So, you’ve taken your car to the local car wash several times over and just can’t seem to get it clean.
Or perhaps you own heavy-duty construction equipment that you subject to wear-and-tear. Maybe you’re looking to restore an old vehicle with rust.
Whatever the case may be, you may find yourself at a loss if the everyday wash isn’t doing the trick.
Are there any other methods that you can try for automotive and heavy equipment cleaning?
In this article, we’ll outline the various techniques available to help clean and restore your vehicle or equipment to its former glory.
Automotive Paint Stripping
You’ll find that there are various automotive paint stripping options available.
For instance, you can use things like sandpaper and steel wool. However, these abrasives could impact the metals on your car. They’re also quite time-consuming to use, especially if you plan to undertake the project yourself.
You could also consider chemical automotive paint stripping tools. While these are quite effective for removing multiple layers of paint, there are a few problems associated with them.
Chemical paint stripping tools:
- Are toxic
- Can be quite messy
- Require protective gear and proper ventilation
Additionally, you never know quite what you’re going to get when you start stripping the paint. If the metal on the vehicle is old, the chemicals in these automotive paint strippers could potentially ruin it.
Furthermore, you must be careful not to get these paint strippers on other areas of your car, like the windshield.
Automotive Sand Blasting and Soda Blasting
Two of the other standard methods for vehicular cleaning are automotive sandblasting and soda blasting.
Sandblasting tends to be quite useful if you need to remove rust from a vehicle. Sandblasting typically relies on the sand that you’d find in a child’s sandbox.
Although this is finer than, say, the sand you would find at the beach, it’s still very course. If you are looking for a simple cleaning, car sandblasting may be too abrasive.
It could end up ruining your paint.
Car sandblasting could also be troublesome because the heavy-duty materials cause heat and friction. Both of these could cause the metal to warp, which would obviously impact your car.
Soda blasting isn’t an advantageous option because it’s not heavy-duty enough to remove rust or paint. The only situation where you would want to use it is if you had light dirt or wear on your vehicle. Soda blasting involves the use of compressed air and sodium bicarbonate – otherwise known as baking soda.
Soda blasting is safe for use around humans.
However, it can have severe negative consequences on the environment. Baking soda can kill plants and vegetation. This can make it challenging to work outside. And, if you’re going to work inside, you need to make sure that you have the proper ventilation in place to keep yourself safe.
Lastly, soda blasting can be a lengthy process.
When soda blasting, you need to put a protective layer of film over the car. If you don’t do so, you risk flash rusting. When flash rusting occurs, the paint or primer on your vehicle will begin to peel away. However, the protective layer can’t stay on your car forever. So, you need to remove the film with a grinder or scuff pad after use.
You may have also heard of media blasting as well.
What’s the difference between soda blasting v. media blasting? Soda blasting is meant for vehicles and metals, while media blasting is intended for use on wood.
Car Dustless Blasting
The other choice that you have to clean your automobile and heavy equipment is dustless blasting.
Car dustless blasting is a versatile tool that’s useful in an array of situations.
Not only is it strong enough to remove graffiti or clean concrete, but it’s also gentle enough to strip paint and restore the wood.
Car dustless blasting is very similar to sandblasting, except for the fact that it also involves the use of water and a rust inhibitor.
The use of water helps reduce friction and heat during the process.
Those two elements are commonly responsible for causing metal like steel to warp. Dustless Blasting can reduce the temperature of metal by ten degrees compared to other methods like regular sandblasting.
Dustless blasting is also easier than alternative options. When employing an alternative cleaning method, you need to isolate each piece that you’re cleaning. Many people think that putting tape over a piece will do the trick, but that is not the case. If you sand or soda blast parts that don’t need to undergo the finishing process, you could ruin them. And, the sand or soda could erode the tape or get inside of it.
This includes parts like:
- Panel strips
- Taillights
- Door handles
Obviously, if you’re looking to clean your car, however, removing these pieces individually is a bit ridiculous. That’s why dustless car blasting is such a worthwhile option. You won’t have to worry about ruining non-metal parts of your car, and you clean the entire thing in one fell swoop. That’s why dustless sandblasting is the faster, more practical option for automotive and heavy equipment cleaning.
Additionally, dustless sandblasting is useful because it won’t stay in the joints or crevices of your vehicle. This is not the case with sand and soda. When employing sand or soda, small particles can stay behind for months or years after the cleaning. Because these materials are abrasive, they can eat away at your paint and cause damage.
Clean Heavy Equipment with Dustless Blasting
No matter if you’re looking to clean heavy equipment from a construction job site or remove decals from cars, you’ll want to make sure that you use dustless blasting to do so.
Dustless blasting is far more convenient than soda and sandblasting.
You may find that dustless blasting is more expensive than sandblasting, but it’s a cost well worth paying, as it’s the only way to ensure that you protect your vehicle for years to come. Additionally, you won’t need to worry about taking apart every little piece of your car to perform this service. So, even though dustless blasting is a bit more expensive, you’ll end up saving considerably on labor costs.
The fact of the matter is that dustless blasting is the only way to clean your vehicle properly. Sandblasting and soda blasting could be useful if you’re looking to remove paint and rust to help restore a car, although dustless blasting can do the job just as well. But, if you’re looking to remove dirt and grime, dustless blasting is the only method that you can trust to do so effectively without ruining your vehicle.
Because the metal stays cooler during the dustless blasting process, you won’t have to worry about the metal on your vehicle warping, either. This is a significant concern for those who sandblast their vehicle. During the dustless blasting process, metal stays about ten degrees cooler. If your car were to warp, you might have to replace specific parts or take it to an autobody shop for repair.
Car dustless blasting doesn’t come with these problems. And, because of the cooler temperatures, dustless blasting is safe on all surfaces, including glass and taillights.
Lastly, dustless blasting is a more practical option than paint strippers as well. These only work if you need to remove paint from your car. You’ll need to take extreme precautions, including removing or isolating portions of your vehicle. You’ll also need to make sure that you have enough ventilation since paint thinners use toxic fumes.
Why would you want to expose yourself to these?
Dustless Blasting is Well Worth the Investment
No matter if you need to remove caked-on concrete or paint from a car restoration, dustless blasting is the option for you.
At Willsha Blasting, we specialize in providing dustless blasting services to our customers. We have a mobile blasting unit that allows us to come to your location to remove and clean tough coatings and surfaces. Our machine makes it easy for us to clean automobiles and heavy equipment.
We mix our abrasive solution with water. Not only does this help keep metal cooler, but it also helps reduce dust as well. You’ll find that the cleanup process is simple since the water takes care of most of it for us. Not only will we keep your workplace spotless, but we’ll also make sure that we don’t kill your vegetation either.
Be sure to contact us today to learn more about our services. We’ll also provide you with a free quote. What are you waiting for? Clean your automotive and heavy equipment today.