Cleaning up after soda blasting.

JBurd

New member
We came in after a crew soda blasted a residential driveway to strip paint. Their project was off and on over a few weeks due to weather but then we went right in there and soft-washed the house down. We downstreamed a pretty sudsy mix of PM for Bleach to neutralize the soda, then did a very thorough low pressure rinse (about 10 times as much rinsing as with a normal house wash). The rinsing was done at about 300 psi with fan tips. It looked great wet but after it dried the stone was still showing an efflorescence like white haze. A second rinse didn't charge the results much. Any ideas on what is happening and what can be done about it?

soda residual 2.jpg
 
I don't do much masonry type work (not much in my market), however, I would guess that it is an acid rinse to remove effervescence stain
 
Soda blasting leaves a residue that needs to be neutralized, it has a PH of 8.5. I would clean it down with a Phosphoric based detergent.

We stopped soda blasting about 4 years ago but we did it for 15 years, it always needs to be neutralized.
 
The concrete is fine (that's the surface that was painted). It's the stone facade of the adjacent home that is showing the white haze. Does anyone know if PM for Bleach or Bleach Wash are as effective at neutralizing soda as phosphoric based detergents?
 
Did you use real bleach or the powder stuff? The powder stuff will leave a bad haze.
 
Did you use real bleach or the powder stuff? The powder stuff will leave a bad haze.

Neither...PM for Bleach is made as a post-rinse and neutralizer for windows, equipment etc that has had sodium hypochlorite on it. Nowhere in this process was any sort of bleach used.
 
The concrete is fine (that's the surface that was painted). It's the stone facade of the adjacent home that is showing the white haze. Does anyone know if PM for Bleach or Bleach Wash are as effective at neutralizing soda as phosphoric based detergents?


I'm not aware of the product you are talking about, to neutralize it needs to be acidic to restore the balance.
 
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