Pressure Washer Media Blasting Tile?

[Blakespools]

Hi guys, has anyone tried using a pressure washer with the media attachment to clean calcium from their pool tile? If so what were the results and what psi washer did you use?

I have a fountain that in the past someone sand blasted and it removed the porcelain or glass surface from the tile making it very rough and porous. The fountain has 2 types of tile. It seems like on one type of the tile in a particular area even when keeping the chems in check calcium still lightly builds up on the water line, the other type of tile is fine. I have a pressure washer and was considering getting a media attachment to clean it with soda or plastic bead so any info is appreciated.

Thanks,

Blake

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The hardness of the media has to be matched to the calcium scale hardness or else it won't work.

I had my tile cleaned using kierserite media to do the standard blasting. It has a mohs hardness that is perfectly match calcium carbonate scale and is much much softer than glass beads or garnet media. Kierserite does not scratch tile glaze at all.

The process worked perfectly and my tiles looked brand new -

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[Blakespools]

Thanks for the reply, did you use a pressure washer or the standard compressor method?

Blake

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Standard compressed air method. Just to be clear, it was not i that did the work but a company I hired.

 

[Blakespools]

Standard compressed air method. Just to be clear, it was not i that did the work but a company I hired.

Ahh, yes that part i get, usually the people i hire use soda. I just made the post to see if anyone had done it themselves with a water pressure washer and media attachment. I have seen a lot of videos on youtube of people using this method on sheet metal, cars etc and was curious if it had been done on tile by the DIY type person.

Blake

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I suppose you could give it a try. Kieserite media is available online for purchase and it's only mildly soluble in water so I think it would actually work better than soda (sodium bicarbonate) in that way. MaxxStripe is the brand I've seen used and it sells for ~$70 for 50#'s.

Do you have some old tile you can test it out on?

 

[kadavis]

Many companies use the pressure washer method. But depending on the media you are using would determine which is best. MrHardWater.com sells Pool Cleaning Supplies on-line.