What is mechanical decontamination
Written by: Vinnie van Rooij
Mechanical decontamination is the opposite of chemical decontamination. Whereas chemical decontamination removes contamination from a surface without any physical interaction, mechanical decontamination doesn’t require any chemicals and relies solely on physical interaction.
Forms of mechanical decontamination
Claying is a prime example of mechanical decontamination. During claying, the clay-material scrubs the surface clean by “grabbing” the unwanted particles, and pulling them away from the surface. The clay is slightly abrasive, which affects the surface slightly. The use of a claylube should help to move the clay over the surface and to minimize the amount of marring that is being created. Claylube usually doesn’t have any effect on the contamination itself. The polymer clay acts as the medium that removes the unwanted particles from the surface. This physical and mechanical interaction is a well known example mechanical decontamination.
Advantages of mechanical decontamination
Unlike chemical contamination, it is easier to determine which part of the surface is decontaminated, and which surface is left alone. In many cases the medium that is being used for the decontamination process can be cleaned and reused, the chemical that might be used for chemical decontamination is very rarely re-usable. Making mechanical decontamination often the cheaper option in the long run.
Another case might be that mechanical contamination hardly differentiate between different types of contamination. Meaning that clay will just remove anything from the surface, regardless of the type of contamination. Chemical decontamination can be made in such a way that the chemical only attacks a certain type of particles.
Different related articles
A leather cleaner is a specially designed product to clean leather in a gentle and safe way. The product is designed to remove dirt and grime without having any effect on the material....
A glass polish is a specially designed product that can polish glass. Normal polish isn't hard enough to have an effect on glass, but glass polish solves this problem. ...
Fireball is a relatively young brand of detailing products microfiber towels from South Korea. The brand mainly focuses its products around polymer technology, sometimes combined with wax. The vast majority of their products are also in liquid form....
A Glaze is a product that hides very light surface imperfections. It is often used when somebody doesn't have the time to give the car a full polish, but wants to achieve a freshly polished look. There are certain positives and negatives with using a Glaze. Knowing exactly when to use it will help you to get the most out of it....
Detailing brushes come in all types and sizes and can be used for several different tasks. In general, these are aimed at scrubbing but can sometimes also be used to reach an area that is difficult to reach with a microfiber towel....
Detailing an electric engine bay is slightly different to a normal engine bay because the lack of a combustible engine. Electric engine require attention to different aspects then combustion engines. Seeing as electric cars are getting more popular, these will become a common sight in the future....

Links to this article
There are no external links to this article. Yet.