Powder Coat Stripping

Powder coating is used in applications where a tougher finish is required than a traditional liquid paint. The free-flowing, dry powder is typically applied electrostatically and then heat cured to form the bond. Powder coatings are very difficult to remove from the sub-surface as they are often thicker and more aggressively bonded to the surface than more traditional coatings.

Removing powder coating from a surface can be a challenging process. In addition to the thickness of the coating, the bond between the powder and the metal often requires more energy to break than the force needed to etch or potentially damage the sub-surface.

This powder coated punched hole wire mesh was stripped (right side) using an abrasive blasting process with 60 mesh Aluminum Oxide Grit. A larger grit size was also tested (which did strip the coating more quickly) but the metal surface became too heavily etched. Less aggressive media such as Glass Bead and Plastic Abrasive Media were unable to efficiently remove the coating.