Professional painters and industrial powder coaters in Houston will tell you that a job is only as good as the prep work. Poor prep work? Poor job. While often referred to as sandblasting, that is a misnomer as many types of media are available to be used and sand is not typically one of them. The specifics of the job, and the type of stripping you need to do, will determine what kind of media you use.
Aluminum oxide is the most frequently used media form for prep work before industrial powder coatings. Its hardness and strength make it the perfect media to prepare surfaces for powder coating where the removal of rust or previous coatings is necessary. Aluminum oxide works best with harder metals like titanium and stainless steel but can work with softer metals if enough care and attention is given. It is great at removing old powder coating as well. It can be reused, and as it is expensive, using it in a media blasting cabinet where it can be recovered is typical practice.
Industrial powder coating works best with a well-prepped surface. Foreign contaminants such as dirt, oils, old paint, etc. can create an imperfect finish. Imperfect finishes are not as durable and do not look as nice. While not completely necessary and technically optional, media blasting before coating is considered an essential step by many professional industrial powder coating shops in Houston.