To soda blast or not?: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

June 21, 2010 7:54 p.m. JoeyM HalfDork

Hopefully, I will soon be able to paint the grill shell I've been fabricating. I was planning on soda blasting it to remove old paint and surface rust, but someone recently told me that baking soda is hard to get out of the pores in the metal....especially if you blast in humid conditions. (....like say, florida, where I live.)

Is it true that baking soda will build up in pores of the metal surface? If so, what can I do to prevent this? Can I solve the problem by simply wiping the surface down with vinegar afterwards?
June 21, 2010 8:40 p.m. Gearheadotaku Dork

I don't really know anything about I, but I like your science class approach with the vinegar.
June 21, 2010 8:51 p.m. JoeyM HalfDork

Just looking for a cheap option.
June 21, 2010 8:52 p.m. porksboy Dork

How about dry ice blasting?
June 22, 2010 6:12 a.m. JoeyM HalfDork

porksboy wrote: How about dry ice blasting?

There's certainly no residue left (that's a plus) but it is definitely more expensive (for me, since I would have to buy equipment) soda blasting. Plan 'A' would be to get my second hand bucket blaster working and use it with sand/soda/media-of-choice. Plan 'B' would be to do this:

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/

I like the idea of soda blasting (cheap, more gentle than sand) but I don't want to leave a residue that makes it hard for the paint to adhere.