San Francisco is testing the idea of painting walls with urine-repellant paint that will soak the sprayer before the wall gets wet.

Mohammed Nuru, San Francisco's director of public works, got the idea to use the paint, Ultra-Ever Dry, after reading about its effectiveness in Hamburg, Germany. The paint repels most liquids so the urine would "bounce back" on the sprayer.

"The urine will bounce back on the guy's pants and shoes," Rachel Gordon, a public works department spokeswoman, said. "The idea is they will think twice next time about urinating in public."

After painting nine walls around areas with prominent nightlife or homeless communities, the city has received requests many other requests for the paint. In fact, it costs less money to paint the wall than to clean it, Gordon said, according to The Guardian.

"We've gotten many, many calls from people who wanted it done in their alley or on their buildings," Gordon said. "Some people are saying it's just a gimmick, but other people hope it will combat some of the smelly areas of San Francisco that have been saturated with urine."

The nine areas were marked with signs reading "Hold it! ... seek relief in an appropriate place," in English, Chinese and Spanish. Gordon said the city has also increased the number of public toilets, The Guardian reported.

The paint is sold by Ultratech International Inc. and is a superhydrophobic coating, The Guardian reported.