Stone Cleaning at GraniteForYou.com

• Stone cleaning
• Principal cleaning methods
• Published Guidelines
• Industry Reaction
• Stone cleaning Conclusions

Industry Reaction

Industry has responded to this published research material, and developments have occurred with the launch and promotion of a variety of new cleaning methods.

In recognition of the need to use more environmentally friendly and delicate techniques, a number of non-aggressive processes have been released. As the principal areas of concern and risk are at the point of operation, most of the new systems have been designed to make sure that operatives have total control over what is happening. Working with very low water volumes or air pressures, and with a range of nozzles, a variety of new agents are offered. These include spherical nodules of calcium carbonate for use on limestones, and fine particle aluminum silicate for use on sandstones and granites. Calcium carbonate, olivine and calcium silicate abrasives are also available.

Often product-specific operatives' training packages are promoted by suppliers, and professionals too are encouraged to attend the courses to ensure that they fully understand the correct application of the systems.

Scottish/National Vocational Qualifications

A CITB Occupational Working Group is currently focusing on stone cleaning at Level 3 with the intention of producing a Scottish/National Vocational Qualification (S/NVQ) in Facade Maintenance. Although a Level 2 S/NVQ has already been validated, its uptake is poor. The Level 3 S/NVQ is being developed to take into account the need to recognise the operatives' skills in a hands-on capacity, whilst providing some chargehand responsibility for the supervision of others. This initiative is a serious attempt to improve the quality of operators in the field, but it can only work if practitioners demand the use of operatives that are appropriately qualified.