What builds up, and why it matters
On this kind of work the problem is grease, carbon, adhesive and production residue across every kind of substrate. Most cleaning problems arrive with a constraint attached: it cannot get wet, it cannot be scratched, it cannot be taken apart, or it has to be back in service the same shift.
A mobile rig means the compressor, hose and operator arrive at your shop, plant or driveway. The people who call us about emergency dry are usually anyone who has been told their part is too delicate to clean properly, and the thing they are actually worried about is that the cleaning does more harm than the dirt did.
The method
Why dry ice and not the alternatives
- Non-abrasive
The pellet is soft and sublimates on impact, so the work is thermal rather than mechanical. Machined faces, plating, paint and gaskets survive it.
- Low moisture
No standing water in a harness, a bearing or a cabinet, and no dry time before the equipment goes back into service.
- No secondary waste
Sand, soda and walnut shell all have to be swept and hauled. Dry ice leaves only the contaminant it removed.
- Often no teardown
Much of this work is done in place, which is usually where the real saving is. The labor is in the disassembly, not the cleaning.
More core work
Related jobs we get called for
Questions we get asked first
Will it damage the surface underneath?
On most substrates, no. The pellet is soft and sublimates on impact, so it does thermal work rather than mechanical work. We still test an inconspicuous spot first on anything unusual.
Do you have to take the equipment apart for emergency dry?
Usually far less than you would expect, and often not at all. Cleaning in place is where most of the saving comes from, because the labor is normally in the teardown and reassembly.
How much mess does it make?
Far less than the alternatives, because the blasting media disappears. What is left is the contaminant itself, which we contain and clean up.
Do you come to us?
Yes. The whole rig is mobile. Compressor, hose and operator arrive at your shop, plant, driveway or dock, anywhere across South Florida from Miami out to roughly a hundred miles.
What does a job cost?
It depends on the equipment, the contaminant and the access, so we will not throw a number at you over the phone without understanding the work. Describe the job and we will give you a real figure.
How soon can you look at it?
Send photos and a short description and one of the owners gets back to you. If you have a shutdown or a deadline, say so up front and we will tell you honestly whether we can hit it.
The comparison
What the alternatives actually do
- Solvent and degreaser
It dissolves the deposit and often the finish underneath, then leaves a film behind either way.
- Hand scraping
Slow enough to be uneconomic on a machine, and the tool always leaves a trace.
- 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
It is fast and it is wet, which is fine outdoors and unusable on anything with a winding in it.
- Dry ice
It is the only one on this list where the media stops existing the moment it has worked.
What comes off
The deposits we see most
Most calls involve one of the following. The common factor is a bond between two things that should not be bonded.
- Ink and printing residue
Dried ink on precision roller faces, cleaned without altering the cell structure that does the work.
- 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 greasy base coat that traps grit and dust. It releases early and takes the loose material with it.
- Carbon and soot
Baked carbon on a manifold, oven or weld fixture. Thermal shock is exactly the wrong thing for the bond holding it on, which is why this works.
- Adhesive and sealant
Sealant squeezed out and cured where it was never supposed to set.
- 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
Selective removal, layer by layer, on parts where media blasting would cut into the substrate.
How a job runs
What happens once you call
If you have not seen this done before, the process is worth reading once. Nothing below is hidden in a footnote.
- You describe the job
Describe the equipment and the mess. If it cannot come offline that changes the plan, so say so early.
- We look at access and containment
Hose run, compressor position, what needs masking, and where the contaminant is collected. For food and electrical jobs the containment plan takes longer to settle than the blasting does.
- We test a small area
Pressure and pellet size get dialed in on an inconspicuous spot before we touch anything visible. Painted parts, soft alloys and older finishes all behave differently, and the right setting on one is the wrong setting on another.
- We blast, then clean up
Nothing is left of the pellet, so the only thing to collect is what was on your equipment. That collection is part of the work we quoted.
- 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.
What happens in your space
We cover what should not be hit before anything gets blasted. It takes minutes and saves arguments.
The media is solid CO2, nothing toxic and nothing left behind, but it pushes oxygen out of a closed room. Ventilation gets planned before the hose is connected.
Expect noise. Everybody inside the working area wears hearing protection, us included.
The part will be cold when we finish. Sometimes that means a short wait before handling; sometimes it means a film of condensation as it warms back up.
Describe what you are dealing with.
A short description and a location is enough to start. Add photos if you can. You will speak to an owner, not a scheduler.