Home / Service areas / Monroe County / Summerland Key
Monroe County · Florida
Summerland Key dry ice blasting
When we take a job in Summerland Key, the rig comes to the machine rather than the other way round.
How we work in this area
Everything arrives on the van: compressor, hose, operator and containment. So the equipment stays put. Everything that has to move arrives on the truck instead.
Nothing of the ice survives the blast. That removes the entire cleanup problem every other method creates, leaving only the deposit that came off the equipment.
What we clean
What we get called for in Summerland Key
Nearby
Also working across Monroe County
Questions from Summerland Key
What do you need from us on site?
Access to the equipment and somewhere to park the compressor. No water hookup, no drain and no wash bay.
How flexible are the hours?
Generally yes. Weekend and overnight work is routine, and the limiting factor is usually noise, not us.
What sort of work do you get called for?
Everything from an engine bay in a driveway to a production line at shutdown. The process is the same, pointed at a different problem.
Do you charge for the drive?
It depends how far out the job is. We will be straight with you about it when you describe the work.
What is the first step?
A short description and a couple of pictures is enough to start. An owner rings you back.
Do you actually come out to Summerland Key?
Yes. Summerland Key is inside our regular working area, and the rig travels to the job rather than the other way round.
What the climate does here
Afternoon storms mean equipment that lives outside is wet, then hot, then wet again. It is also why an abrasive method costs you twice: once in the cleaning, again in the finish you removed.
Residential garages and small shops sit alongside the commercial work on any given week. In every case the truck brings its own air and its own containment, so you are not adapting the site to suit the method.
The pellet turns to gas, so nothing runs off toward a drain and nothing abrasive stays behind in a bearing. On a cramped Monroe County site that usually decides it.
What comes off
What dry ice actually removes
The rule of thumb is simple: anything stuck on rather than built in. These are the deposits we see most.
- Salt and corrosion product
The year-round problem on the coast. The finish holding corrosion back has to survive the cleaning.
- Ink and printing residue
Dried ink on precision roller faces, cleaned without altering the cell structure that does the work.
- Food residue
Burnt-on product, fat and sugar on processing gear, with no chemical residue left on a 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.
- Carbon and soot
Heat-bonded black deposit. Because heat put it there, a sudden cold front is what breaks its grip.
- Adhesive and sealant
The stubborn film under old tape, or the gasket that tore and left half of itself behind.
- Resin and mold release
Release agent and resin build-up on tooling, where a solvent fix trades one residue for another.
How a job runs
How a job actually runs
Most people have never watched dry ice blasting happen and are not sure what they are agreeing to. Here is the whole sequence, start to finish.
- You look before we pack up
We would rather you find the missed spot while we are standing there than a week later. Another pass on the day is the cheapest fix available.
- 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.
The comparison
What the alternatives actually do
- Pressure washing
The water has to go somewhere, and on most equipment that somewhere is inside it.
- 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
It is the fallback when nothing else is available, and it shows on the surface afterward.
- Media blasting
Grit removes material to do its job, so a machined face or a plated part pays for the cleaning.
- Dry ice
Cold breaks the bond and the media vanishes. The substrate is untouched and there is no second mess to clean up.
What the job is like to stand next to
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.
Dry ice is carbon dioxide in solid form. It is non-toxic and leaves no residue, but it does displace oxygen in an enclosed space, so ventilation is part of the setup rather than an afterthought.
The process is loud. Hearing protection is standard for anyone in the working area, which is why you will see ear defenders in most of our photographs.
Tell us what needs cleaning.
A short description and a location is enough to start. Add photos if you can. You will speak to an owner, not a scheduler.