The Mohs Scale Of Mineral Hardness And Why Sand Or Glass Beads Should Not Be Used To Clean Calcium Off Of Pool Tiles

The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was developed in 1812 by German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. Quite simply it is a scale of 1 through 10 and rates the hardness of one mineral to another. On the scale, 1 is the softest of minerals and 10 the hardest (diamond). Every woman knows that the best way to test for a true diamond is to try and scratch glass. Mohs used the same approach in rating the hardness of different minerals. If he could take one mineral and scratch it with another, the mineral doing the scratching was the harder mineral. Simple!

Now, let’s take that same concept and apply it to removing calcium from your swimming pool tile and water features. If you use an abrasive to clean your pool tile that is as hard as, or harder than the tile itself (sand or glass beads), the tile is going to be damaged. Once the protective surface of the tile is damaged there is no way to repair it. Calcium deposits will eventually build up on the smoothest surfaces. Once the tile surface has been profiled by scratching or blasting with a hard media, the calcium has a better surface to grip and makes removing extremely difficult in the future, not to mention faster buildup.

SODA BLAST EXPRESS uses Kieserite which is magnesium sulfate. As you can see by looking at the Mohs scale, it is harder than calcium carbonate (which is on the tile in your pool) but not as hard as the tile itself. This means that we can blast the calcium off of your pool tile without damaging the tile. Magnesium sulfate is the mineral Epsom salts is made from and it is also added to many fertilizers. Magnesium sulfate is water soluble and is safe to use around people, pets and plants.

You wouldn’t clean your good silver with steel wool or clean your windows with sand paper so why let someone clean your expensive tile with a hard abrasive. It could cost upwards of $20.00 per square foot to replace the tile in your pool so let us remove that unsightly calcium build up SAFELY and let the beauty of you tile show through.