Whenever delicate underlying surfaces (substrates) are involved in a project, Baking Soda blasting is considered the best way to safely clean or strip that surface. First and most famously used to clean the Statue of Liberty in 1986, the baking soda blasting process uses compressed air to deliver bicarbonate of soda-based media (baking soda) onto the surface being cleaned or stripped.
A much-finer medium, baking soda is kinder and gentler to the underlying surface; the process is gentle enough to remove the coating without harming the substrate. Baking soda blast media is FDA approved, non toxic, contains no free silica; it is non sparking, non flammable, non hazardous and environmentally safe. In addition, because it is a natural deodorizer, baking soda blasting is often recommended when noxious odors are part of the blasting process.
But because of its caustic effects to equipment and surrounding areas, Billings Media Blasting chooses to use walnut shell or plastic media in place of baking soda. The same results are achievable with plastic and walnut shell without the potential for these caustic effects.
Baking soda on the Mohs scale is around a 2.5. The Mohs scale is based off a diamond being a 10 as the hardest and talc as 1, the softest.