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Soda Blasting is the latest entry in the Abrasive Blasting arena. Not much has changed in the abrasive blaster world lately. Back in the day, abrasive blasting was used primarily for removing paint or rust scale from steel. For those of us that have grown up in the rust belt of this country, we have many applications and practical uses for an Abrasive Blaster.
As the different “soft” abrasives like walnut shells, corn cob, plastic media were introduced it expanded the usefulness and applications of an Abrasive Blaster. Then when Bicarbonate of Soda was introduced to refurbish of the Statue of Liberty a few years back, it again added to the expanding applications of abrasive blasting. Using these “soft” abrasives reduces the heat build up on the substrate and reduces warping and pitting. Now you add in the fact that bicarbonate of soda is environmentally friendly you have a winner. If you are cleaning graffiti off the side of a brick or sandstone building and you get some soda on and around the landscaping plants you may find the leaves may yellow slightly do to the PH changes in the soil. Not to worry, a few days of watering and everything is back to normal. This also goes for the guy that uses bicarbonate of soda to strip the paint of his project car in the back yard. If the wife or the neighbors complain about the yellowing of their plants, hit them (the plants that is) with some water and in a few days everybody should be happy. Now you need to use your head when you’re blasting with soda or any other abrasive. Beside the proper safety gear, like a respirator, blast hood and gloves you need to properly dispose of material you are removing. I.e. lead based paint or other nasty things like that. Also keep in mind the Soda blasting media is specially formulated for blasting. It’s not the same stuff you buy at the grocery store.
Although the process of soda blasting is slower then other abrasives, keep in mind the preparation time that is spent in protecting the surface you do not want to blast. Remember the guy with the project car? He did not have to worry about removing the chrome, glass or rubber items from the car before he blasted with soda. That saved a ton of labor time! Soda Blasting will not hurt these things. Now let’s talk about price. Most commercial grade of Soda blasters sell for about $2,500. That’s a little steep for the guy restoring a car or the home owner cleaning the face brick off the front of his home. We here at ALC have found a cost effective solution. We offer a conversion kit that takes just about any make or model of abrasive blaster and converts it to a Soda Blaster. The 3/8” or the ½” fitting sizes kits can be installed in 15 minutes or less. This conversion kit can be purchased for about $200.
If you do not have an abrasive blaster and want to invest in one that can do double duty with Soda and all the other abrasives we have an economical solution for that also. Check out the “What’s New” section of our web site and you’ll find both the conversion kits and a combination Soda and Abrasive Blaster units.
Have a blast!
ALC Abrasive Blasters
Cleveland, Ohio
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