Soda Glass Blasting

Providing the best Soda Blasting Services in South Florida

Crushed Glass Blasting

We can help you identify when each particular type of media blasting abrasive will give you the best results.

Sand Blasting

While we provide an extensive list of blasting media types, our most popular media is sand. Our sandblasting projects are typically metal based products that have a healthy underlying structural integrity.

Soda Blasting

Soda Blasting is a process where a surface is cleaned and coatings are stripped from a substrate. The Soda Blasting compressor propels a bicarbonate-of-soda based media via compressed air onto the surface to be cleaned.

Super-K Blasting

Knowing when to use the right media for blasting, like super-k, is very important when having your precious parts blasted.

Soda Blasting Facts - Soda Blaster

What is Soda Blasting (sodium bicarbonate)?
Soda Blasting is a process where a surface is cleaned and coatings (of any kind) are stripped from a substrate (the surface beneath the material you are trying to remove). The Soda Blasting compressor propels a bicarbonate-of-soda based media via compressed air onto the surface to be cleaned. This process gently removes the material without harming the substrate and can be done wet or dry..

When was Soda Blasting developed?

Back in 1972, when New York State engineers were looking for ways to clean the Statue of Liberty, they had many concerns involving issues of the environment, waste disposal, and protection of the statues surface itself. Any use of any abrasive material to clean the surface would have been very harmful to the soft copper plates and pollution from the waste in the water surrounding the statue was also a big concern. Soda Blasting was invented because it would not only do the job while having a negligible impact on the waterways and harbor, but it was also non-abrasive. Just like on the surface of the Statue of Liberty, this non abrasive action allows Soda Blasting to be used on surfaces that currently popular abrasive media would damage. i.e.: aluminum, stainless steel, brick, stone, glass, fiberglass, wood, some plastics, seals, bearings, splines, radiator cores, transmission cases, and hydraulic cylinders. In some cases, using dry blasting, shutdown of electric motors and pumps is not necessary.

How does Soda Blasting work?

The sodium bicarbonate used in the blasting process is a larger particle than the baking soda used in the food industry, although it is the same purity. The particles are propelled by compressed air through specialized blasting machines. Soda Blasting particles remove surface contaminant by the energy released as the particles explode when pressure-driven into contact with the contaminant surface. The resulting energy release disrupts the contaminant surface and blows it away, thus leaving the substrate completely unaffected. Air pressures and the resulting Soda Blasting particle velocity, can be varied from as low as 20 psi (pounds per square inch) on soft bases, to 150 psi or more on hard surfaces. The operator sets the air pressure depending on the nature of the substrate and the type of contaminant to be removed.

Is water used as part of the Soda Blasting process?

Water is often not used as part of the cleaning process. Water is sometimes used as a dust suppressant. It is sometimes used to activate the baking soda to allow its cleaning qualities to be realized as well as it's virtues as a blast media. For softer substrates such as wood, water reduces the cutting action by as much as 20 to 30 percent thus preventing substrate damage. When water is used with the Soda Blasting process it is not used to propel the blast media but to provide a moist surface to prevent dust, to activate the baking soda and/or to reduce cutting action of soda. The result of this is that only a tiny amount of water is used in comparison to water blasting/ pressure washing. When it is appropriate to use water in the Soda Blasting process, the water literally trickles out the end of the Soda Blasting hose.

Is Soda Blasting better than sand or bead blasting?

Sand and bead blasting remove contaminants by wearing away the surface. It is unavoidable that whilst doing this, the underlying substrate is also worn away to some degree. Depending on the substrate material and what it is being used for, it is often the case that the substrate is damaged. By contrast, Soda Blasting particles remove contaminants by the energy released when the particles explode as they come in contact with the surface to be cleaned. This results in no damage to underlying substrates.

Soda Blasting does not activate metal. By contrast, sand and garnet blasting do. Activating metal causes it to react to its surroundings. In the case of ferrous metals, they rust. The result is that ferrous metals that have been sand blasted will require immediate coating to prevent rusting. By contrast, metal that has been cleaned using Soda Blasting will rust at a much reduced rate and can be coated days after blasting rather than hours.

In the manufacturing of a metal object, sometimes an engineer will specify that metal should be sand blasted using a specific grade of blast media. The reason for sand blasting is to create a specific surface profile. Except in cases of rusting, sandblasting is generally not specified because it is the best method of cleaning the metal but rather for its ability to profile. Soda Blasting will not create a surface profile as the metal will not be affected by the process. In this case, it is appropriate to sand blast the metal rather than use Soda Blasting..

Local to Ft Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach, we deliver
affordable blasting services

Blast-It-Off provides safe and cost effective solutions to multiple coatings removal problems. The products used are worker friendly, non-toxic and biodegradable, yet they are capable of removing the toughest coatings easily, effectively and without damage to the substrate or the environment.