Mirka has unveiled a new marketing campaing entitled Abranet Perfection, and it ready to be communicated across print, social media and digital platforms through a series of compelling imagery to highlight the importance of air quality control to minimise occupational exposure to airborne dust in a variety of sanding operations.

The marketing campaign is being supported with a beautifully designed coffee table style book that features pre and post Abranet imagery and data to reinforce the abrasive’s ability to deliver clean, virtually dust-free working environments.

The data is founded on research conducted by Durag Group, a leading independent environmental monitoring and data management company, in laboratory conditions, supported by the Finnish Work Environment Fund and Mirka. The aim was to determine airborne dust emission in sanding with a ventilated manual sanding machine, comparing Abranet products with perforated paper.

The results showed that sanding with the abrasive net reduced the airborne dust emission per the removed mass at between 99.96- and 99.99% depending on the material, compared to between 97.05% and 99.76% for perforated paper.

When sanding gypsum plaster, the removed mass per unit time was 2.6 and 1.4 times higher with the net abrasive than in sanding without extraction and when sanding with paper incorporating six holes respectively. While the surface of the paper sanding material became clogged, the Abranet abrasive with extraction improved the effectiveness of the sanding by preventing clogging and increased the removed mass per unit time.

Craig Daycock, managing director of Mirka UK, says: “The laboratory tests conducted in Finland revealed that by using Abranet in conjunction with modern sanding systems occupational exposure to airborne dust in sanding operations can be decreased to acceptable levels, especially when combined with well-designed sanding machines equipped with local extraction and air supply.

“The Abranet Perfection campaign is designed to highlight the benefits of sanding using Mirka’s Abranet range of abrasives in terms of producing virtually dust-free results as well as a consistent, smooth, high quality finish across a range of applications.”