Sandblasting stone indoors

[Mark Picton]

Can anyone who’s cleaned up natural stone walls of mortar suggest a better way than sandblasting? it’s creating far too much dust.
its 100 year old ash mortar btw.

 

[KenGMac]

Check out "Soda Blasting" not just as messy???

Ken

 

[Tigercubrider]

There is also dry ice blasting.
Both soda and dry ice will still make dust as the "stuff/dirt" gets knocked off the wall.
Soda is water soluble but dry ice just evaporates (CO2)

 

[KenGMac]

Must admit, never heard of Dry ice Blasting, has a lot going for it, no mess? BUT? appropriate PPE and ventilation.

May ??? be difficult to source on a DIY level??

 

[Keithmac]

Soda Blasting makes a right mess, unless you hose it all down afterwards which will itself make a mess.

 

[StephenStephen]

I've used sprit of salts (dilute hydrochloric acid) for this in the recent past. It's not the safest of chemicals to use - I used thick waterproof gloves, opened all the doors and windows, dabbed it on and ran away for a while. .. worked a treat.

 

[JohnD]

I've used sprit of salts (dilute hydrochloric acid)

being an acid, it dissolves limestone as well as cement.

 

[Mark Picton]

I've used sprit of salts (dilute hydrochloric acid) for this in the recent past. It's not the safest of chemicals to use - I used thick waterproof gloves, opened all the doors and windows, dabbed it on and ran away for a while. .. worked a treat.

I got 10 litres of it, tried a patch. I will not ever use it indoors again lol.

 

[Mark Picton]

I got quoted 500 for about 5 meters of wall at standard 2300mm height. I’m chewing it over as I can get it all done in a day and clean up opposed to a couple of hours on a 24l tank and multiple clean ups.

 

[JohnD]

With that much cleaning up, you might as well use a jet-washer and squirt it off with clean water.

you will need sheeting to protect the stuff in the room, same as you would with dust or chemicals. But the water will prevent dust. A wet vac will clean it up.

 

[UrbanPeasant]

Hi Mark, what did you do in the end? I just gave up wire brushing an near identical stone wall in my house this evening. Been built with black lime mortar and lime-washed for a hundred years, and I'm hoping to clean the stone and point with regular lime mortar.
Thanks
Nathan.

 

[HawkEye244]

I would also like to get a more definitive solution to the issue of cleaning up stone work before I go out and buy a bunch of chemicals that may or may not work..