Blast Away Grime With Baking Soda

It works in conjunction with an air compressor to clean dirty parts and surfaces. But instead of using sand as the cleaning abrasive, a soda blaster shoots out sodium bicarbonate, which is commonly known as baking soda though what's used in blasters is composed of larger particles than those found in standard household baking soda.

The advantage of using baking soda, as opposed to sand, crushed walnut shells, coal slag, or any other abrasive, is that it's environmentally safe, less aggressive, relatively affordable, and easily rinsed away with water. In fact, the first large-scale industrial use of soda blasting occurred during the 1986 centennial restoration of the Statue of Liberty. It was the only safe and effective way to remove coal tar, paint, and corrosion from the statue's soft copper skin.

Soda blasters can be used to remove paint, grease, indelible stains, and caked-on dirt from virtually any surface, Ceramic tile, aluminum, wood, sheet metal, brick, concrete, granite, chrome, glass, and even fiberglass.

Today soda blasters are often used to remove rust from metal, strip paint from wood doors and moldings, clean graffiti from masonry surfaces, blast hard-water deposits from ceramic tile, and power-strip industrial machinery. I recently used one to blast four coats of paint off a sheet of diamond-plate steel. It took less than 2 minutes to clean a 1-square-foot area down to bare steel.

A soda blaster itself is composed of a steel storage tank for holding the sodium bicarbonate, a spray nozzle and hose, manifold, and water separator that helps to prevent clogging. When shopping for a soda blaster, check its air requirement to ensure that your air compressor can provide the necessary pressure.

Soda blasters come in various sizes, based on the their storage-tank capacity. I bought a compact 15-pound Central Pneumatic soda blaster from Harbor Freight Tools for less than $100. The company also offers a larger 40-pound unit for about $160. Sodium bicarbonate is commonly available in medium- and extra-large grit. A 50-pound bag costs between $38 and $43. When operating a soda blaster, always wear protective eye goggles or a face shield, and a dust mask or dual-cartridge respirator. And be sure to follow the safety precautions outlined in the instruction manual.

Fylde's largest independent retail showroom, Artisan Tiles and Interiors is owned and managed by Marcus and Julia Eastwood. With nearly 25 years of combined experience in the UK tiles industry, the husband and wife tandem have advised clients on both domestic and commercial projects, both large and small. The Eastwood couple has recently helped in the design of a number of local businesses including Henry's Bar and Grill, Capri Bar, Moshina's Indian, Kensington Developments Lytham Quays site and Floor tiles.

At ArtisanTiles.co.uk, visitors will find a diverse range of tiling products for home and commercial needs. The website features each of the interiors and tiles in large image galleries for visitors to take a closer look at the design that may suit their taste or meet their tiling requirement.

Satisfied clients Ken & Elaine Beer from Blackpool talk about Artisan Tiles &Interiors: "What a fantastic range of tiles for walls and floors! The owners Julia and Marcus were extremely helpful and obliging, keen to offer advice with 'samples' and help with colour and design choices. The 'in store' home interiors section specialising in wallpapers and fabrics has an excellent service. Overall, it was a pleasant shopping experience."

ArtisanTiles.co.uk also displays Porcelanosa bathroom suites, the latest addition to the Artisan Tiles and Interiors showroom featuring two Porcelanosa bathroom and tile settings. The website also features the showroom's interiors department, which specialises in wallpapers, fabrics, wall covering and blinds. The website offers tile design advice and assistance, as well as quotations and insulations on curtains and all soft furnishings.

Kayser-Roth Corporation is seeking incentives from Burlington and Ala mance County to help create 50 new full-time jobs and invest $18 million in new capital as part of an expansion plan for its Burlington location.

Mac Wi lliams, Ala mance County A r ea Chamber of Commerce president, revealed the name of the textile company seeking incentives on Monday during an Alamance County Board of Commissioners meeting.

Kayser-Roth is based in Greensboro with a mailing address of 714 W. Interstate Service Road in Graham. County Manager Craig Honeycutt said the business is located in Burlington; he sent a letter regarding the company’s expansion plans to Williams on July 29.

“ Ala mance County ’s local ind ustrial development incentive is to provide a cash grant to the Company of a maximum of $360,000 based upon the initial new taxable valuation increase of building and equipment of $18,000,000 once the above job and investment thresholds have been met,” the letter stated. “This would be paid over a five year period, $72,000 annually for five years.”