When it comes to abrasive blasting, what you put in the pot matters just as much as the pressure you run or the prep you do. Different surfaces need different abrasive media, and choosing the wrong kind can waste your time pretty significantly. It might even create an uneven final result or cause surface damage.
At Hamilton Blast & Paint, we work with a wide range of materials and surfaces across industrial, automotive, and marine projects. Over time, we’ve built a pretty good sense of what works best and where.
This quick guide will help you understand the best blasting method for a given application, including why the blasting media matters, and how we decide which one to use for each job.
First, let’s understand blasting media:
“Media” is the industry term for the abrasive material that actually does the cleaning or profiling. Think of it like sandpaper grit: the finer the grain, the gentler it is. On the other hand, the coarser it is, the more aggressive the cut.
Choosing the best blasting method (a.k.a. the right media) comes down to three things: what you’re blasting, what finish you want, and how much surface profile you need for coating adhesion.
You’re not going to come across a one-size-fits-all option, which is why our work always begins with a careful assessment of the surface to be blasted.
Now, let’s unpack your options:
Steel grit and shot.
If we’re after a workhorse, then the best blasting method to pick is absolutely steel grit (sometimes known as ‘shot’). This is a fast-cutting, heavy-duty, and great for removing mill scale, rust, or thick coatings from steel.
We use this media often on structural components, truck chassis, and heavy equipment, where a deep, clean profile is needed for a tough coating. Steel grit is angular, so it bites into the surface much more aggressively than the other options on this list. Shot is rounder, so it leaves a more polished finish.
Both options can be recycled several times, so they are an efficient choice for large-scale industrial blasting and coating.
Garnet.
Garnet is one of our most-used abrasives because it strikes a great balance between performance and precision. Garnet is a natural mineral, non-toxic, and much cleaner to work with than many of the traditional silica-based sands. This is definitely the best blasting method if we’re trying to work sustainably, as it can also be reused.
That’s not to say that garnet is only useful for sustainable work. It naturally cuts fast, produces minimal dust, and works beautifully on both steel and concrete. This is why we use garnet for a huge range of jobs, because it gives a consistent surface profile for most general blasting projects.
Glass bead.
Glass beads are one of the more interesting entries on this list. It doesn’t strip aggressively like grit does; instead, it polishes the surface to a satin sheen. We tend to use it mainly on stainless steel, aluminium, and other delicate components where the final appearance matters as much as cleanliness.
This is especially effective for marine and automotive restoration, where you want to clean corrosion and paint off without eating into the metal itself.
Vapour blasting.
Finally, we have to tip our caps to vapour blasting. After all, some surfaces need a much softer touch. Vapour blasting – which you might have also heard referred to as ‘wet blasting’ – mixes fine abrasive media with water to cushion the impact of the granules.
We use vapour blasting regularly in our restoration projects. It’s slower, yes, but it gives a beautifully even finish that leaves parts looking clean and polished.
So, how should you choose?
In most cases, choosing the best blasting method should be the purview of the blasting contractor you’ve hired on-site. Every blasting job has its sweet spot, balanced between the combination of media, pressure, and technique that delivers the perfect result without damaging the surface.
To strike that balance, we start by asking a few questions:
- What is the material we’re cleaning and re-coating?
- What condition is it in?
- What is the end goal (clean polish, heavy coating, or something in between)?
Once we know these answers – either from an inspection or a conversation – the right blasting media almost picks itself.
If you are tackling your own project, make sure to always test on a small area first. And if you would rather have a team of professionals select the best blasting method for your restoration, the team at Hamilton Blast & Paint is always ready to step in.
Find the best blasting method with Hamilton Blast & Paint.
The team at Hamilton Blast & Paint has decades of collective experience blasting and coating a variety of surfaces, so we are here to help execute your restoration seamlessly.
Book our mobile blasting and paint service for a convenient, high-quality blasting job using the ideal media for the job.