About dry ice blasting

Dry ice blasting is a specialist cleaning method that uses solid carbon dioxide pellets to remove contamination from surfaces. The pellets sublimate on impact, turning from solid to gas and leaving no secondary blasting media behind.

This makes dry ice blasting useful where water, grit, chemicals or heavy residue would create problems. It is often chosen for machinery, production areas, plant rooms, fire residue, tooling and sensitive commercial environments.

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Where dry ice blasting is used

Typical applications include:

• Machinery cleaning
• Production line cleaning
• Plant room cleaning
• Fire residue cleaning
• Grease and carbon removal
• Adhesive removal
• Mould and tooling cleaning
• Electrical-adjacent environments
• Food production areas
• Shutdown cleaning
• Pre-refurbishment cleaning

The method is selected when low residue, reduced water use or targeted cleaning is important.

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How dry ice blasting works

Dry ice pellets are propelled at the surface using specialist equipment. The impact, temperature difference and sublimation effect help lift contamination from the substrate.

Because the dry ice turns into gas, there is no grit or blasting media to collect afterwards. The removed contamination still needs to be managed, but the cleaning process creates less secondary waste than many traditional methods.

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Suitable substrates

Dry ice blasting can be used on many metals, machinery surfaces, tooling, production equipment, painted surfaces and selected building substrates. Suitability depends on surface condition, contamination type, pressure settings and required finish.

It is not always the right method for heavy rust removal, thick coating removal or surface profiling. Abrasive blasting may be more suitable where a strong mechanical profile is needed.

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Working around operational environments

Dry ice blasting can often be planned around shutdown periods, maintenance windows or phased production areas. It can reduce drying time compared with water-based cleaning, which is useful where downtime needs to be controlled.

However, the process still requires planning. Ventilation, CO2 levels, noise, exclusion zones, PPE and access must be considered before works begin.

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Benefits of dry ice blasting

Dry ice blasting can help:

• Reduce water use
• Avoid secondary blasting media
• Clean machinery and plant efficiently
• Reduce drying times
• Support shutdown works
• Clean sensitive or complex areas
• Remove grease, residues and deposits
• Prepare certain surfaces for refurbishment

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Why choose Refurbs

Refurbs plans dry ice blasting around commercial site requirements, safety controls and operational disruption. We provide RAMS, clear communication and directly managed delivery, helping clients clean demanding areas without unnecessary mess or downtime.