Surface cleanliness

There are two main international standards for measuring steel surface cleanliness: the ISO Standard and the SSPC standard.

ISO 8501-1 standard
This is a visual assessment of a surface that specifies different preparation grades and degrees of cleanliness. The preparation grades are defined by written descriptions of the surface’s appearance after cleaning, together with representative photographic examples.

SSPC standards
The SSPC (Society for Protective Coatings) standards are used to specify the degree of cleanliness of steel surfaces. SSPC has standard definitions and photographs for common methods of cleaning.

Surface roughness

ISO 8501, 8502, 8503 standards
These methods allow you to measure the roughness of a surface before paint or another protective coating is applied. It’s measured in microns and shows the difference between the surface’s peaks and troughs. This is important because it will also affect the amount of paint to be used. With our closed-circuit steel blasting machines, you can easily achieve any roughness profile by adjusting the abrasive mixture and speed of the machine.