Soda Blasting What it is, What its for, and Common Questions
You may be considering soda blasting for a project or just interest in what it is. This article will cover what soda blasting is, what its for, and address common questions about soda blasting.
What Soda Blasting Is
To understand soda blasting it is important to understand what sandblasting is. Both use air under pressure behind a media one soda and the other a variety of sandblast medias to remove contaminant from a surface whether it’s a coating, rust, or another contaminant. Soda blasting uses specifically formulated media which is similar but not the same as baking soda that you find in your kitchen.
What Soda Blasting is For
Soda blasting allows you to strip coatings and remove light surface contaminants like slight rust. However if your trying to remove deep rust, body filler, or similar surface contaminants, then soda blasting will typically not be sufficient for your blasting needs (for deeper rust and similar issues it is common to use a crushed glass or similar blast media).
Why Soda Blasting over Other Types of Abrasive Blasting
Soda blasting is gentler to the surface that your blasting compared to traditional abrasive blasting that uses crushed glass, coal slag, garnet, or another type of blast media. Being that it is less aggressive than these other common blast medias, it is well suited for use when you want to remove contaminant from a surface without causing changes to the underlying product. Great uses for soda blasting include removing paint or light rust from soft substrates like cars. It can also be a good use if you need to blast food off a surface that has been baked and need to use a food grade blast media to be safe. Finally soda blasting can help if your blasting off a surface that has any light oils left behind as the soda can help absorb the oils, this makes it useful for blasting internal engine parts and other light grease products that you do not want to alter the surface but need to clean the surface. If you want to know more about Soda Blasting vs other types of abrasive blasting this article covers the pros and cons of soda blasting.
Can Soda Blasting Remove Heavy Rust?
Soda blasting is not well suited to removal of rust that is deep or heavy. However if you need to remove a more stubborn rust you can always combine a fine grit glass or similar blast media after doing the majority of your work with soda to sandblast clean areas of heavier rust. If you will need to use a glass or different media to finish touch up work on a delicate substrate (like a car) you will want to start with a low pressure and make changes gradually so that you do not warp the car due to excess pressure.