August 16th, 2010 by bbergman

Damage to the hull is one the worst things to happen to a boat and depending on the degree of repair necessary, it can be one of the most time-consuming and expensive ordeals.

Boat hull damage is caused by coming in contact with objects in the sea or the result of rot. But you can make a fiberglass boat hull look new again. Here are a few pointers:

If your boat has significant damage, haul it out of the water and do a thorough inspection of the entire surface; for boats with minor to moderate damage above the water line, the hull can be repaired while the boat is docked.

If you want to know if your boat hull might be damaged and in need of repair, you can tap the area in question with a screwdriver. You are generally looking to hear a solid noise, which means the damage is not extensive. If the noise is hollow, you could be looking at larger, more expensive problem.

One of the best solutions is sodablasting your fiberglass hull. “Sodablast Systems makes, in my opinion, probably the best and simplest blast unit I have ever seen,” said Terry (with Blaster Master in Canada). “It is extremely simpole to use and fill; training on it takes about 10 minutes.”

For more information about boat repair, visit www.sodablastboats.com

December 1st, 2009 by rhondap

Dealing with a fire is a devastating and overwhelming experience where recovery and restoration is often times an emotional, time-consuming and expensive process. Whether it’s a home or a business that catches fire, the physical and financial stress can have a damaging impact on families, careers and businesses.

Although a fire can wipe out all of a family’s belongings and personal items or destroy a business, restoring the property to new condition and eliminating damage caused by soot, smoke and odor is possible.

Restoring a property to pre-fire condition and removing damage caused by the fire and subsequently water used to put out the flames, is a job best left to the experts that have experience, resources and tools to handle the job.

Consider soot, a general term that refers to impure carbon particles resulting from incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon. The particles have electrical charges that cause them to stick together with grease and oil acting as adhesives. By using a standard blasting solution that is abrasive and harsh to the surface, you are actually adding to the level of dirty contaminates and caused by fire and soot.

Breathing soot is hazardous to the lungs and general health; in fact, a New England Journal of Medicine study published in 2007 found that breathing common urban air pollution, including soot, is much deadlier than previously thought.

At SodaBlast Systems, we are constantly amazed on a daily basis how well sodablasting works to repair properties, remove damage and restore lives touched by fire.

Sodablasting is ideal for removing smoke and soot damage from brick, concrete, stone, wood and more – the neutralizing properties tackle nasty smells, toxic residue and soot associated with fire, absorbing the lingering odors without causing further damage to the site.

Sodablasting is a non-abrasive, chemical- and toxin-free process that is friendly on the environment, contractor and property.

February 5th, 2009 by jacobg

Building Services Management Magazine recently wrote an article on graffiti removal with the SodaBlaster. The article talks a little about the Chicago graffiti clean-up initiative as well as a new one in San Marcos, TX, both of which use the genuine SodaBlaster from SodaBlast Systems LLC. Here’s a quote from the article:

“…soda blasting technology can clean up to 19 square feet per minute…the possibilities are not limited to graffiti removal. Soda blasting does not cause collateral damage to surface areas, so once-damaged materials or surfaces can be recycled, restored or even reused.”

You can read the whole article at this link: BSM Magazine.

December 28th, 2008 by jacobg

Graffiti Removal is one of a thousand easy tasks for the SodaBlaster. Graffiti can make a business look shabby and be a major turn-off to customers, but don’t worry; SodaBlast Systems has got you covered. The SodaBlaster uses patented technology that blasts away graffiti faster than any other method, and is 100% environmentally friendly. Watch the video below to see it in action.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5c7Ei-uRDI

SodaBlast Systems has just launched a new website dedicated to Graffiti Removal, check it out at BestGraffitiRemoval.com.

November 19th, 2008 by admin

After the Texas coast was bombarded by Hurricane Ike, mold remediation is in high demand, and the SodaBlaster is the fastest, most thorough and eco-friendly way to go about it.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgiUP53QD6w
For more information visit SodaBlastRemediators.com.

September 24th, 2008 by jacobg

We’re proud of our products, we know we produce the most powerful blasting systems in the world, and we want everyone to know about it. But to avoid being too egotistical we’re not going to toot our own horn in this blog - we’re going to let our customers do it. Here’s what SodaBlast users have to say:

“I highly recommend sodablasting, in fact, I have suggested it to several of my friends. Since we finally got rid of all the stinky chemicals involved in dipping, and sodablast the parts, I would NEVER go back.” – Ron

“We Clean an average of 20 square feet per minute when using the SB200 Mobile SodaBlaster.” – Don

“There is an extensive amount of space we have cleaned, and countless hours we’ve put on the machine with very little maintenance, etc. Thanks.” –Steve

“Thanks I really appreciate your concern with my capabilities of generating business! Believe me I have talked to a lot of soda blast distributors over the past couple of days. None were concerned with how I was going to succeed but more so how I was going to pay for a soda blast system.” - Mike

Marine Maintenance:

“The superior finish left by Sodablast saved us days of skilled labour. I highly recommend them and will definitely be using Sodablast again for antifoul removal.” -Karl

“There were multiple layers of antifoul on the Christine Ann and we knew that hand sanding was a daunting task. We were very wary of using abrasive blasting on her spotted gum hull but the Sodablast method proved to be very successful and left the timber intact. I would highly recommend Sodablast to timber boat owners who would normally avoid abrasive blasting” –Graeme

“Hi Benny, I am Mr. Jenny Garcia from ARUBA. I hope ever thing is well with you and your family. Well, what I can tell you, the SodaBlaster machine is one of the best buys that we did. We did 76 boats till yesterday, from 20 ft up to 60 ft boats that is, without counting the car, bike and engines that we did. That machine is one of the best.” - Jenny Garcia

Graffitti and Restoration:

“SodaBlasting is an extremely effective method of paint removal, building restoration and fire/smoke/mould remediation. The key is that the process does not damage the original surface and is environmentally friendly. I was very impressed and would highly recommend SodaBlast to anyone with cleaning challenges in the building and property management industry‘ -Sam

“SodaBlast removed the paint from a wall to be rendered so quickly it was unbelievable. We use the SodaBlast team regularly for paint removal from a variety of surfaces. The best thing is there is no clean up as they did it all!” - Mal

“SodaBlast successfully removed two layers of paint from sandstone on a Heritage building in a fraction of the time of other methods. The finish was beyond our expectations and I highly recommend them.” - Nigel

“Works great on statues, and is great for industrial cleaning. My customers are telling me it saves them time on clean up after the blasting is finished.” - Ken

Check out our product line.

September 9th, 2008 by SB Editor

You already know the SodaBlaster is a great tool for graffiti, auto restoration, food equipment cleaning, boat hull maintenance and fire, flood and mold remediation. But the efficiency of a SodaBlaster is not limited to typical jobs and routine situations. SodaBlast Systems is proving to be the best solution, no matter how unique the problem.

An independent contractor who uses a SodaBlaster was hired for a very unusual job. There was a 108 year old farmhouse whose attic had entertained the town on Friday nights by hosting dances many years ago. Unfortunately, the latter owners had neglected the house, and bats had moved into the attic… so many bats that inches worth of their excrement had to be shoveled out. Contractor Jim Riehl was hired by the renovation company to Dry Ice blast the attic, in hopes of removing the remaining bat feces. Here are Jim’s words:

“The floor boards were still discolored and smelled of the urine and feces (I get some of the loveliest jobs!) Anyway, I set up for ice blasting with my compressor putting out 120PSI and running all 100′ of blast hose up the outside wall of the home and through the attic window. The renovation company guys and owners were standing around watching the set up with great anticipation. As we blasted with the fan nozzle, the ice had only a good affect on the floor board, not poor but not great. Also, during the 5 hours of blasting the hose became as rigid as a steel pipe about 20 minutes into it and stayed that way for the duration of about 2 hours. What a pain in the ‘you know what’.”

“I then ran 75′ of air line up to the blaster and used just the 20′ blast line. It still got as rigid as a pipe and had only a slightly better affect on the floor. We finished about 1/2 of the 1,500 ft in those 5 hours. Embarrassed again, as I told the restoration company and the owner it would take about 4 hours to blast the entire attic floor, and I was basing that on twice the time it would take to soda blast it. We quit and went home. I went back myself 4 days later after I flew a trip and soda blasted the other half of the floor myself in 1 hour! In fact, I spent another 30 minutes re-blasting the dry ice side to remove the smell!”

Dry ice blasting took almost 5 times as long and did not take care of the smell like Soda Blasting did. This is because not only is baking soda an excellent cleaner, but it also absorbs odors (this is why you may have seen a box of baking soda in an old fridge). SodaBlasting is the best solution to any cleaning problem.

If it can blast away years of stain, stink and residue from bats, imagine what it can do for your project! For more information visit SodaBlastSystems.com

July 28th, 2008 by SB Editor

If you’re looking at buying a sand blaster, first consider this. Sand is not the only media to blast with. Sure it’s the oldest and most well known, but there’s also aluminum oxide, walnut shell, glass beads, corn cob and baking soda, just to name a few. Each have different properties making them uniquely valuable for different applications. Don’t get stuck using only one blasting media.

For instance, aluminum oxide is harder, sharper and leaves a smoother surface than sand, it can also be recycled many times. Glass bead blasting is a slower process than blasting with sand and aluminum oxide, but it leaves a smoother finish and doesn’t remove a significant amount of the base metal. Walnut shell is a soft blasting media which still has impressive stripping abilities without damaging the substrate, and is biodegradable.

SodaBlast Systems makes a blaster that can use any of the most common types of blasting media, so you can choose the best option for each project. In addition to well known blasting materials, SodaBlasters ™ are perfect for blasting with sodium bicarbonate (Baking Soda), and more. The Blasters also include a complex moisture separation system, for uninterrupted use with any blasting media.

So if you’re making the investment for a blaster, make sure you cover all your bases with the versatile multi-media blaster by SodaBlast Systems. Check out SodaBlastandMore.com for more information.

July 22nd, 2008 by SB Editor

Repainting a boat can be a very time consuming labor for the do-it-yourselfer, or hard on the wallet to get it done professionally. We’re talking thousands of dollars for a small boat. But to protect your investment, you can’t really afford not to do the proper hull maintenance.

Thanks to advancing technology it is possible to strip and prepare your boat hull for painting more efficiently than ever before. SodaBlast Systems has come up with a more economically friendly way to prepare boats for bottom painting. The SodaBlast Systems method is not unlike sandblasting, the main difference being that sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is used as the blasting media rather than sand.

Baking soda is environmentally friendly, rinses away easily and dissolves in water. Not only does the SodaBlast method remove paint, but it also safely strips away marine growth. It does not harm non-blistered gelcoat, but can be used to open blisters in gelcoat and prepare them for repair. SodaBlastSystems has specialized contractors all over the world, which can be located at one of their websites.

On the other hand SodaBlast Systems also has great opportunities for those who want to start a business. For more information go to SodaBlastBoats.com

July 15th, 2008 by SB Editor

Anyone who’s ever been to an auto show knows the importance of a great paint job. An amazing paint job can turn heads even from a distance. But what about when you get a little closer? Even with the most dazzling colors and the most aesthetic designs, your ride can’t have that glassy, glossy, perfect show-car shine without the proper surface preparation BEFORE the paint is applied.

A “Classic” car is only classic because of it’s age, but with that age comes at least one older coat of paint, with possible chips, weathering and rust. If you’re about to spend your hard earned money and time repainting your vehicle, it’s important to make sure you do all the necessary surface preparation beforehand. Removing all old paint and rust rather than painting over it will make a night and day difference in the finished product. But what’s the best way to remove the relics of your cars former life?

When you think about removing paint, sandblasting often comes to mind first. Sandblasting has been around for decades and can have decent results, but there are downsides to the sandblasting method. Sand is a very harsh abrasive that can warp or stretch sheet metal, as well as damaging any rubber seals or chrome. Not to mention that the mess left over afterwards can cut into precious cruising time. Sandblasting works fine for thicker metal parts with rust, but why not save yourself some hassle and use the same blasting media for all areas of the car?

1936 Dodge before & After Photos

Soda blasting is a similar but better process for this application. Instead of sand, it uses baking soda, which is 100% natural and non toxic. Blasting with Baking Soda will not warp metal, and will not damage glass, chrome, or rubber.

For more information visit: www.SodaBlastCars.com