Vapour Blasting Service

In addition to ultrasonic cleaning and jet washing capabilities, Sonic Solutions now also offers vapour blasting.

What is vapour blasting?

Vapour, or wet blasting is defined as “the use of high pressure compressed air mixed with an abrasive media within a water solution to achieve a high-quality finish on a number of different surfaces.” 

The addition of water gives vapour blasting a much more consistent finish over dry blasting. It does so because the abrasive material is buffered by the water, also creating a smoother finish. This is especially important when the surface being vapour blasted is highly sensitive, such as engine cylinders or polished parts.

How it works

Compressed air, water and abrasive media mix are forced down a dual hose system and then mixed in a chamber before being ejected from a small nozzle opening in the gun. This fine but powerful mist applies the force required to clean the surface it comes into contact with. Users can easily manipulate the item and the gun together inside a closed unit with glove inserts which makes the whole process very efficient and very clean.

The media is filtered out when it gets too fine so that the finish remains consistent throughout. A recycling water system keeps the good media and water going around the unit until the user determines it needs changing, making it very environmentally friendly.

A number of factors can be altered within the vapour blasting machine to achieve the desired cleaning result. Factors such as the media composition and size, water and air pressure, the mix ratio of water to media, media filtration, proximity and angle of the hose to the item, all influence the final outcome of the cleaning process.

At Sonic Solutions we have cleaned a wide variety of parts using vapour blasting and together with ultrasonic cleaning we can achieve the perfect finish customers are hoping for. Vapour blasting provides a shiny and smooth finish that ultrasonics can struggle to achieve.

However the two disadvantages of vapour blasting are that it cannot clean inaccessible internal areas and it leaves a residue of the abrasive material on the item. Ultrasonic cleaning following the vapour blasting provides the perfect companion; cleaning those inaccessible internal areas, and removing residual media left after the vapour blast process. 

Because of the clear advantages of vapour blasting in certain situations Sonic Solutions recently acquired a Vapormatt Panther. This offers us a fantastic opportunity to vapour blast almost anything a client asks, so long as it fits inside the blasting cabinet (approx 1 metre cubed). This can then be followed by an ultrasonic clean to remove residual media and clean all inaccessible and internal surfaces. This is offered as an auxiliary cleaning process to existing customers at the moment but as of January 2020 we are operating a full vapour blasting service.