SURFACE PREPARATION STANDARDS - Steel Structures Painting Council Standard

SSPC-SP-1 Solvent Cleaning - Removal of all detrimental foreign matter such as oil, grease, dirt, soil salts, drawing and cutting compounds, and other contaminates from steel surfaces by the use of solvents, emulsions, cleaning compounds, steam or other similar materials and methods which involve a solvent or cleaning action

SSPC-SP-2 Hand Tool Cleaning - removal of all rust scale, mill scale, loose rust and loose paint to the degree specified by hand wire brushing, hand sanding, hand scraping, hand chipping, or other hand impact tools or by a combination of these methods. The substrate should have a faint metallic sheen and also be free of oil, grease, dust, soil, salts, and other contaminants.

SSPC-SP-3 Power Tool Cleaning - Removal of all rust scale, mill scale, loose paint, and loose rust to the degree specified by power wire brushes, power impact tools, power grinders, power sanders, or by a combination of these methods. The substrate should have a pronounced metallic sheen and also be free of oil, grease, dirt, soil, salts, and other contaminants. Surface should not be buffed or polished smooth.

SSPC-SP-4 Flame Cleaning - Removal of all loose scale, rust, and other detrimental foreign matter by passing high temperature, high velocity oxy-acetylene flames over the entire surface, followed by wire brushing. Surface should also be free of oil, grease, dirt, soil salts, and other contaminants.

SSPC-SP-5 White Metal Blast Cleaning - Removal of all mill scale, rust, rust scale, paint or foreign matter by the use of abrasives propelled through nozzles or by centrifugal wheels. A White Metal Blast Cleaned Surface Finish is defined as a surface with a gray-white, uniform metallic color, slightly roughened to form a suitable anchor pattern for coatings. The surface, when viewed without magnification, shall be free of all oil, grease, dirt, visible mill scale, rust, corrosion products, oxides, paint, or any other foreign matter.

SSPC-SP-6 Commercial Blast Cleaning - Removal of mill scale, rust, rust scale, paint, or foreign matter by the use of abrasives propelled through nozzles or by centrifugal wheels, to the degree specified. A Commercial Blast Cleaned Surface Finish is defined as one from which all oil, grease, dirt, rust scale, and foreign matter have been completely removed from the surface and all rust, mill scale, and old paint have been completely removed except for slight shadows, streaks, or discolorations caused by rust stain, mil scale oxides or slight, tight residues of paint or coating that may remain; if the surface is pitted, slight residues of rust or paint may be found in the bottom of pits; at least two-thirds of each square inch of surface area shall be free of all visible residues and the remainder shall be limited to the light discoloration, slight staining, or tight residues mentioned above.

SSPC-SP-7 Brush-Off Blast Cleaning - Removal of loose mill scale, loose rust, and loose paint, to the degree hereafter specified, by the impact of abrasives propelled through nozzles or by centrifugal wheels. It is not intended that the surface shall be free of all mill scale, rust, and paint. The remaining mill scale, rust, and paint should be tight and the surface should be sufficiently abraded to provide good adhesion and bonding of paint. A Brush-Off Blast Cleaned Surface Finish is defined as loose rust and loose paint or coatings are removed completely, are permitted to remain provided that all mill scale and rust have been exposed to the abrasive blast pattern sufficiently to uniformly distribute over the entire surface.

SSPC-SP-8 Pickling - Removal of all mill scale, rust, and rust scale by chemical reaction, or by electrolysis, or by both. It is intended that the pickled surface shall be completely free of all scale, rust, and foreign matter. Furthermore, the surface shall be free of unreacted or harmful acid or alkali, or smut.

SSPC-SP-9 Weathering Followed By Blast Cleaning - Weathering to remove all or part of the mill scale followed by one of the blast cleaning standards.

SSPC-SP-10 Near-White Blast Cleaning - Removal of nearly all mill scale, rust, rust scale, paint, or foreign matter by the use of abrasives propelled through nozzles or by centrifugal wheels, to the degree hereafter specified. A Near-White Blast cleaned Surface Finish is defined as one from which all oil, grease, dirt, mill scale, rust, corrosion products, oxides, paints, or other foreign matter have been completely removed from the surface except for very light shadow, very slight streaks or slight discolorations caused by rust stain, mill scale oxides, or light, tight residues of paint or coating that may remain. At least 95 percent of each square inch of surface area shall be free of all visible residues, and the remainder shall be limited to the light discoloration mentioned above.