Bowls chalk spray vs survey spray
Updated: 16 October 2026
You have both cans in the same search, and you are about to put the £6 aerosol on a drive or the 500 ml can on a bowl. Bowls chalk spray vs survey spray is that mistake, judged by the fill and by how long the mark must last. The Products Compared editorial team set six amazon.co.uk listings of 15 October 2026 against World Bowls Law 15 and HSE HSG47. We did not run a laboratory test. The [chalk spray comparison](/hub/occupational-safety-accessories/chalk-spray) is the table. A toucher continues on [how to mark a toucher](/hub/occupational-safety-accessories/chalk-spray/sub/chalk-spray-how-to-mark-a-toucher).
You have both cans in the same search, and you are about to put the £6 aerosol on a drive or the 500 ml can on a bowl.
You have both cans in the same search, and you are about to put the £6 aerosol on a drive or the 500 ml can on a bowl. Bowls chalk spray vs survey spray is that mistake, judged by the fill and by how long the mark must last. The Products Compared editorial team set six amazon.co.uk listings of 15 October 2026 against World Bowls Law 15 and HSE HSG47. We did not run a laboratory test. The chalk spray comparison is the table. A toucher continues on how to mark a toucher.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Job | Fill | Mark life | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Drakes Pride Drakes Pride bowls chalk spray with keyring | Bowls toucher | n/a (package 30 g) | n/a | 9.2 | about £6.60 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Soppec Soppec Tempo TP orange marking spray, 500 ml | Site marking | 500 ml | 2–8 weeks (listing) | 9.2 | about £10.29 | View offer |
| Best value |  Drakes Pride Drakes Pride white chalk spray, pack of 20 | Bowls toucher | 8 g each | n/a | 9.2 | about £77.00 | View offer |
On this page
What each can is built to leave behind
A bowls spray should leave a mark you can clear before that wood is bowled again. Law 15.1 says chalk as soon as the toucher rests, and Law 15.5 says a leftover mark comes off before the next use. A survey spray should leave a mark the next person can read after a delay. HSG47 allows chalk, crayon, or paint for that record, after the locate.
Only the Stevens bullets, at £5.90, say the chalk wipes away and is water-based. Soppec’s bullets say about 2–8 weeks, and the table says not waterproof. If the mark must go before the next end, the survey can is the wrong life. If it must still be there next week, the bowls can is the wrong life.
8 grams against 500 millilitres
Where a fill is stated, the bowls cans are 8 g. The £6.50 keyring can states an item weight of 8 g. The £6.60 can does not: the table gives a package of 15.5 × 2.8 × 2.7 cm and 30 g. Reviewers compare the £6.50 can to a lipstick, and people who tried a flower-bed line said there was not enough.
The survey side is one can: 500 ml, orange, 454 g, model 141616O, £10.29. One UK reviewer could not get a half-size tennis-court outline from a single can. The box of twenty at £77.00 is £3.85 a can on this extract, and it is still not a ground marker. Those pack sums sit in the chalk spray buying guide.
The survey can on a bowl, and the bowls can on a road
Tempo TP on a wood fails the end-of-end wipe. The bullets expect weeks, the listing says not waterproof, and reviewers have needed a jet washer or seen a line fade in the first rain. A mark you cannot clear without shifting the head is a nomination under Law 15.2 or Law 15.6.
A bowls can on a road fails the other way. HAUC Bulletin 39, on section 132 of the Highways Act 1980, wants a highway mark to be temporary, light, washed off, and not white. The white cans break that colour rule and do not hold a site line. A home drive is not automatically a highway, and the bowls fill still runs out. Orange Tempo TP avoids the white ban. A located line continues on temporary marking spray.
Which one to buy for the job you named
If the mark is a toucher, stay on the bowls rows. The £6.60 keyring can is the top pick for a pocket, because 1,770 reviews at 4.6 dwarf the other singles. The box of twenty is the best value when a club will use it, at £3.85 a can on this extract.
If the mark is a located short-term line and orange is acceptable, the Soppec can is the only row: 500 ml at £10.29, about 2–8 weeks, not waterproof. If you need several utility colours, this folder does not have them. If you have not located the service, neither can replaces that. Amazon links on the main comparison may earn us a commission.
Common questions
Can the £6.50 can mark a drive or a lawn?
UK reviews say no. Buyers who tried a flower bed or a grass line found that keyring can far too small. The table states 8 g, and reviewers compare it to a lipstick. A drive needs a short-term ground mark after a locate, which here is the 500 ml can, and only in a colour the job allows. One reviewer said a casual bowler can make an 8 g can last for months. That is a toucher life, not a line on the grass.
Can Tempo TP mark a toucher?
No. Law 15 wants chalk you can clear before the bowl is used again, or a nomination if the mark would move the head. Tempo TP is sold as a mark of about 2–8 weeks, and the manufacturer describes mechanical removal. UK reviews include many months on a surface and a jet washer. Leave the 500 ml can off the green.
Which one wipes off with a towel?
The Stevens listing says the chalk wipes away and is friendly with carpets, on 3.9 from 3 reviews. That is not a test of every bowls can. On the four-pack, one reviewer needed a towel and another reported no residue. Soppec reviews describe rain, months of fade, or a jet washer, and the manufacturer says mechanical removal. Do not plan to towel a survey mark off between ends.
Which one is supposed to last weeks?
Soppec Tempo TP. The bullets say about 2–8 weeks, and the table says the paint is not waterproof. UK reviews then scatter, from about six weeks to a fade in the first rain and marks still there after many months. Do not collapse that into one number. The bowls cans are for an end, then off. A review that says a small can lasts a bowler for months means the fill, not a painted line.
What did reviewers report when they mixed the jobs up?
The £6.50 can would not draw a flower-bed or grass line, and buyers said the photo hid how little was inside. On the survey can, a court outline faded in the first rain, a roof message needed a jet washer, and one can missed a half-size tennis-court outline. These extracts have no head-to-head test. The failures are people using one can for the other job.
Is the survey can better because it is 500 ml?
Only when you need a short-term ground mark and orange will do. Five hundred millilitres against 8 g, or against a 30 g package, is a different tool. The survey can is the wrong life on a bowl, because you may not clear it before the next end. The bowls can is the wrong fill on a drive, because it runs out before the line does.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the manufacturer page, as listed in the research digest. amazon.co.uk prices are the six listing extracts of 15 October 2026.
- World Bowls Crystal Mark Fourth Edition, Law 15 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- Bowls England domestic regulations, 1 March 2023 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- HSE HSG47, Avoiding danger from underground services (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- HAUC (UK) Bulletin 39, marking out on the highway (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- Street Works UK colour coding, July 2024 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- Aerosol Dispensers Regulations 2009, GOV.UK (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- HSE, spraying and hazardous substances (retrieved 15 October 2026)
- Soppec Tempo TP temporary marking spray (retrieved 15 October 2026)