DIY soda blaster: clean your parts with compressed air and baking soda!

Soda blasting is a bit like sandblasting but more gentle - and for delicate parts like carburettors it can be used to achieve a brand-new look without damaging gritty abrasives getting inside. Especially good for aluminium parts. This simple system uses an air compressor, some plastic hose, a cheap duster gun and a pack of cheap bulk baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). More Garage Night TV videos here at TH-cam or visit the Garage Night TV website!

[@obduliocerceno4984]

Very Practical and ingenious method. Thanks for sharing...

[@theoriginalpauly]

I just threw this together in ten minutes to clean some spark plugs. Perfect! I used kitchen baking soda.

[@GarageNight]

Nice work!

[@Larpy1933]

Totally excellent! Thanks for making the video.

[@bewseybill3691]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@GarageNight]

Hello again. Try a pressure of around 80-90 PSI but for best results you need a compressor with large CFM capacity too.

[@firstfix0623]

Exactly how much CFM should I need? 5 ? 6? or more?

[@TheTorkerman]

Awesome!

[@Neko-Cult]

Cool! i wonder if this would work with Acid Washed Steel just to clean it up when it comes out of the Acid?

[@jetta7854]

I've built the same basic unit and use instead of soda I use coffee grounds. A cheap 1 pound of coffee from dollar store works awesome it hose pretty far too and is not too abrasive it leaves no marks in aluminum. And can be screened and reused

[@GarageNight]

Wow! Do you make coffee with it afterwards???

[@pipi7731]

Smart I like it.

[@richardadams1337]

Nice idea. A possible modification to the idea might be to try and elevate the bucket of baking soda to allow it gravity feed as well as venture draw the material. You might get a higher concentration and more steady stream of baking soda that way.
Just a thought.

[@jaymorris3468]

Awesome

[@garymastro4870]

Well done, gents!
Where does one shop for that quantity of baking soda?

[@GarageNight]

+Gary Mastro I think we purchased from a large Chinese/oriental food supermarket ... you could also try one of those bulk grocers like Costco etc ... Another place to try is a pool shop. What you are looking for is sodium bicarbonate and the pool places sell it as an alkalinity increaser I believe, but possibly with a big markup so they can pretend it's some kind of specialised chemical. The pool shop variety may be more coarse, though this is probably fine. I would look at who sells the most suitable quantity for your purposes, at the lowest price (pool shop vs Chinese supermarket!) and go from there. Hope that helps. Waz from Garage Night

[@nanangbustanul6525]

how many ph of air compressor do we need to make this soda blaster?

[@jaxv94]

why not wear a mask?

[@ThePotatusMan]

Hi, would it be a bad idea to blast parts while they're still on the bike?

[@GarageNight]

***** Hi! I think where possible it would be better to remove the parts. Baking soda is alkaline, so it could have a corrosive action on any paint, metals etc that come into contact, especially prolonged contact. Also, it makes a bit of a mess. Hope that helps.

[@michaelslack5269]

+ThePotatusMan yes

[@donerae8682]

Sift the baking soda get the clumps out

[@vincentmaglasang7670]

is it compressed air and baking soda..??

[@GarageNight]

Yep - as per the video

[@richw1907]

Hay what size tubing did you use??? inside diameter???

[@GarageNight]

Hi - try a tubing with 7/16 inch inside diameter (11mm). Hardware stores should sell various different diameters.

[@KT-fi7tm]

Where did you buy the bulk baking soda?

[@GarageNight]

Chinese grocery store/supermarket. A home brew shop might also have some.

[@rookie55023]

how much psi of air does it require??

[@GarageNight]

rd matias Hello there. Try around 80-90 PSI. The size and capacity of the air compressor also matters. It's worth a try with whatever compressor you've got but in general, the larger the compressor's tank and the higher its CFM rating, the better.

[@markinnam6991]

Hey guys, ever used fill sand with your invention ?

[@GarageNight]

No, think it would be too coarse and not powerful enough to lift the sand. You'd be better off using a sandblasting gun - basic ones are cheap and work on more or less the same principle.

[@markinnam6991]

The soda wasn't much effect so I tried it with yellow sand, all I had was builders sand which has clay particles in it, IT worked in my home mad blaster It would be way better with white, children's play sand as it would be cleaner. Down side is the amount of sand going everywhere, you REALLY need a system of containment

[@markinnam6991]

Also need a larger compressor as 2hp and small tank means it running full belt at 90psi

[@markinnam6991]

@@GarageNight I did it at 95 psi it lifted the sand and blasted the ali enough power that I had sand through my hair

[@jasnjhgenderl8018]

Just boil it f 20mins in baking soda

[@nairblab4061]

I tried this, and all it did was pressurize the soda container.

[@GarageNight]

I think you might have gotten something wrong. The soda container should not be sealed. Take a good look at the video and try again. Air Cooled Tech also has a good run-down on the build.

[@nairblab4061]

Problem was that I didn't insert the air blower nozzle in facing WITH the curve of the PVC hose I used. Their arches were facing opposite directions, so it forced the air the wrong way down the tube. I got it to work, but it didn't do too well at removing gunk from the metal test pieces, but I blame my compressor for that. Thanks for the vid!

[@GarageNight]

Yes you need some meaty CFMs to run it reliably and for longer periods - a belt-drive, twin-cylinder compressor with a chunky tank volume. For really heavy jobs - rust removal etc - you are still going to need a sandblasting or abrasive media set-up. Good luck!

[@RealityGutPunch]

Use it on your teeth! Great results

[@zzubuzz]

It's garage, not gaar-idge..but go on...