What is laser cleaning?

A pulsed fibre laser fires very short, intense bursts of light at the surface. Rust, paint and dirt absorb that energy and break up into fine dust and fume, which is drawn off by an extractor. Bare metal reflects more of the light, so with the right settings the coating comes off and the metal underneath is left sound.

Is laser cleaning safe?

It is a Class 4 industrial laser, so it is only safe when it is properly controlled. We work inside a marked area with laser-safe screens, wear the correct eye protection, use fume extraction and keep everyone else out while it is running. You do not need to do anything except keep the area clear.

Will it damage the metal underneath?

Set up correctly, a pulsed laser removes rust and coatings without eating into sound metal, which is why it is used on engine parts and restoration work. Settings change with the metal, its thickness and what is on it, so anything new to us gets a test patch first.

Can you remove old lead paint?

Often, but not always. Older paint on machinery, boats and ironwork can contain lead, and the laser turns it into fume that must be captured. We check before starting. Where lead is present it needs extra controls, and sometimes another method is the better choice. We will tell you which.

It depends on what is on the surface. Light rust and thin paint come off quickly; thick, layered paint is slow. A laser works a strip at a time, so it is quickest on parts, edges and detail, and slowest on large, flat, heavily painted areas, where blasting usually wins.

Do you need power or water on site?

No water at all. The machine runs from an ordinary single-phase supply, and we can bring a generator where there is no power, which is common on farms, in fields and on moorings.

Is it better than sandblasting?

For some jobs, not all. Laser wins where grit would get into bearings, engines or drains, on detailed or delicate parts, and on sites where blasting mess is not acceptable. Blasting usually wins on large flat steel and very thick coatings, and where a paint system needs a blasted profile.

Does laser-cleaned metal need priming?

Yes. Laser leaves clean, dry bare metal, and bare steel starts to flash-rust within hours in damp or salty air. Plan to prime the same day. We agree beforehand whether you prime it or have your painter ready.

By the half day or full day, quoted up front once we have seen photos or cleaned a test patch. Travel is part of the quote, worked out from where the job is. You know the price before we start.

All of Cornwall, and Plymouth, West and South Devon as standard. Larger jobs elsewhere in Devon are welcome, with any extra travel agreed before booking. We are based in St Austell.

Can I buy a laser cleaning machine from you?

Yes. We can show you one working on your own parts, in your own yard, and help you choose the right size if you decide to buy. We will also tell you plainly if having us do the work would cost you less.

What can a laser not do?

It cannot put back metal that rust has already eaten, so deep pitting stays pitted, only clean. It is slow on thick coatings over big areas, it does not leave the rough profile some paint systems need, and it is not the tool for most timber, plastics or rubber.

Laser Cleaning Cornwall & Devon | Rust & Paint Removal

What laser cleaning is, and why it is different

Laser cleaning uses a pulsed fibre laser to strip rust, paint, scale and grime from a surface. The machine sends out millions of very short, intense pulses of infrared light through a handheld head. Each pulse lasts a tiny fraction of a second. The layer on top, whether that is rust, paint or old grease, soaks up the energy and breaks apart into fine dust and fume, which an extractor beside the work draws away. Clean metal reflects far more of the light than the dirt on it does, so once a patch is bare the laser has much less to bite on.

That difference is the whole point. Grit blasting cleans by hitting the surface with abrasive until whatever is there wears away, the metal included. Chemical strippers dissolve paint and leave something to neutralise and dispose of. Wire wheels and flap discs grind, and take metal off with the rust. A laser, set up properly, works on the coating and leaves the metal underneath where it is, which is why it is used on engine parts, moulds, historic ironwork and anything else where the original surface matters.

It is also clean in the way that matters on a working site. There is no abrasive to sweep up, bag and dispose of, no grit finding its way into bearings, gearboxes and hydraulic seals, and no wash water carrying paint into a yard drain or a field. What comes off the surface is captured by the extractor at the head, which is why extraction is part of every job we do, not an extra.

What a laser takes off, and what it does not

A pulsed laser is at its best on metal, removing:

surface rust and the loose scale on top of heavier corrosion;
old paint, primer and powder coat, quickest where it is thin or flaking;
mill scale and the oxide left on steel after welding or heat;
grease, oil and the baked-on carbon that builds up on engine and exhaust parts;
soot and smoke staining after a fire;
marine growth residue and old antifoul on metal fittings.

It is honest to be just as clear about the limits. A laser cannot put back metal that corrosion has already eaten: a deeply pitted panel comes out clean, but still pitted. It is slow on thick, layered paint over large flat areas, because it works a strip at a time. It does not leave the rough anchor profile that some industrial and marine paint systems specify, so where a coating spec calls for a blasted surface, blasting it is. And it is not the right tool for most timber, plastics and rubber, which is why our work is metal first. Where a job sits in one of those gaps, we would rather say so on the phone than find out on the day.

Who we clean for

Farms, agricultural contractors and plant

Implements, trailers, feeders, gates, buckets and chassis rails, cleaned back to metal in the yard so they can be primed and painted, without stripping the machine down or sending grit through it. A laser can work round hydraulic fittings, wiring and bearings that blasting would have to mask or remove first, which often saves more time than the cleaning itself. With Mick Stevenson's background in agriculture and groundworks, we know what a machine has to go back to doing, and how little time there is between seasons to do it.

Boatyards, harbours and marine metalwork

Stainless and galvanised fittings, engines and engine beds, keels, rudder stocks, winches, cleats, trailers and harbour ironwork. Salt air is hard on metal everywhere on the peninsula, and the lay-up months are when most of this work gets done. Laser is welcome in a boatyard because it leaves no grit to clean out of the hard standing or the drains, and the work can be done next to other people's boats without coating them.

Classic cars, motorbikes, tractors and stationary engines

Chassis, suspension parts, brackets, castings, engine cases and small parts, cleaned selectively so that original metal, stampings and fine detail survive. Restoration suits laser for the same reason engineering does: it takes off what is on the part and leaves the part. Bring them to us in batches or we come to your workshop.

Gates, railings and ironwork

Rust and flaking paint off railings, gates, balconies and decorative ironwork, ready for priming. Where a piece is old or listed, the method and finish are agreed first, and any consent needed is the owner's to confirm before we start. On ironwork with old paint, the lead check described below always comes first.

Engineering, fabrication and weld cleaning

Mill scale and oxide off steel before welding or painting, and heat tint off stainless after it. Laser weld cleaning is quick, repeatable and leaves no grinding marks, and it can be done on site on a finished fabrication.

Fire and smoke damage

Soot and smoke staining off steelwork and some masonry, with no water and no chemicals soaking into a building that has already had enough of both. We work with the owner or the restoration contractor on what can be saved.

Laser compared with blasting, chemicals and grinding

Every method of surface preparation has jobs it is best at. This is how laser compares with the ones people usually weigh it against, and it is how we decide whether to take a job on.

Grit or sand blasting. Fast on large, flat, heavily coated steel, and it leaves the profile many paint systems want. It is messy, the abrasive gets everywhere, and it has to be contained and cleared up. Laser is slower on big flat areas but far cleaner, and it can work right next to things that must not see grit.
Soda and other soft media. Gentler than grit and good on soft coatings over wide areas, but still a media to clean up and still a mess in a workshop. Laser is more selective and leaves nothing behind.
Dry ice blasting. Excellent for grease, food plants and electrical gear because the ice turns to gas, but it is loud and poor on hard paint and rust. Laser is better on rust and paint, weaker on thick grease.
Chemical stripping. Works into awkward shapes, but needs time, neutralising and disposal, and many strippers are unpleasant to work with. Laser uses no chemicals at all.
Wire wheels and grinding. Cheap and quick on small areas, but they take metal off, polish rust into pits rather than removing it, and leave marks. Laser takes the corrosion out of the pits without taking the metal down.

If your job is a large expanse of heavily painted steel that is about to get an industrial coating, a good blaster is very probably the right call, and we will tell you so and point you to one. If it is a machine, a part, a boat fitting, a classic or anything where mess and collateral damage matter, laser is very often the better tool.

How a job runs

Send photos. Send a few photos on WhatsApp with a rough size and what is on the surface. Most jobs can be judged from photos, and you hear straight away if laser is the wrong tool.
Agree a test patch. On anything we have not cleaned before, a small area is cleaned first so you can see the finish and we can measure how fast it goes before giving a firm price.
Set up a safe working area. On the day we mark out a controlled area with laser-safe screens and signs, set up fume extraction, and keep people and animals out of it while the laser is running.
Clean back to metal. The coating or rust is taken off a pass at a time, checking the surface as we go, with settings changed for thin sections, edges and anything delicate.
Hand back ready to paint. You get clean, dry metal with no grit or chemical residue in it. Bare steel starts to flash-rust quickly, so we agree beforehand who primes it and when.

Safety on your site

A cleaning laser is a Class 4 industrial laser. That is the highest class, and it means the beam and its reflections can harm eyes and skin, so the work is done inside a controlled area. On every job we mark that area out, put up laser-safe screens and warning signs, wear eye protection rated for the laser's wavelength, and keep everyone else, including animals, outside it while the laser is running. The extractor runs whenever the laser does, because the dust and fume from rust and old paint should not be breathed.

Old paint needs one more check. Paint from earlier decades, which is common on farm machinery, boats and ironwork, can contain lead, and turning it into fume makes lead a breathing hazard rather than a flake on the floor. We check before we start. Where lead is present, the job needs extra controls, and sometimes a different method entirely; either way you will know before any work is done.

Getting ready for us

A few things make the day go quicker and keep the price where it was quoted:

clear space around the item, with room for the screens and the extractor;
tell us about power on site, or that there is none, so we bring the generator;
knock off loose mud, muck and heavy grease where you can, since the laser time is better spent on the coating;
let us know about anything painted before the 1980s, so the lead check can be planned;
have primer or your painter lined up, because bare steel will not stay bright for long in Cornish air.

How we price a job

Jobs are priced by the half day or the full day, and the quote is given before we start. What decides the time is mostly what is on the surface: light rust on a set of brackets is quick work, three coats of tractor paint on a large flat panel is not. Access, how much setting up the site needs, and how far we travel make up the rest. That is why we ask for photos first, and why we clean a test patch on anything we have not done before. It means the price you get is for your job, not a guess, and it means you see the finish before you pay for the whole thing.

Who you are dealing with

Laser Cleaning South West is run by Mick Stevenson, from St Austell. Mick has spent more than forty years in construction, groundworks, agriculture and hospitality, much of it around the kind of machinery and buildings this work is for. He started the business to offer a straight, local service: come and look, clean a test patch, give a fair price, and say so when another method would serve you better.

Where we work

We cover the whole of Cornwall, from Penzance and the Lizard to Bude and Saltash; see laser cleaning in Cornwall for the work we do there and how we plan travel. Plymouth, West and South Devon are covered as standard, and larger jobs further into the county are welcome; see laser cleaning in Devon. If you are thinking about owning a machine yourself, book a laser cleaning machine demonstration on your own parts first. And when you are ready, send us the details of your job.

Laser cleaning in Cornwall and Devon