Soda blasting inside the hull?

[Davidhoy]

Does anyone have any experience with soda blasting, particularly on the inside of the hull? I saw a post on another forum suggesting the use of soda blasting to clean adhesive residues from under a removed headliner, and it got me thinking about other potential uses, such as cleaning the bilges, possibly the engine too?

Assuming use of the proper safety gear (face shield, respirator, gloves, etc), would anyone recommend for or against this? What about cleanup? It would seem as simple as vacuuming the residue, or perhaps not? Bicarbonate of soda as a blasting agent is appealing in that it is not toxic, and has no significant environmental concerns. But perhaps I'm missing something important here...

Regards,
David.

[IdoraKeeper]

It would seem to exchange time used by normal cleaning method for time used to clean up the huge mess caused by the soda. You would be finding it for years.

[CaptTom]

Agreed. The mess would be considerable. It's bad enough when they do the bottom, and that's with the whole thing tented.

[Zach]

Only in fish holds on steel boats...

Sand blast until zee-foam is out of zee-boat, and shovel out the waste.

Why don't you try Denatured Alcohol, followed by Acetone, followed by Interlux 202, followed by MEK and see what is a solvent to the glue. Most of the time a dampened rag with whatever it doesn't like makes it wriggle around and rub off the hull. Then a stiff plastic brush, balls up the rest of it... Even if the brush melts, it still works until it doesn't.

Acetone, Interlux 202, and MEK all make your children be born naked and other strange things... So big fan, respirator...

Zach

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Davidhoy

Does anyone have any experience with soda blasting, particularly on the inside of the hull? I saw a post on another forum suggesting the use of soda blasting to clean adhesive residues from under a removed headliner, and it got me thinking about other potential uses, such as cleaning the bilges, possibly the engine too?

Assuming use of the proper safety gear (face shield, respirator, gloves, etc), would anyone recommend for or against this? What about cleanup? It would seem as simple as vacuuming the residue, or perhaps not? Bicarbonate of soda as a blasting agent is appealing in that it is not toxic, and has no significant environmental concerns. But perhaps I'm missing something important here...

Regards,
David.

It you want to clean a bilge and engine us a pressure washer or steam jenny. No type of abrasive.

[gjordan]

If you use any of those nasty chemicals (I sometimes do) make sure you have a large fan clearing the fumes out. I met a man in Antigua that a few weeks later burned himself over 90% of his body from using contact cement inside the boat. He died 4 or 5 days after. Be careful. Grant.

[Davidhoy]

Thanks for all the comments! Consensus is not to do this, and it is sound advice.

-David

[hsi88]

Because of all the mold I had on the interior, I approached my soda blaster on the subject. Didn't want to do it because of the cleanup. Doing the hull, he just wrapped up the plastic and threw it away. Not so on an interior. If you are trying strip old material off, you might try a portable blaster and layout lots of plastic. Or just use chemical strippers made for cleaning old adhesive.

But as another person mentioned, using a power washer on the interior is actually a good idea. You just need a pretty much empty boat to do it. I am using a power washer now with my interior and with a little preparation, it works very well. I spray on the new Fanstastik 5 in 1 cleaner with bleach and then spray it off. Short of using the toxic MaryKate On & Off (several acids), nothing has worked better. WAY better than the Spray Nine which is no better than any other purple or green cleaners.

[Cheechako]

There used to be blasting with Dry Ice. The residue just evaporates. Not sure if you can find that service or not.