Media
Garnet Blasting Perth
The abrasive we run by default — naturally silica-free, fast-cutting, and gradeable from a light sweep to heavy mill scale.
The short answer
Garnet is a hard, angular, naturally silica-free mineral abrasive, and it is the default media for most blasting in WA. It cuts quickly, breaks down slowly enough to be reused, and comes in grades that let one media cover everything from a light sweep to structural steel.
Why garnet became the standard
Three reasons: it cuts fast for its weight, it is naturally free of crystalline silica so there is no sand-substitute compromise, and it is dense enough to keep working after impact rather than shattering into dust immediately.
That density also means less media consumed per square metre than a friable abrasive, and less spent material to collect at the end of the job.
Grades, and what they do to the finish
Coarse grades hit harder and leave a deeper anchor profile — what you want under high-build industrial coatings on structural steel. Fine grades leave a tighter, more uniform profile suited to thin films, panel work and visible finishes.
Choosing the grade is part of quoting the job properly. A coating datasheet specifying a profile range is really specifying a media grade and pressure, and we set both to it.
Garnet versus the alternatives
Recycled glass is lighter and friable — kinder to soft substrates, but it breaks down faster and cuts less. Soda does not cut at all, which is the point of it. Slag abrasives hit hard and cheap but dust heavily and are single-use.
Garnet sits in the middle and covers the widest range of work, which is why it lives in the pot unless the substrate says otherwise. Choosing blasting media compares them all.
Wet or dry, same media
Garnet runs in both setups. Dry for mill scale, heavy coatings and tank interiors; wet for panels, masonry, occupied sites and boatyards. The media does not change — the water does. Wet versus dry blasting covers the trade-off.
Common questions
Garnet blasting — your questions answered
Is garnet silica-free?
Garnet is a naturally silica-free mineral abrasive, which is the main reason it replaced sand as the default in Australia.
Can garnet be reused?
Yes, several times in a recovery setup, because it is dense enough to survive impact. That is part of why it works out economical despite costing more per tonne than slag.
Which garnet grade will my job need?
Coarse for mill scale, heavy rust and structural steel; fine for panel work, visible finishes and thin coating films. If your coating datasheet states a profile range, that decides it.
Is garnet safe on brick and timber?
At a fine grade and low pressure, wet, yes — that is how we strip painted brick and decking. At coarse grades and high pressure it will erode both, which is why we test a hidden section first.
Written from our own jobs across Perth and WA · Last updated 20 August 2026