Cleaning iron or steel molds used in the glass & rubber industries and in some permanent mold aluminum foundries. These molds can cost many thousands of dollars to produce and, in use, are coated with a mold release agent to allow easy separation of the part from the mold. Over time, there can be a build-up of this release agent, which must be removed when maintenance is performed. Care must be taken to ensure that effective cleaning is done but without disturbing the surface profile of the mold and without damaging any detail work on the molds. Blasting with dry ice pellets is commonly used while the molds are in-place, but a more effective method must be used when those molds are removed from production and taken to the Mold Room for cleaning and refurbishing. Sometimes, this will be a manual cleaning with an abrasive pad (Scotchbrite pad) or may be cleaned by blasting with glass beads or plastic media. Our NU-SOFT Steel Shot, NS70, is the ideal media for this application.
- Industry/Application: Glass, rubber, aluminum mold maintenance
- Challenge: Remove mold release buildup without damaging delicate mold surfaces
- NU-SOFT Solution: Used NU-SOFT NS70 steel shot instead of abrasive pads or glass beads
- Benefits: Preserved mold detail, effective cleaning, less manual labor
- Media Used: NS70
