Bristle Blasting vs Grit Blasting: Wales & West Utilities Field Trial Results

Part of the Peak Times Moments series — exploring the world's surfaces. This time, MontiPower® reports from Wales, in the west of the United Kingdom, where a real-world field trial put the Bristle Blaster® head to head with traditional grit blasting.

Download the full Peak Times Moments magazine (PDF)

A field trial in the Welsh countryside

Amidst a backdrop of cities, towns, villages and open countryside, our latest field trial came to life in Wales — offering a practical comparison of the Bristle Blaster® against grit blasting. The trial was led by Kevin Jones, formerly Senior Technical Manager at Wales & West Utilities, who brought 41 years of expertise in the natural gas industry to the assessment, including 16 years at the utility itself.

With a focus on practical, real-world applications, the trial gathered data and uncovered insights aimed squarely at professionals looking for cleaner, faster, more flexible surface preparation.

About Wales & West Utilities

Wales & West Utilities is a leading utility company headquartered in Newport, Wales. It operates across both Wales and the south-west of England, carrying the responsibility of delivering gas to more than 7.5 million people across an extensive service area. The company places a strong emphasis on safety and reliability, ensuring customers receive an uninterrupted gas supply along with round-the-clock emergency response.

At the heart of its mission is a commitment to the communities it serves — promoting gas safety awareness and investing continuously in modern technology and more sustainable practices.

Field trial results

The trial produced noteworthy outcomes. The Bristle Blaster® demonstrated clear, practical advantages over traditional grit blasting, particularly for smaller corrosion-removal tasks. In Kevin's words:

"We have had this piece of equipment for a few months now and have found it to be very useful in small area corrosion removal. It's easy to use, is environmentally friendly as there is no grit requirement."

Throughout the trial, the Bristle Blaster® proved its ability to deliver clean surface preparation — removing coatings, rust and corrosion on smaller areas without compromising the underlying substrate. The result was a controlled surface roughness and profile, creating an ideal foundation for the adhesion of subsequent coatings.

The numbers: a side-by-side comparison

The most striking findings came from comparing the time, labour and resources each method demanded for the same task.

Bristle Blasting

Resource	1 worker
Prep. works	20 minutes
Working time	20 minutes
Clean-up time	5 minutes
Consumables	Ground sheets
Equipment	Bristle Blaster®
Environmental	No grit required
Safety	Atmosphere check
Total time	45 minutes (45 × 1)

Grit Blasting

Resource	2 workers
Prep. works	60 minutes
Working time	10 minutes
Clean-up time	60 minutes
Consumables	Ground sheets, grit
Equipment	Pot and gun, machine, tethered hose, compressor
Environmental	Contaminated waste, noise levels
Safety	Air-fed PPE
Total time	260 minutes (130 × 2)

For this task, bristle blasting completed the job in roughly a fifth of the total labour time, with one worker instead of two, no grit, no compressor, no tethered hose — and no contaminated waste to dispose of afterwards.

Conclusion

Kevin Jones concluded that the Bristle Blaster® is a viable alternative to grit blasting for smaller surface preparation tasks. It removes the need for heavy equipment and minimises dust contamination, making clean-up far easier. He recommends it particularly for small painting-area preparation, corrosion removal and damage assessment — and will mostly use it for work requiring an SA 2½ metal finish.

Never a dull moment — always a Peak Times Moment.

Download the full Peak Times Moments magazine (PDF)

Interested in cleaner, faster surface preparation for your own projects? Get in touch with our team to discuss the Bristle Blaster® range.