Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins

How Laser Surface Cleaning Saves Time, Money, And Materials

• Nick George • Season 1 • Episode 125

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What if the fastest way to remove rust, paint, and stains didn’t touch the surface at all? We sit down with Jim Ford, the owner of Bison Laser Cleaning, to unpack how laser surface cleaning delivers precise, eco-friendly results across homes, classic cars, and industrial settings. Jim explains how he dials in power, frequency, and speed so the laser vaporizes coatings while protecting wood grain, thin steel, textured molds, and delicate details that matter to restorers and manufacturers.

You’ll hear clear, real-world scenarios: stripping stain from kitchen cabinets without burn marks, removing rust and undercoating from a chassis without thinning panels, erasing graffiti on brick while preserving the face, and cleaning plastic injection molds in place to maintain texture. Jim breaks down why laser cleaning often beats sandblasting and chemical stripping—no media, less mess, fewer disposal headaches, and a surface that’s ready for primer, welding, or finishing. He also addresses common misconceptions, including fears about substrate damage, and shows how test patches and tuned parameters create predictable, repeatable outcomes.

Beyond the tech, we talk about building a business in a new niche. Jim shares how he uses YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook to educate local customers, and why he collaborates with peers worldwide to share best practices and raise industry standards. Whether you’re a homeowner with stained furniture, an auto restorer chasing originality, or a plant manager looking to reduce downtime, you’ll come away with a practical sense of where laser cleaning fits and how it can save time, protect materials, and improve results.

Explore Bison Laser Cleaning online to see demos, before-and-afters, and service options. If you find value in conversations with local pros who bring innovative solutions to everyday problems, follow the show, share it with a neighbor, and leave a quick review to help others discover it.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Nick George.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of laser surface cleaning? Well, one such operation might be closer than you think. Today I have the great pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Jim Ford. Jim, how's it going? Good. Thank you for inviting me on this podcast, Nick. No problem. Tell us, uh, Jim, what exactly is bison laser cleaning?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, basically, what we do is uh I use a laser to uh clean surfaces. It's eco-friendly and it's highly effective. The nice thing is about the laser, it doesn't do any damage to the substrate. So I can go in and remove stain from wood, not burn the wood. I can go in and remove rust or paint from metal, which is really nice, and not do any damage or you know, like a sandblaster or sander would actually take part of the metal off. I don't do any of that with the laser, it's uh nice and smooth, it only takes off what you need to take off. And how did you get into this business? Um, you know, I did a lot of research on a lot of different companies that I wanted to possibly open. Um, this was one of the first ones I actually found, and I didn't want to do the first love I found, you know, so I kept on doing a lot of research and I eventually came back to it. Um, I like it because it's innovative, it's kind of a niche market, and um, I have a lot of fun actually doing it.

SPEAKER_02:

What are some myths or misconceptions that exist in your industry?

SPEAKER_01:

Um a misconception is mainly um doing damage to the substrate. Um, yes, if I turn up the power and everything, I could do damage to the substrate, but after hours and hours and hours of testing and working with the settings on the laser, because every every substrate, every paint, every thing that you're trying to remove, you have to have different settings. So with all those hours of testing and all that, um, we found different things to work on different different settings to work on different substrates to make it work out great.

SPEAKER_02:

How we know that marketing is the heart of every business. How do you market your business digitally?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, digitally, I do a lot of uh YouTube, Instagram, Facebook. I do a lot of emails. Um, I got a couple of networking groups that I go into, and they have their digital access to get me out there, out there in the public. I'm brand new, so I really need to get my name out there, and also not only being a brand new company, but I'm a name brand new industry, so I really need to kind of teach what I do to everybody.

SPEAKER_02:

And who is your target market?

SPEAKER_01:

My target market, that's the nice thing. Um, I can range everything from helping painters strip furniture, kitchen cabinets, I can you know get rid of graffiti on buildings, I can clean up driveways, oil stains on driveways, I can help automotive restoration get rid of rust, or when you're refinishing a chassis or body for a car, I can clean all that up for them so they can take the next steps. Um, it's almost endless. I can do stuff for the oil industry, I can do stuff for plastic mold injections. So my market's pretty big. Um, that's a nice thing. But I'm really right now I'm focusing on automotive restoration because with my last name being Ford, I've always had a love of cars. Um and the painters. I actually really, for some reason, removing stain off of uh furniture and kitchen cabinets, I really enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02:

Very interesting. Uh, have you ever thought about doing your own podcast?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, no, I haven't. I'm I'm probably not the best public speaker. Um, but I've working with uh other laser industry guys, pure tech laser, um, laser squad out of Ogden, Utah, Bermuda Laser, and a couple other guys from Europe. We've we've talked a lot, and you know, it's one of those things that we want to teach everybody how to be successful. We don't want anybody in our industry to kind of make give us a black eye at the beginning. We want to kind of be the best of the best and create our whole industry and you know, going the right direction.

SPEAKER_02:

What are the best ways for people to find basic uh bison laser cleaning online right now? Uh your website, social media addresses, and uh a phone number.

SPEAKER_01:

So everything I have is bison laser cleaning. Um, so it's biserlasercleaning.com website, uh, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. It's Bison Laser Cleaning. Just straight uh those words alone. Um, right now, those are the only ones I have. I haven't got reached out to TikTok or anything like that.

SPEAKER_02:

So I'm sure that's fine. Um, so what is the big takeaway that you want the average person that finds you um on the internet and finds this interview on the internet? What is the main takeaway that you want them to get out of this interview with bison laser cleaning, Jim?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, laser cleaning it's really versatile. Um we can go places that normal people can't go. We can go into houses and clean stain off of furniture for people at their at their homes, but I can also bring stuff back to the warehouse, clean it up for them, and turn around and deliver it to them. Um everything that we do, we you know, I can do everything. I'm sorry, I'm getting tongue-tied there. A lot of things that we do, we can make it cleaner, effectively, fast, and and again, without damaging the substrate. So there's a lot of things that a lot of people might come across to across in their business or personal that they want to get cleaned up. It could be anything from a toy pedal car to a you know furniture equipment in their backyard or your plastic coating company that needs the mold injections cleaned. I can clean all that.

SPEAKER_02:

That's awesome. Well, Jim, uh, we really appreciate you being on our show, and we definitely wish the best for bison laser cleaning moving forward.

SPEAKER_01:

I appreciate you having me. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmpfortcollins.com. That's gmpfortcollins.com or call 970 420 0825.