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Palm Beach County · Florida
Pahokee dry ice blasting
Pahokee calls tend to arrive with a constraint attached, which is exactly where this method earns its keep.
How we work in this area
The compressor runs off the truck, so there is no wash pad to find and no runoff to manage. 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 Pahokee
Nearby
Also working across Palm Beach County
Questions from Pahokee
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?
Send the equipment, the location and a short description with photos if you have them. One of the owners calls you back.
Will you travel to Pahokee?
Yes. Pahokee is inside our regular working area, and the rig travels to the job rather than the other way round.
Do you need anything set up before you arrive?
Space for the rig and a way to reach the machine. Everything else arrives with us.
Can you come outside business hours?
Generally yes. Weekend and overnight work is routine, and the limiting factor is usually noise, not us.
What do most jobs look like?
It ranges from a single restoration project to a plant maintenance window. The method does not change much.
The local conditions
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 Palm Beach 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.
- Grease and oil
The greasy base coat that traps grit and dust. It releases early and takes the loose material with it.
- 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
Production buildup on tooling and fixtures. Solvent trades one film for another; the pellet removes the residue and disappears.
- Paint and coatings
Selective removal, layer by layer, on parts where media blasting would cut into the substrate.
- 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.
How a job runs
How a job actually runs
If this is your first time hiring dry ice blasting, the steps below are what to expect. Nothing happens on the day that we have not talked through.
- We blast, then clean up
There is no spent media to recover, only the deposit, which we collect before packing up.
- You look before we pack up
Walk it with us before the hose goes away. A second pass while the compressor is still running costs nothing; a return visit costs us both.
- You describe the job
Tell us the machine, the mess and the constraint. A couple of photos answers more than a long description, and if the honest answer is that something else suits it better, we say so.
- We look at access and containment
Debris is the part people forget. Grease and carbon have to land somewhere when they come off, so we pick that spot and protect it before we start.
- We test a small area
Aluminum, cast iron and painted steel all want different settings, and guessing is how surfaces get marked. A small hidden test settles it before the real work starts.
The comparison
Why not just pressure wash it
- Media blasting
Cuts into the substrate by design. Fine on structural steel, wrong on aluminum, plating, machined faces or anything with a tolerance.
- Pressure washing
The water has to go somewhere, and on most equipment that somewhere is inside it.
- Solvent and degreaser
Softens the contaminant but leaves a film, fumes and a disposal problem, and attacks finishes you meant to keep.
- Hand scraping
Slow, inconsistent, and the tool marks the surface. Fine for a small area, unworkable across a machine.
- Dry ice
Thermal shock breaks the bond. The pellet sublimates, so nothing abrasive touches the part and nothing is left to collect but the contaminant.
What the job is like to stand next to
The gas the ice turns into is the same carbon dioxide we breathe out, and it leaves nothing on the surface. In a closed room it can crowd out air, though, so we open things up before starting.
Expect noise. Everybody inside the working area wears hearing protection, us included.
The cold is what does the cleaning, so some of it stays in the part for a while. Gloves help if you need to handle it right after we finish.
Everything the rig needs arrives with it. No tap, no drain, no outlet.
Send us the job.
Where is it, and how easy is it to get to? Add the equipment and the contaminant, and we have what we need to call you back.