Media blasting: safe for all surfaces

When we were called in to clean to an industrial unit in Abingdon that had suffered extensive electrical fire damage, we knew we’d have to take a thoughtful approach. Steam cleaning just wouldn’t be able to tackle this level of soot that clung on after the fire, which was coating the manmade surfaces.

We decided on media blasting as the best course of action. This approach means contacting the surface with pressurised air that contains fine particles of a media that’s most suited to the job.

A hardcore approach

While media blasting can be gentle enough to clean contaminants off soft historic stone, it can also be used at high pressure to tackle stubborn substances on hard surfaces, especially in industrial environments – such as soot on breeze blocks and metalwork.

We knew that media blasting would be the best and quickest alternative to using harsh chemicals, with a far better finish. We had to adhere to a specification that dictated how much to strip the steel back so the final coating wouldn’t fail. Using “brute force”, we were able to blast away the soot and old paint, then prime the exposed steel to avoid rusting and leave the surfaces ready to be repainted.

Gently does it

In contrast, we used a very gentle application of media blasting in Bristol, to tackle graffiti on a delicate stone building. There had been a previous attempt to remove it using what turned out to be the incorrect chemicals, leaving an unsightly shadow. We refinished the surface just like you would sand a table back – by taking the very fine top layer off with low pressure media blasting.

Correcting a mistake can often be time consuming and costly, which is why it’s best to call the specialists in from the outset. Media blasting is now in our arsenal of cleaning approaches.

For stubborn cleans or those that require a gentle touch, contact Max or Andy Morris on 0333 234 1445 or email your enquiry.