Nine Useful Sand Blasting Applications

Sand blasting has been a go-to cleaning method for commercial, industrial, and residential projects since it was invented in 1870. For almost a century a half people have been using it to clean absolutely everything by projecting pressurized grit at the target object and letting the constant tiny impacts clear away all unwanted particles or blemishes. Not all Sand blasting is done with sand, and in fact, materials range widely from crushed walnut shells to medium sized shards of glass, each chosen for the specific Sand blasting target. If you are currently considering a cleaning or restoration project on Long Island or anywhere in the world, Sand blasting might be exactly the solution you are looking for. Here are nine useful Sand blasting applications.

1 Removing Old House Paint

Your house should be repainted approximately every four to fifteen years, but a chore this infrequent means that most people forget entirely. When you repaint on or near schedule, all you need to do is wash the house before applying a new coat of beautiful sealing paint. However, all too often house paint is left long enough that it begins to take damage and show uneven signs of wear. House flippers, people who buy up old houses to refurbish and sell for a profit, often face this problem when the fixer-upper homes they buy have been left to languish. When the paint has cracked, peeled, and flaked away, you cannot just power wash it and slap on a new coat. Gentle Sand blasting can efficiently clear away the layer of old paint, leaving the wood or siding underneath smooth, polished, and ready to be painted.

2 Cleaning Brickwork and Sidewalks

Modern urban landscaping involves a lot of brick and concrete walkways. Homes and businesses alike have to face the challenges of keeping outdoor surfaces clean and clear of upstart plants growing through the cracks. With the constant onslaught of weather, tracked dirt, and little grass seeds blown around by the wind, it can be hard to get that perfect polished appearance, even with daily applications of a stiff broom. Sand blasting can do much more than any broom, clearing out embedded dirt and grit from your brickwork and sidewalks while cleaning every groove and leaving the surface slightly polished. A single Sand blasting can restore your walkways and increase the effectiveness of your daily sweeping.

3 Restoring Metal Patio Furniture

Heavy metal patio furniture is an incredibly practical solution to the human desire for outdoor seating. They are sturdy to the point of indestructible and could not possibly be blown away. However, most wrought iron patio chairs begin to rust after being left in the rain for a certain amount of time. Whether you are restoring patio furniture, you bought years ago, or some inherited from an even older set, Sand blasting is a great way to get rid of the rust spots and discoloration to completely restore those chairs and tables. If you have stopped using your patio furniture because of rust spots, prepare to be amazed by how shiny, and new they look after a single round of detailed Sand blasting. After that, you can leave them as they are, coat them in new sealant, or even paint them for a whole new look.

4 Prepping Vehicles for Repainting

One of the most frequently used applications of Sand blasting is to prepare vehicles for repainting. Many body shops have their own Sand blasting equipment for when they want to repaint a car, and the same method can be used for motorcycles, trucks, and boats. With careful choice of medium and pressure, you can strip off the old layer of paint along with any imperfections or unwanted particles. Because car paint is the first layer of protection against damage, it is especially important not to leave anything on the surface of the car that could cause bubbles or imperfections in the new paint job. When the blasting is done, a new layer of paint followed by damage resistant sealant are applied to the vehicle.

5 Cleaning Hand Tools

Sand blasting is not just for big things, you can perfectly clean and polish small metal items like hand tools with the use of a special Sand blasting cabinet. With this rig, you can place your hand tools in the cabinet and carefully blast away any unwanted particles or contaminates, leaving the tools themselves shiny and clean. This is especially useful if you have been working with sticky or difficult to remove substances like tar which will gum up and possibly ruin normal cleaning equipment.

6 Clearing Ship Hulls

In the ocean, any surface is valuable real estate, and ships are no exception. Microorganisms, plants, algae, and small ocean animals (like sponges) are constantly building up on the hulls of ships and submerged equipment. This not only unnecessarily weighs down the ship and impairs its ability to efficiently cut through the water, but it can also create a corrosive environment and a much larger risk of damage and sinking. While sailors before power tools had to hand-scrape these organisms off the sides of their ships, now there is Sand blasting. With careful bursts of pressurized abrasive particles, you can quickly and easily wash away the clinging oceanic life that grows on the sides of ships, lengthening the ship’s lifespan and saving the owners hours of unpleasant scraping.

7 Polishing Commercial Buildings

Successful brick-and-mortar companies take pride in keeping their buildings clean and polished in spite of the fact that urban locations often come with a certain amount of annual smog that will cling to your building walls. There is a myriad of commercial structure cleaning surfaces and Sand blasting is by far one of the most effective. For stone, brick, concrete, and metal, Sand blasting can clear away the layers of ambient built-up grime on your property walls and grounds, leaving the original building materials gleaming as if the structure was brand new.

8 Maintaining Industrial Equipment

If your business involves industrial machinery, keeping it clean and free of unwanted particles is important to proper use, maintenance, and a long service life for each piece. Sand blasting has been a long-standing solution to the kind of incidental buildup of grit on your equipment, while at the same time clearing out corrosion and rust to stop decay. This removes the flakes that might otherwise get into machinery and cause problems. Many industrial processes incorporate Sand blasting into their regular maintenance and cleaning procedures for exactly these reasons.

9 Removing Metal Discoloration

Because of its unique ability to carefully remove the top layer of almost any surface, Sand blasting is incredibly suited to the needs of metal restoration. Good for vehicles, furniture, equipment, and tools, there is, in fact, very little made of stone or metal that Sand blasting cannot clean. If you have a metal object, big or small, suffering from rust, corrosion, or even simple discoloration, a little Sand blasting will go a long way to restoring the item to its original splendor.

The most important thing to remember about Sand blasting is that it is a tool, and like many tools, it can be used in a vast number of both unusual and everyday applications. Sand blasting is used to clean everything from your old rusty truck to world-class structures like the Brooklyn Bridge. For professional Sand blasting in Long Island, TLC Metal Restoration is a family owned business that has been providing high quality Sand blasting and restoration services to our neighbors for over a decade. For more information about Sand blasting or for a consultation on your next project, contact TLC Metal Restoration today.