Steel surfaces are prone to the corrosive effects of rust, dust, grime and other contaminants that can come in during the manufacturing process. Read more about steel surface cleaning at https://www.shapecut.com.au/blog/everything-youve-ever-wanted-to-know-about-steel-surface-cleaning/

1. EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER
WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT
STEEL SURFACE CLEANING

2. STEEL IS SUCH A STRONG AND VERSATILE
CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL THAT, TO
MANY PEOPLE, IT MAY EVEN APPEAR TO
BE INDESTRUCTIBLE. HOWEVER, STEEL
SURFACES NEED TO BE EXTENSIVELY
TREATED BEFORE THEY CAN BE USED.

3. RUST IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON FORMS OF
CORROSION, AND PITTED CORROSION CAN MAKE
WHOLE SECTIONS OF STEEL COMPLETELY
UNFEASIBLE.
Mill scale are the flakes of hot steel that sometimes
occur during manufacturing that will fall away over
time but get in the way when the steel is coated.
RUST

4. GREASE, OIL AND DUST SIMILARLY GET IN THE
WAY OF COATING SO NEED TO BE REMOVED AS
QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

5. THERE ARE MANY METHODS TO PREPARING STEEL
SURFACES FOR TREATMENT, AND WE WILL DETAIL THE
MOST POPULAR AND EFFECTIVE ONES.
Solvent Cleaning is the first step in any steel preparation
process. Entire steel sections are treated with a solvent
such as acetone, which assists in the removal of mill
scale, oxides and any elements of corrosion that have
already appeared.
A GUIDE TO STEEL
SURFACE TREATMENT

6. POWER TOOLS, SUCH AS ROTARY BRUSHES AND
GRINDERS AND EVEN NEEDLE GUNS ARE A REGULAR
GO-TO METHOD FOR REMOVING DEBRIS FROM STEEL.
These tools are particularly effective in corners or crevices
where abrasive grit blasting is ineffective or impractical.
For something more hardcore for structural steel, there’s
Acid pickling. This method involves lowering the steel into
a giant “bathtub” of inhibited acids designed to dissolve
mill scale and rust.
GETTING OUT THE
HEAVY EQUIPMENT

7. A MORE FLAMBOYANT METHOD IS USING FIRE
Moving an oxy torch over the steel causes rust to fall off
or at least becoming dislodged for removal by hand
tools later. It’s not the most efficient use of resources
compared to other methods detailed here but it certainly
is the most eye-catching.
MOVING AN OXY TORCH
OVER THE STEEL

8. WWW.SHAPECUT.COM.AU
1800 ShapeCUT (1800 742 732)