Dry Ice Cleaning Heritage Stonework
Optimum Dry Ice Blasting have recently been involved in cleaning stonework on heritage buildings
We’ve had a really busy November which has taken Optimum down a brand new avenue in dry ice blasting.
After running successful tests on stone cleaning we were asked by one of the UK’s largest natural stone dealers if we would be interested in providing blast cleaning services at a cathedral, where they have recently been working.
We jumped at the chance. The blast was quite intricate and involved a very low ice flow and a low pressure setting at the compressor. The aim was to remove 100% of an eroding contaminant without damaging the substrate of the 500 year old York stone.
The process was slow and monitored every step of the way to make sure the removal was non-damaging. The results are spectacular and what would have taken 6 months with traditional forms of removal, took 3 weeks with dry ice blasting.
Dry Ice Is A More Gentle Approach
What was discovered is the very action of dry ice blasting ‘teases’ the contaminant from the substrate, rather than the grinding effect of other blasting options (including water!). This action, coupled with a low pressure setting (4 bar), meant no damage occurred at all over 300 square metres of wall.
The diversity of dry ice blasting is becoming known throughout lots of industry, this is definitely one of the latest areas.