Historical Restoration with Dry Ice Blasting

It is amazing to see how centuries old breathtaking historical monuments still retain their charm. It is not that they are made of weatherproof material; it is just that they have been restored meticulously. This restoration process is as much a science as it is an art. And being an engineering student I have always been interested in the science part of it.

Let’s talk about the cleaning process as it is the first and the most important and essential part of restoration process.

There are various methods to restore monuments such as scraping, wire brushes etc. but it is dry ice blasting which is considered the most sophisticated method for historical restoration work. My cousin who works as a chemical engineer in USA enlightened me on this topic further.

The main motive behind any restoration work is to bring back the historical structure to its original state and revive its original beauty. Dry ice blasting is the most eco-friendly and non-hazardous way of cleaning buildings.

There are several reasons why dry ice cleaning is considered more useful and beneficial than others:

• First of all, it is a non-abrasive form of cleaning which is highly favorable for historical buildings. In traditional cleaning methods, the restoration of valuable monuments is almost impossible to achieve without damaging the target area. CO₂ blasting, on the other hand, removes decades of built up and lead based paints without causing any damage to the surface.
• Other methods leave their own waste while cleaning, whereas in dry ice blasting there is no residual wastage except from the cleaned area itself.

• Other methods use chemicals which can have an adverse impact on the beauty of the structure in the long term. In contrast, the process of dry ice blasting is free of any chemicals.
  
• In dry ice cleaning process, CO₂ pellets easily reach tight corners in the buildings and clean them meticulously. This process helps clean the difficult-to-reach areas around wiring and plumbing, without causing any damage.
• CO₂ blasting takes only a few hours to do what other conventional methods manage to do in two days. It is a big time saver.

Dry ice blasting has been successfully used to restore historic churches, aging marble statues, fire damaged homes and many other historical buildings. Undoubtedly, it is the finest method to uncover the intricacies of the detailed work. With so many benefits to offer, dry ice blasting sure is the best way to restore historical monuments.