Thread: "baking soda" blasting

OK, so Ive had a chat with a local bloke (well 50k away) who does soda blasting. He says he uses "food grade baking soda" and that it doesnt cause any damage to panels etc even if not cleaned off immediately. Has been cleared by EPA for minimal runoff, eg is not toxic etc

wont damage glass, good rubber, plastic but he's not sure about bakelite. states leaves a "satin finish" so remove all chrome (so Ill take the keychain and the headlight surrounds out!!)

reckons he takes of basically one layer of paint at a time (eg "gentle blasting" and as he is building his business is very keen to keep his reputation.

quotes $600 for all of S1 109, inside and out and engine etc...

<<<<<<<my questions>>>>>>>

a) does baking soda blasting (unsure how many soda blastings there are) do any damage anyone knows of?

b) has anyone personally tried -succesfully to get this done without damage before?

(im after first hand or I SAW accounts, a quick search gave me many varied answers on this in the aulro/remlr forums)

If the first one works, I think Ill gradually pass all of mine through the process.... eventually!



cheers.
digger

Originally Posted by digger

OK, so Ive had a chat with a local bloke (well 50k away) who does soda blasting. He says he uses "food grade baking soda" and that it doesnt cause any damage to panels etc even if not cleaned off immediately. Has been cleared by EPA for minimal runoff, eg is not toxic etc

wont damage glass, good rubber, plastic but he's not sure about bakelite. states leaves a "satin finish" so remove all chrome (so Ill take the keychain and the headlight surrounds out!!)

reckons he takes of basically one layer of paint at a time (eg "gentle blasting" and as he is building his business is very keen to keep his reputation.

quotes $600 for all of S1 109, inside and out and engine etc...

<<<<<<<my questions>>>>>>>

a) does baking soda blasting (unsure how many soda blastings there are) do any damage anyone knows of?

b) has anyone personally tried -succesfully to get this done without damage before?

(im after first hand or I SAW accounts, a quick search gave me many varied answers on this in the aulro/remlr forums)

If the first one works, I think Ill gradually pass all of mine through the process.... eventually!



cheers.
digger

Just joined up and sorry for bumping an old thread but I think this is important.

It states above that the guy doing the blasting is approved by the EPA for minimal run off. That is crap all cars manufactured before 1980 can contain 20% or higher lead levels in the paint there is no minimal run off allowed.
The blasting would have to be a full lead containment job.
I bet this guy was going to blast your car on your property and didn't tell you this.
If he's charging $600 for a full blast then he is doing something dodgy.
The price of soda ranges between $40-66 dollars per bag then there is the media disposal cost of the contaminated media minimum soda used would be 6-11 bags plus profit and diesel for the compressor it could not be done properly for this price.
Another thing blasting cannot be preformed in the open unless there can be a guarantee of less then 250mg per sqM of dust at completion of the blasting which is impossible in the open without containment measures such as a portable inflatable booth with dust extraction equipment or using a wet blasting technique that would be ineffective for use on a car any way.
I pride myself on being a professional in the media blasting trade and at the moment the industry is filled with absolute idiots that will soon end up on the wrong side of the EPA and out of business.
I have seen some blasters use other cheaper materials like citric acid and pass the car off as being soda blasted.
Be careful people and find a professional and not some dope with a soda blasting set up that doesn't know crap.
I have been blasting cars for 15 years and I hate what has become of the industry.

Peace to you all.