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Two firefighters with a compressor
Clean Slate is firefighter owned and operated. Both founders came up in the fire service, and the habits came with them.
Why we started this
There was a need in our market in South Florida and nobody here was doing it properly. We noticed our community needed this.
We are both firefighters and both lifelong car people, so we kept running into jobs where every available cleaning method was too harsh for the part.
What the fire service taught us
My background as a firefighter taught me responsibility, preparation, and how to perform under pressure. I apply that to every project and every customer.
Kenny came up the same way. Accountability, teamwork and a commitment to serving others is how he puts it, and that is how both of us approach a job.
How we work
We would rather tell you dry ice is the wrong tool on the first call than find out on your equipment. If a surface is unusual we test a corner before committing.
One of the owners is on the phone and on site. There is no call center and no handoff.
Questions
Who actually shows up?
Giancarlo or Kenny. Both owners, both firefighters.
How long have you been doing this?
Coming up on two years of combined experience in dry ice blasting.
Are you insured?
Yes. Ask and we will send the details.
What areas do you cover?
South Florida, from Miami out to roughly a hundred miles.
Do you do residential work?
Yes, alongside the commercial and industrial side.
How do I reach you?
Giancarlo at 786-302-6553, Kenny at 786-797-2181, or through the contact page.
What comes off
What comes off, and why
If it is bonded to the surface rather than part of it, there is a good chance this takes it off. The list below covers most of what we are called out for.
- Adhesive and sealant
Sound deadening, tape residue, gasket material and sealant that has cured onto a face it was never meant to stay on.
- Resin and mold release
Cured process residue on a mold or fixture. The surface has to come out dimensionally unchanged, which rules out anything abrasive.
- Paint and coatings
Removed selectively where the substrate underneath has to survive, which rules out most abrasive approaches.
- Salt and corrosion product
A constant in South Florida. Removing it without stripping the protective finish is the whole trick.
- Ink and printing residue
Ink and coating on anilox and press rollers, surfaces where changing the texture changes the print.
- Food residue
Carbonized product, fat, starch and sugar build-up on processing equipment, cleaned without chemicals touching a food contact surface.
- Grease and oil
The soft film that holds dust and swarf against metal. It is what makes a part feel dirty long after it looks clean, and it comes off first.
How a job runs
Nothing about this should be a surprise
Nobody should have to guess what they booked. This is every stage of a job in the order it happens.
- You describe the job
What it is, what is on it and whether it can stop. If the answer is that dry ice is wrong for it, you get that answer first, not last.
- We look at access and containment
Siting the compressor, masking what must not be touched, and catching what comes off, settled before the first pellet.
- We test a small area
An out-of-sight patch comes first so pressure and pellet size are proven before anything that shows. Soft alloys, older paint and bare metal each want different numbers.
- We blast, then clean up
One mess instead of two: the pellet vanishes and we take away what it removed.
- You look before we pack up
If something needs another pass we do it then, on site, while the rig is still running. That is a better outcome for everyone than a callback.
The comparison
How this compares to the usual methods
- Solvent and degreaser
Trades the deposit for a residue, plus ventilation and waste to deal with, and it is hard on the finish.
- Hand scraping
Fine on a patch, hopeless on a machine, and the blade leaves its own evidence.
- Media blasting
Effective and indiscriminate. On soft metal or a finished surface it does damage you then have to fix.
- Pressure washing
Water gets into everything and has to come out again before the equipment runs. Around electrics it is off the table entirely.
- Dry ice
The pellet is soft and the mechanism is temperature, not abrasion. It turns to gas on impact, so the only thing left to sweep up is what came off.
What to expect on site
Everything the rig needs arrives with it. No tap, no drain, no outlet.
Masking happens first. Whatever is adjacent and vulnerable gets covered before the hose is picked up.
Solid carbon dioxide leaves no residue at all. What it does do is displace air, so an enclosed space gets ventilated as part of the job rather than as a precaution added later.
Expect noise. Everybody inside the working area wears hearing protection, us included.
Why us
How we work
- We test before we commit
Every substrate reacts differently, so settings get proven on a spot nobody sees first.
- The rig comes to you
Shop, yard, driveway or dockside, the van carries the whole setup, so nothing has to be moved.
- We clean up after ourselves
The media disappears, but the contaminant does not. Collecting it is part of the job, not an extra line.
- Firefighter owned and operated
Giancarlo and Kenny both came out of the fire service, and the discipline that job demands is the discipline this one gets.
- You speak to an owner
No dispatcher, no account manager. You talk to whoever is going to be holding the hose.
- We will tell you no
Not everything should be dry ice blasted. Being told that early is worth more than being sold the job.
Send us the job.
Give us the job, the address and a rough description, pictures if you have them. The call back comes from Giancarlo or Kenny directly.