Will sandblasting remove powder coating?

Sandblasting and other abrasive blasting are often used to remove powder coating. These are also common methods for preparing a surface for powder coating. Sandblasting makes use of an air compressor to propel blast abrasive grains through a nozzle at high velocity onto your chosen project surface. However, more advanced blast abrasives – such as EpiX and KinetiX superoxalloy abrasives from 10X Engineered Materials– can save time and money versus sandblasting or other blast media. 10X abrasives can even eliminate the need for chemical stripping.

Alternative Methods to Remove Powder Coating

Other common methods used for removing powder coating include using chemical strippers or a burn-off oven. Those methods are be dangerous or difficult. 

For example, some powder coat strippers, like Benco B17, can burn your skin on contact, are difficult to handle safely, and often have intense odors. Alternatively, the intense heat from burn-off ovens may alter the underlying metal surface, warping the structure or making it difficult to apply a new coating.

Using Abrasive Media Blasting

Using abrasive media is a simple and reliable way of removing the powder coating from a surface. However, some of these media can be harmful to use or damaging to the underlying surface. For example, sand can contain high amounts of free silica, which causes health issues when inhaled, such as lung inflammation and silicosis. Other alternatives — typically aluminum oxide, garnet, coal slag, and crushed glass — can be slow and unproductive. 

The EpiX and KinetiX lines of superoxalloy blast abrasives from 10X Engineered Materials are  more effective, cleaner abrasives that can remove the powder coating much faster than alternatives – leaving a ready-to-coat surface. 

Superoxalloy abrasives from 10X are also easier on substrates than other forms of blast media: not only do they leave virtually no embedment – creating a clean surface – but they also do it with no burn off or scraping. 

Currently, KinetiX and EpiX are available from abrasive distributors around the US. If you don’t see a distributor near you, contact 10X and we will work with you to get you what you need. EpiX abrasive, which is best for precision applications such as powder coating and medical applications, is also available to purchase directly from the 10X Engineered Materials website.