The science, simplified

Laser cleaning
explained.

Laser cleaning removes rust, paint, coatings and contamination using light instead of grit or chemicals. It is precise, it leaves no media behind, and it does not remove the material underneath when correctly calibrated.

Understand the process See real results

01 / The process

How laser
cleaning works.

We run fiber lasers at 1064 nanometers — near-infrared light, just past what your eye can see. The beam travels down a fiber optic cable to a handheld head, which is why the whole system is mobile and why we bring it to your site instead of asking you to ship parts to us.

The process works because of a simple difference: rust, paint and coatings absorb that wavelength far better than clean metal does. When the pulse lands, the contaminant absorbs the energy, heats instantly, and either vaporizes or breaks apart and lifts off the surface. The metal underneath reflects much of what reaches it, helping it stay where it is.

Correct settings and a surface-specific assessment matter. The goal is to remove the unwanted layer, not the material you want to keep.

02 / Our equipment

Two systems.
One considered approach.

We run two systems and match them to the job. Most of what decides a job’s cost is which system it calls for.

Pulsed fiber laser

500 watts

Extremely short bursts — each pulse delivers its energy and ends before heat has time to spread into the material. That is what lets us work on thin sheet metal, aluminum, wood and heat-sensitive parts without warping, scorching or discoloring them when the settings are matched to the surface.

It is precise enough to clean a narrow band along a weld line while leaving the finish beside it untouched. A smaller beam takes more time to cover a large surface.

For detail, precision & heat-sensitive surfaces

Continuous laser

2,500 watts

Five times the average power in a steady beam, which removes thick coatings, powder coat, heavy rust and large surface areas several times faster.

The trade-off is heat, so it goes on heavy steel and structural work rather than anything delicate. More power is not automatically the better choice — the material and the finish determine the approach.

For heavy steel, thick coatings & larger areas

03 / The alternatives

Laser vs. media blasting
vs. chemical stripping.

All three remove coatings. They differ in what they leave behind, what they cost you in setup and cleanup, and what they do to the part.

How the cleaning methods affect the underlying surface
Surface consideration	Laser	Media blasting	Chemical stripping
Removes base metal	Not intended; correct settings matter	Yes, gradually	Not usually; may etch
Leaves an anchor profile	No abrasive profile	Yes	No
Waste generated	Removed coating only	Spent media plus coating	Liquid chemical waste
Containment required	Minimal	Booth, tarps or enclosure	Tank or contained area
Risk to seals, bearings and electronics	Low — nothing enters	Grit intrusion	Chemical attack on rubber
Can be done on site	Yes	Sometimes, with containment	Rarely
Selective to a small area	Yes, down to a narrow band	Difficult	Difficult
Best for	Precision work, mixed assemblies, anything that cannot move	Large open surfaces, profile needed	Batch stripping of removable parts
Weakest at	High-volume batch stripping	Delicate or dimensioned parts	On-site and selective work

The best approach depends on the coating, the underlying material and the finish you need. We assess your project before recommending a method.

The short version. If you need a blast profile for a coating spec, you need blasting.

Laser wins when the part cannot move, when media would get somewhere it should not, when you need to clean one area and leave the rest alone, or when the part is too valuable or too precise to have material taken off it.

04 / The materials

Surfaces
we work on.

Steel and cast iron

The best case. Rust, mill scale, grease and coatings come off cleanly and the metal tolerates the process easily. Structural steel, frames, tooling, machinery, cookware and hand tools.

Stainless steel

Excellent, including weld heat tint and discoloration — no pickling paste, no hydrofluoric acid, no neutralizing, nothing to dispose of.

Aluminum

Works well, with care. Aluminum reflects more of the beam and conducts heat quickly, so it runs slower than steel and the settings matter more. Thin extrusions and sheet are very doable; we just take our time.

Wood

Paint, varnish, lacquer and surface finish come off without the sanding dust, and the beam follows carved detail, moldings and raised panels instead of rounding them over the way abrasives do. Read the note on stain below before assuming a result.

Concrete, brick, block and stone

Graffiti, paint, mortar and surface staining. Masonry is porous, so deeply penetrated paint can leave a shadow — we test first and tell you honestly what to expect.

Hydraulic components, welds and tooling

Where the no-media advantage matters most. Nothing is introduced that then has to be cleaned back out of a bearing, a way surface or a vent.

05 / The coatings

What comes off fast.
What takes longer.

How quickly a coating releases depends on three things: how much of the laser’s wavelength it absorbs, whether it burns or melts, and how thick it is. Thickness usually matters most.

What to expect from common coatings and contaminants
Coating	How it behaves
Rust, oxidation, mill scale	Fastest work we do
Grease, oil, carbon, soot	Very fast
Weld heat tint on stainless	Fast and clean
Lacquer, shellac, varnish	Comes off readily
Oil and alkyd enamel	Chars and releases well
Epoxy and 2K urethane	Tough but decomposes cleanly; thickness sets the pace
Latex and acrylic house paint	Softens and smears rather than lifting — slower than it looks
Elastomeric coatings	Thick and rubbery; we test before quoting
Powder coat	Thick and crosslinked; the continuous system handles it far better
Graffiti paint	Good, though masonry may hold a shadow

Two things customers are surprised by

Color changes the clock. White and light coatings contain titanium dioxide, which reflects near-infrared strongly. A white surface can take several times longer than a black one of identical thickness and chemistry.

Layers add up invisibly. A surface described as “painted” is frequently five or more coats. Keep this in mind with how long a project will take.

06 / An honest assessment

What laser cleaning
will not do.

We would rather tell you this before you hire us than after.

It does not create an anchor profile

This is the most important limitation and the one most often glossed over. Laser cleaning takes you to bright, contaminant-free metal, but it does not cut the roughened texture that abrasive blasting leaves behind. If your coating manufacturer’s specification calls for an SSPC-SP grade with a 2–3 mil anchor pattern, laser alone will not pass inspection — you need abrasive blasting or a hybrid approach. For welding prep, where media contamination and grit embedment are the enemy, laser is the better tool by a wide margin.

It is line-of-sight

The beam travels in a straight line. Blind interiors, closed box sections, the inside of tubing and anything we cannot see, we cannot clean.

It does not remove penetrating stain from wood

Paint and surface finish sit on top of the wood and come off. Stain soaks into the fiber, so removing the color means removing wood. We can take the finish off and lighten the color considerably, but you will still need bleach or refinishing. Anyone who tells you otherwise has not done it.

It cannot touch vinyl-wrapped surfaces

Thermofoil cabinet doors, laminate and melamine are vinyl or paper over MDF. They melt. We check the substrate before quoting and will tell you if this is what you have.

Hazardous coatings require testing first

Laser ablation vaporizes what it removes and produces very fine airborne particulate. If the coating may contain lead, chromate or cadmium — common on older industrial and architectural work — that has to be identified before we start, because it changes containment, monitoring and disposal requirements. We will not guess at this, and a customer who does is taking a risk with your liability as well as their own.

07 / On your site

Safety and
site requirements.

This is Class IV laser equipment. That means a controlled work zone with barriers, signage and eye protection for anyone inside it — we set it up, we manage it, and we coordinate with your safety officer before the first day on any commercial site.

What we need from you

Reasonable access around the work area
120V/208V/240V power within reach, or let us know and we bring a generator
A point of contact who can approve completed work

What we bring: the equipment, fume extraction with HEPA filtration, all laser safety controls, barriers, signage, PPE and our own general liability insurance. Nevada Laser Solutions is licensed, insured, veteran-owned and SDVOSB certified.

There is no media to sweep up, no rinse water to capture and no chemical waste manifest. When we leave, the only thing that has changed is the surface.

08 / Your project

Is your project
a fit?

It probably is if the part cannot easily be moved, if media or chemicals would get somewhere they should not, if you need one area cleaned and the rest left alone, or if the piece is too valuable or too precisely made to have material taken off it.

It probably is not if you need a blast profile for a coating system, if the surfaces are hidden from view, or if you have a high volume of identical, removable parts and access to a blast booth.

If you are not sure which one you have, send us photos. We will tell you honestly — including when the answer is that someone else is the better call.

We also run a free test on your own material. Send us a part, a scrap coupon or a sample, and we will clean it and send it back so you can judge the result yourself before spending anything.

Email your project photos Arrange a free sample test

Let’s get to work

See it on
your surface.

Tell us what you need cleaned. We offer a free quote or demo and bring our equipment to you.

Get your free quote

Call us directly: 702-546-5500
Email your project: brandon@nvlasersolutions.com
Our service area: Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Boulder City, Pahrump