Soda Blasting Equipment

FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions

What is soda blasting?

Soda blasting uses a form of environmentally friendly baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to remove most types of coatings and soils including paint, carbon, mold, oil, dirt and more, from almost any surface. The soda blast media is a large, jagged, irregular shaped crystal of sodium bicarbonate. It is this crystal size and shape, which is responsible for soda blasting’s unique cleaning properties. Soda blast media is an environmentally friendly, non-toxic and non-hazardous food grade product and is also 100% water-soluble.Most formulations of blasting soda have uniform particle sizes between 70 and 270 microns.Sodium bicarbonate is 2.4 on the Mohs hardness scale, much lower than other blast media such as silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, glass, or even plastic urea. This means that it is harder than the contaminants you are looking to remove, be it grease, oil, paint, calcium buildup, mold, etc.—but softer than the substrate. This is how it is able to clean without damaging the underlying surface. Soda blasting also deodorizes so it is ideal for jobs such as mold and fire damage remediation.

How does soda blasting work?

When delivered under pressure, through a soda blaster, the soda blast media crystal shatters upon impact with the item being cleaned. This happens because the impact energy is transferred back into the baking soda crystal itself, which gets fractured and blown apart. The substrate of the itembeing cleaned remains unchanged.This is referred to as Non-Destructive Cleaning. By comparison, when a hard abrasive particle (crushed glass, aluminum oxide, etc.) impacts a substrate, the energy of the impact is transferred into the substrate,removing some of the surface itself.

What kind of jobs can I do with soda blasting?

Some common uses for soda blasting include:

  • Paint removal
  • Auto, truck, boat, motorcycle, airplane and various equipment restoration
  • Mold and fire damage remediation
  • Swimming pool and water feature cleaning
  • Furniture restoration
  • Cleaning masonry
  • Graffiti removal
  • Engine and transmission rebuilding
  • Historical building restoration
  • Concrete cleaning
  • Gum removal
  • Pump and electric motor refurbishing
  • Statue cleaning
  • Cleaning carbon, grease and grime from parts
  • Removing street lines from roads
  • Cleaning drilling heads in the oil & gas industry
  • Firearms restoration
  • Cleaning anilox rolls in printing presses
  • Cleaning log cabins
  • Cleaning food processing plants
  • Rapid prototype cleanup
  • Cleaning in power plants and water treatment plants
  • Cleaning stucco
  • Cleaning turbines

 

Can soda blast media be reused?

When delivered under pressure, through a soda blaster, the soda blast media crystal shatters upon impact with the item being cleaned. The shattered crystals are reduced to a fine powder once used. As a result, soda blast media is a one-time use media. It cannot be reclaimed and reused.

Does soda blasting remove or change the surface being cleaned?

Soda blast media is a relatively soft crystal (2.4 on the Mohs hardness scale) and when used properly, is very gentle to the underlying substrate material being cleaned. It is non-sparking, and the process produces very little heat. As a result, soda blasting will not warp thin metal panels, and will not change dimensional or surface characteristics of metal parts, since it does not remove any of the underlying material. Soda blasting leaves a fresh looking surface on metals, and does not harm chrome, glass, bearings or rubber seals. Soft surfaces like wood and fiberglass can be soda blasted by starting at a low blasting pressure and slowly increasing the pressure until you find the best pressure to clean the surface without removingor damaging it.

Does soda blasting remove rust?

Soda blasting will remove light rust, scaling and oxidation. Since the soda blast media does not remove the substrate material it cannot remove heavy pitted rust. Some people use a mixture of 90% soda blast media and 10% aluminum oxide to remove heavier rust.

Does soda blast residue damage outdoor grass and plants?

Soda blast media (baking soda) is an eco-friendly product with a PH of 8.2, which can affect grass and landscape shrubs. If you are soda blasting near plant life, exercise caution, as the soda bicarbonate can cause discoloration or damage to grass and other flora after exposure.Any potential damage is easily preventable by pre-watering the ground before blasting begins and covering up any ornamental or special bushes and groundcover.

What type of Personal Protection Equipment should I use when soda blasting?

Soda blast media (baking soda) is an environmentally friendly, non-toxic and non-hazardous food grade product. However as with any type of media blasting, the user should always wear eye protection, such as fullsafety goggles or safety glasses, to protect against media and waste bouncing back off of the surface being cleaned.Also, a proper dust filtration mask, ear protection, and gloves should be used by the operator.