,000 linear feet.
Since the indoor facility is less than one third the size thus less than 1,000 linear feet of lines. Each aerosol can will cover 200 linear feet, so for you need approximately 5 aerosol cans each time you line the indoor field(s). We do offer colors in the aerosol chalk besides white, to include blue, yellow, and red.

If the first priority is the indoor facility and if you are concerned about initial costs then I would recommend the SSAT aerosol striper and aerosol chalk. I would suggest the
SSAT, $200.00,
Aerosol Chalk, 8 cases of white (12 lining operations) ($55x8= $440)
Aerosol Chalk, 2 cases of yellow ($65x2=$130)
Aerosol Paint for outdoor use, white (10 cases x $55.00=$550.00)
Subtotal $1,320.00 + $16.95 S&H
Total $1,339.95.

From a longer term investment strategy you should consider the Graco S100 with purchases of the SwitchBack Double Play liquid chalk (indoor use) and Ground Boss (for outdoor use). [This solution would also support the TrailBlazer Rally Day removal paint solution for the indoor use. As part of paint removal with Trail Wash and water you would need to use a shop  vacuum to pick up the rinse water.]
S100, $2,400.00,
Double Play, 4 (5-gallon pails) x $100.00 = $400.00
Ground Boss, 4 (5-gallon pails) x $100 = $400.00
Subtotal $3,200.00, S&H $66.95
Total, $3,266.95.