Dry ice cleaning

[Manolo]

Evening all,

Anybody got any experience with dry ice cleaning? I've not heard of it until today, seems effective?

 

[Usel]

Seems very effective. Only seen it on YouTube though and no personal experience.

 

[LawrenceW]

Worth pricing up as gather it's quite expensive although the results are impressive

 

[Manolo]

It isn’t cheap! Around £2k ish to get underneath the car, brakes and engine bay. Not sure of benefits against/curing corrosion or is just a really effective clean?

 

[Usel]

It's basically sand blasting but using dry ice media. The big advantage of it is that there is no media left behind as it evaporates (or whatever the scientific term is for dry ice.)

 

[john-e89]

What are you wanting to clean Manolo…?

I’ve done some dry ice blasting so can advise if I know as much as possible about what you’re wanting.

 

[Manolo]

Hi John,

Does it help with curing or preventing rust on the underbelly, wheel arches etc? I have been told that after the dry ice blast, a sealant can be applied to add extra protection?

I feel like I've seen enough to know it will do a good job cleaning, just wondering if there are any additional benefits to the process given the cost?

TIA.

 

[SebGwizdek]

So as I’m buying a Z4 and I recently set up dry ice blasting I feel this is a good place to start my posting.

Happy to help where possible!

 

[SebGwizdek]

I can’t work out how to quote you but il try Answer as best I can

Does it help with curing or preventing rust on the underbelly, wheel arches etc?

It doesn’t cure rust, the idea is cleaning the surface back to factory finish removing old under seal etc then you can apply whatever under seal you want and the car should be protected way better then now.

have been told that after the dry ice blast, a sealant can be applied to add extra protection?
Correct you don’t want to be leaving the car bare, you can but not advisable, either way is probably better then old and broken under seal, most people opt for clear finishes underneath

I feel like I've seen enough to know it will do a good job cleaning, just wondering if there are any additional benefits to the process given the cost?
The benefits are vast, you can’t clean just about anything without inducing moisture to wiring etc, it cleans suspension components up a treat too


Posting on a phone isn’t ideal but feel free to ask any more questions, I won’t advertise as I’m sure it’ll be frowned upon!

 

[Manolo]

Very helpful!

Where are you based?

 

[SebGwizdek]

I’m mobile but based in Blackburn so just north of Manchester, happy to travel and cheaper then the price mentioned above

 

[john-e89]

It has its limitations however, dry ice won’t blast heavy rust, only fine rust, nor will it clean very oxidised ally etc, back to a factory look, it’ll be ok but if you’re wanting it to look like new it won’t.

 

[SebGwizdek]

John speaks the truth, rust will not be removed… unless it’s light surface rust.

Aluminium will clean up nicely but never look the same as it was when new, that’s where sand blasting/media blasting comes in, the difference is here it can be 90% of the same but without the removal of parts and risk of left of media inside components etc

 

[Zedebee]

It's basically sand blasting but using dry ice media. The big advantage of it is that there is no media left behind as it evaporates (or whatever the scientific term is for dry ice.)

It sublimes

 

[john-e89]

The gearbox pic is a good illustration of ice blasted ally, as opposed to vapour blasting that I do, which gets even the most heavily oxidised ally back to factory fresh, the difference is clear, however as Seb rightly says with ice you don’t need to take any components off the car and ice won’t leave any debris behind such as glass media that needs to be washed out with vapour blasting, and ice will clean up not heavily rusted components very well.

Seb pm me your business details if you will please, you’re not a million miles from me, I’m in Derbyshire.