Steel Shot Similar to bird shot, it is rough on a substrate but not nearly as rough as sand. Advantages are that it can be magnetically separated from the soils and reused and it does not create a hazardous dust. Wastes are kept to a minimum. A popular system for paint stripping PMB is relatively easy on substrates and can be reused. PMB can be tailored to a lot of paint stripping applications by using plastic beads of varying size and hardness.
Systems are relatively inexpensive.
Plastic Foam Oils, greases, dirt, even paint can be removed from parts by blasting with little bits of urethane foam. The foam can then be washed, dried and reused. Waste streams are similar to a parts washer with the advantage that the part itself does not get wet. For paint or scale removal, the foam can be wet to reduce dust generation. Developed for aircraft paint stripping, this system has some interesting characteristics.