USES FOR PUMICE IN GENERAL

PUMICE PROVED ITS HISTORICAL VALUE to the industry when Roman engineers combined pumice aggregate and fine-grained Pumice (a pozzolan) with their hydrated lime cement to make a lightweight, enduring concrete. Many of their mighty concrete work still stands some two millennia later. Today, Pumice is still being used as a superior pozzolan to super-charge concrete but is also used widely in a variety of industrial process and product applications.

Pumice is amazingly versatile—used as a gentle polishing and cleansing abrasive, as lightweight aggregate and/or ultra-refined pozzolan in concrete, as a non-crystalline silica filler for paints, plastics and rubber compounds, as a soil conditioner, as a filtration media, and more.

That kind of versatility comes from a number of nature-blessed characteristics that combine to make it a valuable and widely applicable across a variety of industrial processes and products.

Pumice is amorphous and generally inert, has a neutral pH, yet is hard enough to be used as an abrasive. Yet, because of its porous nature, Pumice is amazingly lightweight.

The friable nature of Pumice is one of its most significant characteristics—meaning Pumice is easily crushed and refined without loosing its utility: at any grade—from half-inch aggregate to micro fine powder— Pumice remains abrasive, absorbent, non-compacting, lightweight.

Sustainable and abundant, Pumice is indispensable.

Grouped by attribute, the following is a breakdown of where and how pumice is used. 

INDUSTRIAL ABRASIVE: There are several key consideration criteria for selecting an exfoliant or scrub grit. One of the first is a track record: Pumice has proven highly effective for use in exfoliating products. 


PRODUCT ABRASIVE: There are several key consideration criteria for selecting an exfoliant or scrub grit. One of the first is a track record: Pumice has proven highly effective for use in exfoliating products. 


MANUFACTURING AND FINISHING PROCESSES: There are several key consideration criteria for selecting an exfoliant or scrub grit. One of the first is a track record: Pumice has proven highly effective for use in exfoliating products. 


FILTRATION: There are several key consideration criteria for selecting an exfoliant or scrub grit. One of the first is a track record: Pumice has proven highly effective for use in exfoliating products. 


ABSORBENT, SPILL CONTAINMENT: There are several key consideration criteria for selecting an exfoliant or scrub grit. One of the first is a track record: Pumice has proven highly effective for use in exfoliating products. 


HORTICULTURE, SOIL AMENDMENT: There are several key consideration criteria for selecting an exfoliant or scrub grit. One of the first is a track record: Pumice has proven highly effective for use in exfoliating products. 


FILLERS AND EXTENDERS: There are several key consideration criteria for selecting an exfoliant or scrub grit. One of the first is a track record: Pumice has proven highly effective for use in exfoliating products. 


CONCRETE AND CEMENTITIOUS GROUTS: Pumice got its historical start as a useful agent when the Romans used it (known as pozzolan) to densify and strengthen their concrete—building enduring structures that still, stand some two millennia later. Today, adding Pumice pozzolan to concrete mix designs results in concrete that is highly resistant to ASR, sulfate attack, and chloride ingress, exhibits reduced thermal cracking, cures to form a nearly impermeable, highly-durable barrier that resists staining, cleans easily, and performs predictably, and continues to strengthen for years due to its pozzolanic charge. 

Pumice concrete is composed of Portland Cement, Pumice aggregate, Pumice sand, Pumice pozzolan, and water. Compared to regular concrete, Pumice concrete offers roughly a one-third reduction in weight. Proportioning, mixing and placing are done in a similar manner to that of conventional concrete, as is the finishing. The applications for Pumice concrete are also the same as those of standard sand-and-gravel concrete but is particularly useful where lightweight concrete is desirable.