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Residential · Miami, FL
Residential Machinery Ice Blasting
Residential Machinery comes to us when the usual cleaning methods are too harsh for the part. We clean it without water, without chemicals and without anything abrasive touching the surface.
What builds up, and why it matters
On this kind of work the problem is grease, soot, mildew staining, old finish and garage grime. Household surfaces are usually softer than industrial ones, so the non-abrasive part matters more, not less.
We come to the house; the rig runs off the driveway. The people who call us about residential machinery are usually homeowners and collectors, and the thing they are actually worried about is damage to something in your own home.
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 residential 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 residential machinery?
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
How this compares to the usual methods
- Solvent and degreaser
Chemistry works, but you inherit ventilation, waste handling and a film on the surface.
- Hand scraping
Hours of work for an inconsistent result, with gouges where the blade slipped.
- Media blasting
It takes the top off whatever it touches. That is the point on rusted plate and the problem everywhere else.
- Pressure washing
Forces water where water should not go, looms, bearings, seams, and then the job stops while it dries.
- 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.
- 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
Production residue cured onto tooling. Solvent softens it and leaves its own film; the ice lifts it and takes nothing with it.
- Paint and coatings
Taken off in a controlled way when what is underneath matters more than speed.
- 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 and coating build-up on rollers and press components, where the surface texture is the product.
- Food residue
Carbonized product build-up in a plant where neither standing water nor a chemical film is acceptable.
- Grease and oil
Oil film is the layer everything else sticks to. Remove it and half the job is already done.
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.
- 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
There is no spent media to recover, only the deposit, which we collect before packing up.
- You look before we pack up
Inspect it with the rig still set up. Anything you are not happy with gets another go before we leave.
- You describe the job
What the equipment is, what is on it, where it lives, and whether it can be shut down. Photos tell us more than a paragraph. If dry ice is the wrong tool we say so on that call rather than after taking your money.
- We look at access and containment
Where the compressor sits, how far the hose has to reach, what gets masked or moved, and where the removed contaminant ends up. On food and electrical work this is most of the planning.
What happens in your space
This is not a quiet method. Ear defenders are standard issue on site for anyone nearby.
Cold surfaces are the one aftereffect. Depending on the piece that is either a few minutes of patience or some condensation while it returns to room temperature.
The rig needs compressed air, which the truck supplies. There is no hookup to find and nothing of yours to plug into.
Anything nearby that should not be touched gets masked before we start. That is quicker than explaining it afterward.
Describe what you are dealing with.
Give us the job, the address and a rough description, pictures if you have them. The call back comes from Giancarlo or Kenny directly.