On this project in Burnley we were employed to clean the Stonework of the old Train Station. We used our DOFF super heated steam cleaning machine for this. We also used our Farrow low pressure Sandblasting machine on the areas the DOFF system would not remove. The first part of the Sandblasting works involved cleaning the building before it was demolished. This was so the contractor did not have to Sand blast the building once it was deconstructed.
The Doff system is ideal for removing algae and bacterial growth from stone buildings. We used this system to clean the stonework where there was a large amount of algae build up. The DOFF system is ideal for this method of Stone Cleaning as it will not damage the substructure as Sandblasting would. The system uses a pressured water run through a burner box to heat the water to +150C. The system is used in the restoration industry by Restoration Contractors to clean delicate Stonework.
Certain areas of the train station had not been sandblasted previously and had heavy soot deposits as well as algae growth. For these areas we used a Farrow blaster. The Farrow Sandblasting system uses a fine media mixed with water and compressed air to clean the stonework. The system is excellent for cleaning stonework and brickwork in built up areas as there is no dust. The dust is suppressed with the water. The pressure it operates at is much lower than traditional Sandblasting, as low as 50 psi in some cases. We do not use silica based media for Sandblasting as these are now illegal.
