Media...... What is the difference? sand, soda, coal slag, walnut...

This is a follow up entry to the blog's entry on Media Blasting. I am writing this as only a person who has used the wet media blaster and what I have found out about using it with the different medias. I have not done a doctoral theses on the subject and some may not agree with all of what I have written. This is my opinion and observations from using the product with the wet media blasters Cleaned by Pete owns and uses. We have specialized in doing jobs and items that other sand blasters do not want to do for reasons of time, cost, size, to much labor, or are too odd. Clean by Pete works with each customer to see if we can help fit what you want with what we do. 

Wet media blasting is defined as: the process of removing unwanted material with a water stream into which a media is mixed and is contained that throws abrasive particles against the surface with some force causing removal or the unwanted material.

"Media" is the product we add into the water stream to do the removal of the unwanted material, this media can be abrasive or nonabrasive. Depending on what is being blasted and what is being removed you will need the right type of media for different jobs. Wet blasting can use sand, coal slag, crushed glass, soda, walnut shells, and other different media. Then in each group different types or subtypes in each of these categorize and then the different grades of each. These are just a few of the media products that can be used. I will talk about the ones we use.

Are you looking for a factory finish? 

Soda Blasting; first soda is also a cleaner, this make the soda media great to work with, for cleaning or using it as a material remover. Anything from removing grease and grime to removing paint and other materials, soda has a lot of uses in the cleaning field. Soda can be purchased in several grades the coarser the grade the larger the particulates are. The larger particulates cut faster and "explode" more removing material quicker but the coarser the grade the more the cost. Soda is a nonabrasive and can be used for blasting where sand and slag and other media can not. You can wet blast a motor compartment of a car with out worrying about the ball joints, steering knuckles or other moving parts. Soda will not hurt, inbed or alter the metal surfaces. This saves time and money you need not have to dismantle everything, it also washes clean. Soda will not hurt or etch chrome, glass or soft rubber surfaces. Soda is great for fire restoration and cleaning if you can get the water removed.

I used the word "explode" earlier, I'll try to clarify this term. Each type of media has its own reaction to the sudden stop when it hits the material it is trying to remove. Soda happens to be soft enough to blow apart upon impact. Sand, glass, and slag are harder they will fracture using sharp edges for cutting off or digging in, to remove the material. Soda impacts and the energy form it blowing apart removes the material like a little explosion or as a meteor hitting a planet a crater is formed in the material blowing it apart. Then the smaller soda particulates will be caught up in the water stream again and the process is repeated until the soda looses all its stored energy, until it is ineffective anymore. The big plus with soda is that it has been tumbling and bounces around all this time. The busted up particulates are like little erasers and pick up more and more grease and dirt, that is why momma uses it to clean the stove and sink in the kitchen it cleans and does not scratch.

A fine nonabrasive soda was used here. We did not want to alter the factory finish of the rims. Soda comes in different grades (sizes of particulars) the coarser the grade the faster it removes but the higher the cost.

You can see still see the milling marks on the face of the wheel and the pebble finish inside the wells. When restoring a car to a factory finish you can not alter the metal surface. Sand and slag would have erased the milling marks and may have gouged in removing metal too. Walnut shells were too large and can not get into and clean the pebbling. Fine soda is what was call for here.

When a car's total restoration counts, some people will spend a great deal of time and money finding the best correct parts. They don't want that distorted or blasted away. Soda blasting this rim will bring it back to factory specs, plus the water stream is clean and washes years of neglect and dirt away away.

Since we are here and are talking about car rims here are a few we have done for a BMW enthusiast. They restore one BMW a year and then "turn it" and move on to the next one. Sometimes these cars have rims we can help with. Here are two of them we have done. Moist of the "sand blaster" in town did not want to touch them told them they would distort or ruin the rims before they could get the power coat paint and the baked on clear coat off. The owner said one blaster said he would do it but he didn't really trust him. Here is what Cleaned by Pete did with them.

Removing the factor power coat and baked on clear coat for a restoration on a BMW. We had to use a two step process with different types of media to achieve this result.

Media blasting with water and soda Cleaned by Pete.

In this close up you can see the paint and factor finish is removed we are down to the original factor metal and have not distorted any fine details. The owner told us these are magnesium centers and are hard to find, that is one reason why no one wanted to blast them.

You can see that the factory power coat and finish is wearing off the turbo style centers. Again the owner came to us since he had such good results with us on the first ones. We used the same two step media process to restore these centers too.

Readying the center for the wet soda blasting, we have a soft plastic backstop to help absorb the energy reducing bounce back and splattering of the media (tricks of the trade) helping us to work faster and more effective.

The group have been blasted once and will now be having the finial grade of soda blasting applied.

After the process and the drying time our BMW center looks like. This is now down to the original finish of the metal before being power coated and clear coated, without gouging or distortion of any kind. 

A bit closer picture showing the finished item Cleaned by Pete's Wet soda-blasting service.

I will end this entry here and pick up when, Cleaned by Pete soda blasts a '55 Thunderbird rear end in the next entry. Seeing that I have a lot to cover I'll break it up in smaller parts and entries. Let us know in the comment box below about your work with "wet blasting". Thanks for the viewing.

House Washing Wednesday Springfield MO

House Washing Wednesday Springfield MO

Date line 4-6-13 Cleaned by Pete preforms a safe "soft wash" and power washes patio and brick front and whitens gutters. Owners need to give the home some "curb appeal" since they will be putting it on the market soon. Job details as follows.............

House and gutters before a cleaning from Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

House and gutters before a cleaning from Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

House and gutters before a cleaning from Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

House and gutters before a cleaning from Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

House and gutters before a cleaning from Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

House and gutters before a cleaning from Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

Spraying down the home with safe quality cleaners and soaps.

Cleaned by Pete applying soap and cleaners to the home.

Cleaned by Pete applying soap and cleaners to the home, killing mold, mildew and algae and loosing up dirt and grime. Safe "soft washing" or "cleaning with chemicals" reduces any danger of high pressure blasting on your homes vinyl and window seals.

Run dirt run Cleaned by Pete soft washing a house in Springfield MO.

Spraying the cutters for washing with soap and whiteners, Cleaned by Pete Springfield MO

Once the cleaners do their work we come back and wash the home reapply cleaners if needed wash and then rinse.

After rinsing your home will look something like this.

Finished safe soft house washing and patio cleaning, Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete

Finished safe soft house washing and patio cleaning, Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete

Finished safe soft house washing, Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete

Finished safe soft house washing, Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete

Parting shot of the home from the street looks much brighter and really stands out Cleaned by Pete, House Washing Springfield MO.

Call Cleaned by Pete for your house washing needs in Springfield MO and the surrounding Southwest MO area.

417-459-7869

Power washer ... the person not the machine

Power washer ... the person not the machine

When people ask me what I do for a living I say power wash and follow by saying I'm a "power washer" a person not the machine. This strikes up a conversation and then I can explain some of the services they maybe interested in. So I had an idea they come to me ever now and then I would blog about the person here in stead of the machine. If you are thinking about hiring a power washer make sure he or she is the right one with the right power washer for your washing needs.

Power washer: a person or persons doing pressure / power washing, running or working with the power washing machine.

Power washer: a machine using water pressure for cleaning or removing unwanted dirt or grime.

 Any one can own a power washer, the machine and make it squirt out water does this make them a "power washer? This last week we had two servers where the owners were very active and helpful while we were cleaning. The first was a house washing and patio wash the owners were getting ready to put it on the market and wanted it to have some curb appeal. The mold, algae and mildew removed and the gutters whitened. Normally the owner told me, he washes the house saves a buck but just did not have the time to do it. While I was washing he popped out now and then and was quite impressed. He also added he was impressed with one of our web sites and that is why he gave us the call. At patio cleaning time he helped moved tables and chairs so I could clean under them and so on. When I was finished he told me the house look so good and bright he could hardly look at it in the noon sunshine wonder why he did not have us do it before. He said it had never looked better in the 10 years they owned it, remember he had been washing the home all this time. What was the difference? Of course it was the pressure washer, but the machine or the person? Most power washing contractors that have been doing this type of work for a long time we take pride and like what we do. It's a service that reflects directly upon us in a personal way, the cleaning or washing shows what we do. We not only have the machines to use we know how to use them safely. I find that most of the time we as owners / operators are our hardest critics we are always thinking I wonder if that one area could be cleaner. Most or us are locally owned and live in the area we service, without happy, satisfied customers we are not going to be around long. We relay on customers for repeat cleanings and them to let friends and neighbors know about us. We at Cleaned by Pete will cater to your cleaning needs doing what it takes to complete a job with 100% satisfaction.

The second job we were cleaning the patio / kitchen, BBQ areas for a residential customer (one of our special services) and had to walk around the house to bring the equipment to the backyard. Power washer, vacuum, towels, cleaning equipment, rags, pole dusters and what ever we needed. The customer said you can cut trough the house and save time. I told him not to worry we get paid by the job it would not cost any more if it took more time, and that I would not carry any thing trough a house that may drip of leave dust I had more respect for his home than that. My shoes were wet and though we keep the equipment clean you never know, I did not want to take any chance of anything happening. He was some what surprised and a bit over whelmed with the thought. What made it even better an electrician was walking out of the home (with dirty shoes) using it as the short cut. The owner saw him, look at me and said thank you. This take me back to the same point as above we as power washing professionals make the difference we care about your job, house or what ever we clean for you. Intrusting us with your items or home is a responsibility we don't take lightly.

I was washing a home once for an older couple and the husband came out ever now and them to check the progress and the work which we encourage and to ask any questions too. I was about halfway finished with the cleaning and he one again came out and said, I won't bother you again the wife said for me to stop,  she told me if I couldn't see by now, he is doing the best, you running out there is not helping him clean he will get the house as clean as it could possibly be. Just to knock on the door when you finish. I told him he could still come out and check and ask any questions if he wanted to. He then said, no I can't. Customers trust is earned over the years and it is what keeps the pressure washer, the person in business. I want to say while we are on a job we will treat your home with respect and care, you have intrusted to us your largest investment and we as professional power washer do not take it lightly. We don't just own a power washer, machine, we are power washers.

Remember you are not just hiring a power washer, the machine, you are hiring the power washer, the person. Look for someone you can trust, your home is depending on us. A local power washing professional with a proven track record with years of experiences, is what you want to look for when hiring. If you want this in the Southwest and greater Springfield MO area look to Cleaned by Pete.

417-459-7869

Attachments: the "Media Blaster"

Media Blasting, Sand, Coal Slag & Soda

As promised this entry is about our media attachments, yes attachments we have two different types, which we use for different needs and jobs. When first setting up and studying on this entry up I found out there is to much information to cover in one short entry so I am going to break it up a bit and today hit the highlights and then go into a bit more in the later entry or entries.

Wet media blasting is defined as: the process of removing unwanted material with a water stream into which a media is mixed and is contained that throws abrasive particles against the surface with some force causing removal or the unwanted material.

There are several "pluses" and "negatives" of each method or for "Dry VS. Wet" blasting. I will touch on these points and different media in the later blog entry. For now we will discuss the attachment and how and why it works.

Media can anything that can be drawn into the water or air stream. Common media can be screened sand, coal slag, crushed walnut shells, cobs, soda, crushed glass and other products, each of these have different cutting abilities and come in different grades in-order to fine tune your job's need. Wet media blasting or wet sand blasting is using our pressure washer to supply the water stream and the pressure needed to push this media to the unwanted material and remove it. Some of this media is made to cut off that material, some is made to roll thus more or less erasing the material, and then there is some that hit and fracture or explode removing the material more in a later blog entry. The first thing it to get the media into the water stream.

This is the mixing nozzle that draws in the media and them mixes it into the water stream. Picture form Cleaned by Pete

These tips have to be fit to the power washer as are all nozzles we use, as we learned in earlier entries to big of nozzle reduces pressure to small causes other problems and can harm the pump. This nozzle has a tungsten insert to reduce ware form the media (the one pictured below has a ceramic / metal tip combination). In order to draw the media into the nozzle we have to create a low pressure zone. This low pressure zone is created inside the nozzle it will be filled  by air being drawn in and in that air will also be the media drawing it though the pickup hose. Drawing different media takes different pressures the nozzle above does not adjust for media flow, so we made special inserts to put into the hose drawing the media to help draw at different rates for different medias. The setup below has an adjustable flow there is a small lever on the side-handle which helps to regulate the draw of different media. To much media in the water stream will slow down the blasting process and will not work as effective, and has more waste.

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The small lever on the side handle will help to adjust the media flow, Cleaned by Pete

That is the simple description and function of the media blaster. I will have more on it later in following blog entries as well as different media we use for blasting and why. The following pictures are the media blasters we use, and our setup. 

This is a 16hp motor with a 4 gpm @4000 psi nickle plated head AR pump, the tank on the side is a simple hopper to hold the media or we can use it out of the bucket on the right. Photo from Cleaned by Pete

Cleaned by Pete's media blasting washer.

Cleaned by Pete's Landa media or sand blasting wand and sand probe setup.

The below pictures are of each unit the first one we had set up for soda blasting though we can use it for sand and other media it main job is for soda blasting. The other unit is made by Landa and we use it for all other media we use in blasting.

Soda blaster Cleaned by Pete

Media blaster Cleaned by Pete

This is what each can do just a few picture, more information on our web site, more picture >click here<.

Media blasting Cleaned by Pete

Media blasting Cleaned by Pete

Media blasting Cleaned by Pete

Media blasting Cleaned by Pete

Media blasting Cleaned by Pete

Media blasting Cleaned by Pete

Media blasting Cleaned by Pete

Media blasting Cleaned by Pete

To see how and with what Cleaned by Pete blasted these parts you will have to look for the next instalment on the Attachments:  the "Media Blaster"

House Washing Wednesday

Wednesday has arrived and that means its "House Washing Wednesday" so here are some pictures of work done by, Cleaned by Pete on some different siding surfaces. Soft washing your home is the biggest improvement you can make on a home for the least dollar spent, it is also healthy to have the contaminates and what is growing on your home removed. Soft washing in now the industry standard for house washing. Soft washing is a safe way to wash your home which will give the best results with a safe low pressure water stream. Soft wash is some times called "cleaning with chemicals", using high quality soap and cleaners to remove dirt and grime and kill mold, mildew, algae or what is grow on your home. Soft washing does not require us to put ladders on your home or to crawl around on your home all work is done from the ground. Instead of showing the finished home thought we would show some picture of the cleaning going on. You can see the dirty area and the area we are cleaning. We also sometimes need more pressure as with the native rock home power washing is need to remove years or liken growth. Working with you the customer we can meet your cleaning needs. If it has been two years since your home was cleaned it may be time to consider a house washing call Cleaned by Pete for a free prompt estimate.

our web site www.cleanedbypete.com

our email: cleaned_by_pete@yahoo.com

Lot of the home in South-west MO look like this we have the right conditions that make this a problem call us we can help 417-459-7869

Vinyl siding cleaning Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete.

Vinyl siding being cleaned in Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete.

Steel siding cleaning Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete.

Steel siding takes a bit more skill not to stripe oxidized paint or peel off paint Cleaned by Pete has the knowledge and skill to do your home.

Stained soft wood lap siding cleaning Springfield MO Cleaned by Pete.

Native stone siding cleaning Springfield MO Cleaned by Pete.

Hard board siding  or Masonite Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete

Mold, algae, and mildew removed form vinyl siding Springfield MO, Cleaned by Pete

You would really not know what color was under there unless it was cleaned.

Algae and green mold growing on your home call Cleaned by Pete and we'll be over with a free prompt estimate 417-459-7869

This video form YouTube show the process of  washing a house Cleaned by Pete.

Quick update on the fogger / foamer

Just a Quick update

Earlier we built a fogger / foamer and had and entry to explain why and how we built it. We needed it to apply soap and cleaners on the walls of a home that had odd peaks and dormers that we could not reach straight on. Designed for a safe soft house washing or business wash. Used it a couple times and came up with this: 

The handle's quick connect was a bit wobbly for the length.

Holding the jug was hard on your free hand when holding up the tool.

Need to turn down the rinse at times.

Soap jug need to be able to change and remove faster.

Lastly wanted just a bit more length for peeks and ridges.

  

So just went to the old toolbox and fittings we keep on the service truck and came up with a 1/4" inch ball-valve, another length of pipe, large clip, a old trigger gun then down to the supply house for a side handle for the wand, and to the leather company for a clip swivel. Putting it together this is now what it looks like will be using it soon and give another review on the progress this attachment is  making. It has the potential to be very useful. We were also thinking of using one of the metal water bottles with the clip for the soap we will still have to see. Thank you for viewing. It is a work in progress and it is being mostly made from parts we have laying around trying to keep the cost low. With the work done this time it will fit into our tools and equipment for your power washing needs. Weather we need to purchase or build attachments we will have the right tools to get the job done.

Cleaned by Pete added a inline ball-valve for reducing water flow while rinsing.

Side handle added along with the clip and swivel to hold the jug, also found an old trigger handle in order to make the unit more solid, Cleaned by Pete.

Placement of side handle and ball-valve, Cleaned by Pete

Swivel and clip to hold the cleaners and soaps and an old trigger gun.

Trying to keep cost low and yet make it look some what professional looking, best to work out the bugs first and them we can make it pretty, Cleaned by Pete

These foamers can be found cheap they may not last a long time but for the building trials they work great, they can be changed out for the "M-16 Thruster Nozzle" for long range and fan pattern. Cleaned by Pete will let you know how it is working out.

 If your have any ideas for improvement comment below thanks for the view and hope your are following us here.