Chevrolet Corvettes

Plastic Media Blasting

Plastic media blasting is a process used to for the rapid removal of coatings on materials. The method does not involve toxic chemical strippers, burn off systems, sandblasting, hand or mechanical abrasion methods. In the case of automobiles paint is removed. The process is similar to sand blasting and uses the same type of equipment but instead of sand plastic bits with the texture of large corn meal is used to chip away the paint. Since plastic is a non-toxic compound, the process is eco-friendly.

Plastic media blasting uses high volume air and low pressure to propel the plastic into the paint which results in the paint being chipped away. The process does not create the heat that is generated by normal sand blasting and is therefore safe to use on thin metal. Sand blasting thin metal could cause warping of metal if not done very very carefully. The metal surface when sand blasted is pitted and feels like sandpaper. When plastic media is used to remove the paint the metal surface under the paint is virtually unaffected by the plastic media process. However, rust is not removed by plastic. Loose rust is blown away but the basic rust problem is still there to be dealt with by other procedures.

PMB –plastic media blasting—is less aggressive than sand so it can be used on a wide variety of projects with less concern for damaging results. Fiberglass i.e. Corvettes and boats can have the paint removed. Since the surface (gel-coat) under the paint is relative soft compared to metal, after Paint removal the surface is more like the surface of an orange. Body filler can be removed or left in place depending on the thickness and/or customers' desires.