The best blasting media, compared.
Top pick: Brown aluminium oxide powder, blasting abrasive media, 120 grit Best value: Garosa aluminium oxide, 100 grit – Lowest shelf price among 1 kg oxide pouches with one grit line, an undisputed 1 kg, and at least 10 reviews. Updated 20 October 2026.
Blasting media is the grit, bead or powder a blast gun or cabinet throws at a surface. The gun and the compressor are separate buys. On amazon.co.uk the usual offer is a 1 kg pouch of brown aluminium oxide, plus glass bead tubs and the odd sack of crushed recycled glass. Angular oxide or garnet leaves a key for paint on steel. Round glass bead cleans aluminium and similar metals to a satin. Do not buy silica sand or sharp sand. 2002, 2, prohibits sand or any other substance containing free silica as an abrasive in blasting apparatus, and HSE sheet says to use media with less than 1 percent silica. The [aluminium oxide or glass bead](/hub/compressors/blasting-media/sub/blasting-media-aluminium-oxide-or-glass-bead) guide sets out when each finish is the one you want. A seller grit number is not a grade, and a reusable line is not a cycle count.
Blasting media is the grit, bead or powder a blast gun or cabinet throws at a surface. The gun and the compressor are separate buys.
28 products checked · 64 hrs invested · +21,400 readers
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
What finish do you want?
The Spacnana pouch is brown aluminium oxide at £18.06, with a grit-number field of 120 and a title that also prints 100 grit. The rating line is 5.0 from 1 review, and the saved listing has no review text, so that star is a single click. Bullets claim 1 kg, long lasting and highly reusable, for sandblasters, guns and cabinets, plus glass, marble, ceramic and steel. The item-weight field says 1.05 kg and the title also says 2.2 lb, which is about 1 kg, so the mass is close and still not one line. Origin is given as China, the item type is Sand blasters, and the grit-material field adds ceramic. You cannot tell from the page whether the powder is the 100 or the 120. It is only worth opening if you will check the grain yourself, and it is a listing to skip when the grade has to be the one you ordered.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You can accept an ungraded brown oxide pouch and you do not need the grit number to be unique.
Less suitable: You are buying a specific 100 or 120 grade, or you want more than one written review.
Specifications
Common questions
What grit does the listing state?
The grit-number field says 120. The title also prints 100 grit, so the two lines do not agree.
Which surfaces does the listing name?
The bullets name glass, marble, ceramic and steel. Wood is asked as a question and is not answered in the bullets.
Does the listing say it is reusable?
Yes. The bullets describe it as long lasting and highly reusable. They do not give a cycle count.
The Garosa 100 grit pouch is 1 kg of aluminium oxide at £19.29, rated 4.6 from 12 reviews on amazon.co.uk. The bullets name sandblasters, sandblast guns and cabinets, and they list glass, marble, ceramic and steel. Two UK reviews in the saved listing are short praise, as advertised and exactly what the buyer needed, and neither describes a fault, which is thin evidence beside a count of 12. The item-type field says Belts, and the grit-material field adds ceramic beside aluminium oxide, so the catalogue is messy. Origin is given as China. A 100 grit label is coarser than the 180 and 220 pouches in this set, and it is still not a trade F36 or F54 sack. It is the oxide pouch here with a named gun and cabinet and reviews that do not report a failure, and a poor choice if you need a certificate or a 25 kg bag.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want a 1 kg oxide with one grit number, named cabinet use, and no written complaint in the saved reviews.
Less suitable: You need coarse trade grit for heavy rust, or a listing whose item type matches the powder.
Specifications
Common questions
What grit and pack is this?
The listing says 100 grit aluminium oxide in a 1 kg pack, for sandblasters, guns and cabinets.
Which surfaces does the listing name?
Glass, marble, ceramic and steel. Wood is a printed question without an answer in the bullets.
What do the reviews say?
Two UK reviews in the saved listing are short praise: as advertised, and exactly what the buyer needed. Neither describes a fault. The rating line is 4.6 from 12 reviews.
The Garosa pouch is 1 kg of brown fused alumina labelled 180 grit, at £18.70, with a listing rating of 4.6 from 7 reviews. The bullets name glass, marble, ceramics and steel, and they claim the powder is reusable, without a cycle count. The package is given as 20.7 × 14.2 × 4 cm, which is a trial pouch rather than a cabinet sack. The saved listing has no review bodies, so there is no UK account of what this grit did to paint or to a nozzle. Guns and cabinets are not named on this listing, unlike the 100 grit and 120 grit Garosa pages. A 180 grit label is a seller’s number, not a FEPA F180 certificate. It is a fine oxide to try once the job is a light cut, and a weak buy if you need written reviews or a coarse grade for heavy rust.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You already know you want a fine oxide trial pouch and you will judge the grit on scrap.
Less suitable: You want a coarse rust stripper, or a listing with written UK reviews.
Specifications
Common questions
What grade is this pouch?
The listing says 180 grit fused alumina, 1 kg, with package dimensions 20.7 x 14.2 x 4 cm.
Does the listing say it is suitable for ceramic?
A question asks if it is safe for ceramic. The bullets include ceramics, along with glass, marble and steel, in the surface list.
Is there review text?
The rating line is 4.6 from 7 reviews. The saved listing has no review bodies, so praise and complaints are not available as text.
The Sealey B5KG is a 5 kg tub of shot-blasting glass beads sized 180–300 microns, listed at £26.20 on amazon.co.uk with 4.4 from 84 reviews. Reviewers use them on aluminium and motorcycle parts in cabinets, and one buyer ran them at 70 psi and called the bead very fine. More than one UK review says the tub or bucket arrived split or burst, with an inner bag holding the beads. The title says 5 kg, the item-weight field says 4.71 kg, and the package-size name says 11 lb, so the fill is not a single figure. The listing does not state a Mohs hardness, a silica percentage, or a reuse count, though one review says the beads lasted a good time. Catalogue fields that mention bath bombs and shot glasses are noise, not the product. It is the glass-bead option in this set with a review sample you can read, and a poor fit if you need angular grit to key steel for paint.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want round glass bead for a cabinet satin clean on aluminium or similar parts, and you can check the tub on arrival.
Less suitable: You need angular grit to key steel before paint, or a bag whose kilogram line is a single figure.
Specifications
Common questions
What size are the beads?
The listing states 180–300 microns and recommends shot blasting cabinets. One review called them very fine and ran them at 70 psi.
How much is in the tub?
The title and the bullet say 5 kg. The item-weight field says 4.71 kg, and the package-size name says 11 lb.
What do the reviews say about the tub?
More than one UK review says the tub or bucket arrived split or burst, with an inner bag holding the beads.
The Garosa 120 grit pouch is 1 kg of aluminium oxide at £19.99, the highest 1 kg price in this set, rated 4.1 from 12 reviews. The grit-type field says fine, and the bullets name guns, cabinets, glass, marble, ceramic and steel, plus a reusable claim with no cycle count. One UK review says the powder would not strip paint off a wheel and calls it not abrasive enough. Two other reviews are short praise. The unit-count field prints 1000.0011 gram, the item type is Belts, and ceramic appears beside aluminium oxide. That paint review is one wheel, not a lab, and it matches the risk of using a fine pouch as a rust stripper. It suits a light matte on steel if 120 is already the grade you wanted, and it is a weak first bag if the job is heavy paint.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want a fine 120 grit trial and you are not relying on it to strip heavy wheel paint.
Less suitable: You need a coarse grade for rust and old paint, or the lowest price per kilogram.
Specifications
Common questions
What grit is this?
The grit number is 120 and the grit-type field says fine. The pack is stated as 1 kg.
Will the reviews say it strips paint?
One UK review says it would not strip paint off a wheel and calls it not abrasive enough. Two other reviews are short praise.
Which equipment does the listing name?
Sandblasters, sandblast guns and cabinets. Surfaces named are glass, marble, ceramic and steel.
The Garosa 220 grit pouch is listed as 1 kg of brown fused alumina at £17.37, rated 3.6 from 9 reviews. The bullets name glass, granite, marble, ceramics and steel, and they claim the powder is reusable without a cycle count. One UK review says it worked in a vapour blaster on aluminium, and that two portions might be needed for the sludge. Another says to wear protection and that it does the job. Two reviewers say the pack was under the stated weight, and one calls the packaging basic. Guns and cabinets are not named, and the package is given as 20.4 × 14.5 × 3.9 cm. A 220 grit label is the finest oxide number in this set, so it is the wrong pouch if the problem is paint that would not shift. It is a fine wet-blast trial only if you weigh the bag, and a poor dry-cabinet stripper.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want a fine oxide for a vapour blaster on aluminium and you will weigh the pouch.
Less suitable: You need a full kilogram you can trust from the title, or a coarse grit for dry paint removal.
Specifications
Common questions
What grit is this?
The listing says 220 grit aluminium oxide, 1 kg, with package dimensions 20.4 x 14.5 x 3.9 cm.
What did reviewers use it for?
One UK review says it worked in a vapour blaster on aluminium, and that two portions might be needed for the sludge. Another says to wear protection and that it does the job.
Is the pack weight disputed?
The listing says 1 kg. Two reviewers say the weight was short or not as advertised, and one calls the packaging basic.
The Laeto bag is titled as recycled glass abrasive, medium, 0.5–1.5 mm, 25 kg, at £29.99, rated 3.0 from 2 reviews. The bullets claim 100 percent recycled glass, less than 1 percent free silica, 6 Mohs and 1,280 kg/m³, and they name PAS 102, SSPC-SP5 and MIL-A-22262B. Those are listing claims, not a certificate in the saved listing. The grit-material field says silicon carbide, and the unit-count field says 2,500 g, so glass-versus-carbide and 25 kg-versus-2.5 kg are both unresolved. The only review says the bag print was 0.5–1.0 mm, the grit looked like 1.0–2.0 mm, and it would not feed the machine. Equipment is not named. If the title were reliable it would be a cheap expendable sack. As filed, you cannot tell what would arrive, and a small nozzle is the wrong place to find out.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You already run a machine that can pass millimetre chips and you will confirm material and bag weight before you pay.
Less suitable: You have a small cabinet nozzle, or you need the material, the kilograms and the size to say the same thing.
Specifications
Common questions
Is this glass or silicon carbide?
The title and the bullets say 100 percent recycled glass. The grit-material field says silicon carbide. Those lines conflict.
What pack size does the listing state?
The title says a 25 kg bag. The unit-count field says 2,500 g. The particle-size lines also disagree: the title says 0.5–1.5 mm, and the only review describes coarser grit that would not feed their machine.
What does the listing claim about silica?
The bullets claim less than 1 percent free silica, 6 Mohs and 1,280 kg/m³, and they name PAS 102, SSPC-SP5 and MIL-A-22262B. Those are listing claims, not a certificate in the saved listing.
The Wakects pouch is brown aluminium oxide labelled 80 grit and 1 kg, at £16.59, the lowest shelf price among the oxide bags here. The listing has no customer-reviews line, so the star rating and the count are not available. There is no separate grit-number field, so 80 grit exists only in the title. Bullets name glass, marble, ceramic and steel, say the powder can be reused multiple times, and mention sandblasting, polishing and grinding wheels. Guns and cabinets are not named, the item weight is 1.05 kg, and the unit-count field says 1.0 count, with origin given as China. An 80 grit label is the coarsest oxide number in this set, which is the direction you want for heavier coatings, and with no reviews you are buying the title. It is a low-price coarse-label trial if you can spare a kilogram on scrap, and a poor sole supply for a paid job.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want the cheapest coarse-labelled oxide pouch and you will test it on scrap before a real part.
Less suitable: You need reviews, a grit field that matches the title, or a named cabinet specification.
Specifications
Common questions
What grit and pack does the listing state?
The title says 80 grit and 1 kg of brown aluminium oxide. There is no separate grit-number field. The item-weight field says 1.05 kg.
Which surfaces does the listing name?
The bullets name glass, marble, ceramic and steel. A printed question about wood has no answer in the listing.
Is there an Amazon rating?
The listing has no customer-reviews line, so the rating and the review count are not available.
We scored eight blasting-media listings on amazon.co.uk, shelf date 19 October 2026, from the listing fields and the review notes already on file. This is not a laboratory test. A seller grit number is not a FEPA grade, a reusable line is not a cycle count, and a less-than-1-percent silica line is a claim, not a certificate. The top pick is the highest score. The best value is the lowest shelf price among 1 kg aluminium oxide pouches with a single grit line, a pack mass the reviews do not dispute, and at least 10 reviews.
Amazon evidence
30%Stars come from the amazon.co.uk line, with a deduction under 10 reviews and a zero when the listing has no customer-reviews line. A 5.0 from one review does not outrank a 4.4 from 84.
Listing consistency
40%Media fields should agree, the size should be one line, and the pack mass should agree within about 10 percent. A named gun or cabinet scores up. A material that contradicts the title, two grit numbers, or a pack that differs by a factor of two scores down.
Review outcome
20%A review that names a job and a limit scores above a star with no text. Split tubs, a short fill, grit that would not strip paint, or grit that would not feed the gun are limits.
Value
10%Shelf price in GBP against a pack whose mass is credible. A low price does not score when there are no reviews, when the grit line contradicts itself, or when 25 kg and 2,500 g are both on the page.
Choose the grain for the finish, then the size the nozzle will pass, then a pack you can actually recover. The eight listings below are marketplace pouches and one conflicting sack, not a trade FEPA range. Sand is out.
Blasting media is what the air stream carries. Brown fused aluminium oxide is hard and angular. Airblast Products cite 9 Mohs for that family, and it is the usual cabinet grit before paint on steel. Glass bead is round shot for a brighter, less aggressive clean, and cabinets reuse it. Crushed recycled glass is angular and cheap per kilogram in 10–25 kg bags. It is usually single-use because it fractures, and it is not bead. Garnet is a natural expendable mineral for open work.
COSHH 2002, Schedule 2, prohibits sand or other free-silica material as a blasting abrasive. HSE CN7 says not to use sand, and it treats under 1 percent silica as the pragmatic line. A dust mask is not the control that sheet specifies for open blasting.
Fine labels in this set, 180 to 220, and the Garosa 120 grit pouch that the listing itself calls fine, can fail to strip paint. One UK review of that 120 grit pouch says it would not strip paint off a wheel. Coarser angular grit is the direction for heavy rust.
Glass bead is round and is reused in cabinets. Crushed recycled glass is angular and usually single-use because it fractures. The Sealey tub is bead. The Laeto title says recycled glass, and the same page’s material field says silicon carbide.
The finish you want decides the grain shape. Angular media, brown aluminium oxide, crushed glass or garnet, leaves a key for paint on steel. Round glass bead cleans aluminium, brass and similar metals to a satin and does not cut that key. Sodium bicarbonate lifts a coating without a profile, which is the point when glass, rubber, chrome or trim must not be etched. In this set the Sealey tub is glass bead, 180–300 microns, aimed at shot blasting cabinets.
Particle size has to pass the nozzle and still match the coating. Coarser angular grit cuts heavy rust and paint. Fine grit, the 180, 220 and fine 120 labels here, can fail to strip paint. One UK review of the Garosa 120 grit pouch says it would not strip paint off a wheel and calls it not abrasive enough. Seller grit numbers are not a FEPA certificate. The Spacnana title prints both 100 grit and 120 grit, so you cannot tell which grain would arrive.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
You are restoring aluminium or motorcycle parts in a shot blasting cabinet and you want a round bead, not a paint key. The Sealey tub is the glass-bead option with 4.4 from 84 reviews. Check the tub on arrival, because more than one review says it arrived split.
You want angular oxide, one grit number, and a listing that names guns and cabinets. The Garosa 100 grit pouch is the best value in this set at about £19.29, with 4.6 from 12 reviews. It is still a 1 kg trial, not a graded trade sack.
You already run a vapour blaster and you want the finest oxide label in the set. One review of the Garosa 220 grit pouch describes that job. Two reviewers say the fill was short, so weigh the pouch before you treat the title as 1 kg.
The top pick is the Sealey B5KG glass beads: 180–300 microns, cabinets named, and 4.4 from 84 reviews, the largest sample in the set, at about £26.20. Split tubs and a weight line that does not match the title are the limits. The best value is the Garosa 100 grit aluminium oxide at about £19.29, with guns and cabinets named and 4.6 from 12 reviews. It is still a 1 kg marketplace pouch, not a graded 25 kg sack, and the item type is filed as Belts. Sand is not in this comparison. If the listing contradicts itself on material, grit or kilograms, skip it.
Garosa aluminium oxide, 100 grit
Lowest shelf price among 1 kg oxide pouches with one grit line, an undisputed 1 kg, and at least 10 reviews.
Editorial
Peter F. is the editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk. Comparisons in this category are checked against amazon.co.uk listings, review evidence and public UK sources.
Guides on what to look for, how to use a product, and common mistakes.
Public UK sources from the research digest. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures captured on 19 October 2026.
This page contains affiliate links to amazon.co.uk with the tag pcuk26-21. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, stars and review counts are the UK listing lines used for this comparison. We did not run a lab test.
