Imagine you have a dirty surface, like a rusty piece of metal or a stained wooden door. Traditional cleaning methods might involve harsh chemicals, sand blasting, or sandpaper, which can be messy and damage the surface underneath. Laser cleaning is different—it's like using a precise, tiny chisel of light to remove the unwanted gunk without harming the material below.

We use a special type of laser called a pulsed laser. Think of it not as a continuous beam like a laser pointer, but as a series of incredibly fast, powerful flashes of light, a bit like a strobe light. Each flash, or pulse, is extremely short—just a few billionths of a second.

When one of these 15mJ laser pulses hits a contaminated surface, the energy from the light is absorbed by the dirt, rust, or paint. The pulse is so quick and powerful that the unwanted oxide, stain, or paint heats up and expands almost instantly. This rapid expansion causes the dirt to vaporize, turning it into a gas. This happens so quickly that it's more like an explosion on a microscopic scale. The key is that the laser's energy is perfectly tuned to be absorbed by the oxide or dirt, but not by the metal or wood underneath.

The process is very controlled. We can adjust the laser's power and the frequency of the pulses. This allows us to remove a wide range of materials, from a thin layer of grime to a thick coat of paint.

Many of our customers ask about using laser cleaning to strip old stain or paint from wooden doors. This is a perfect example of what a pulsed laser can do.

With a chemical stripper, you have to apply a messy liquid, wait for it to work, and then scrape off the gunk. This often leaves residue and can damage the wood grain. Sanding can also be a long, dusty process that can leave scratches or wear down fine details.

Pulsed laser cleaning removes the stain layer by layer. We tune the laser so that the energy is absorbed by the stain pigments and the top layers of sealant, but not by the wood fibers themselves. Each laser pulse "explodes" a microscopic amount of the stain, leaving the natural wood surface perfectly clean and undamaged. This means we can strip a door without warping the wood, raising the grain, or losing any of the intricate carved details.

Imagine you have a beautiful, old metal part from a vintage car or a piece of machinery that has been sitting for decades. Over time, it has developed a thick layer of rust. Traditional methods for removing this rust, such as sandblasting or using a wire brush, are very aggressive and can easily scratch, pit, or destroy the fine details of the original part.

Pulsed laser cleaning offers a non-destructive way to restore it.

We tune the laser's energy to be absorbed by the rust (iron oxide) but not by the solid metal underneath. When a laser pulse hits the rust, it heats up and vaporizes in an instant, creating a tiny, controlled explosion. The solid metal underneath, because it doesn't absorb the laser's energy in the same way, remains untouched and at a much lower temperature.

Each pulse removes a microscopic layer of rust. We can move the laser head slowly over the part, watching as the brown, flaky rust disappears and reveals the smooth, original metal surface. This process is so precise that we can clean a bolt's threads without changing their shape, or clear rust from around a delicate engraved serial number without harming the lettering. The result is a rust-free part that retains all of its original form and detail.