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Has anyone heard of dry ice blasting? I found this online and it sounds like the ideal way to strip a truck. Too bad they don't have something small enough for home use.
www.rsg-technologies.com

If I am not mistaken dry ice is the same as soda blasting?

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=000427

rdbates: looked at your link. Never heard of that before. Guess we learn something new everyday.

Dry ice blasting isn't the same as soda blasting. I looked at a online source for info, and the process looks very cool..a pun! No cleanup and no mess. After impacting the item being blasted, the ice pellets turn to vapor. Probably much too sophisticated for home use though.

Stuart

I think it's the same as soda blasting but without all the soda to clean up. It looks like a great way to clean and I don't think it would build up heat in metal being cleaned. I hope someone in China sees it so we can buy a home version at HF in a couple of years. I'd really like to try it.

I wonder if it would be too hard on the metal??

That's what I was wondering.

Dry Ice is solid carbon dioxide. It's roughly minus 100 deg F. It goes from a solid to a gas at atmospheric pressure and temperature. It's the technology that was used to clean the Statue of Liberty several years ago. I haven't looked at the commercial units but I'd guess they generate their dry ice from liquid carbon dioxide.
Soda blasting is done with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). It s a solid that is somewhat soluble in water. I think the blasting can be done either dry or wet. It is not as soluble in water as common salt so it takes mroe than a simple rinse to get all of it off.

Don't think this would be good on paint removal. Look at the video. Soot? Oil and Grease? Cleaning? Polyurethane? mold? label removal? The "paint" segment was 3 seconds long and I could not see what they were doing? taking off black paint on a black object? Come on! No good on paint or they would have played it up more. Hype. get a pressure washer for all that. It will all dry out. Use sand/media blast for paint and/or all the other strip/remover/wire wheel/sander/dip methods. I could have scraped off the "adhesive" faster than the video. The Statue of Liberty has always been SODA blasted. Source: Google.

I don't think it will harm the metal. It is quite commonly used to clean ink from printing presses because they can do it on the spot with less cleanup since the ice evaporates.

I used to clean aluminum mold-plates at my last job with a dry ice blaster.I'm not sure on the cost but I remember it was unbelievably expensive and even though the dry ice evaporates you still get a mess from whatever you are cleaning.Also the dry ice burns when it gets under your shirt or in your gloves.

I just watched a short video on this subject. CLICK (2:38)

Auto Paint Removal (0:28)

It sounds interesting. Has anyone heard any more on this subject?

No, but that's awesome. Seems like it could have some real potential in the restoration business. I wonder what effect it would have on rusted panels? I see it having definite advantages over blasting or chemical (um) stripping techniques. I would venture a guess that cost may be prohibitive, but if someone had the equipment set up, and figures out how to minimize wasting the dry ice (evaporation), it would be a time saver, make for a cleaner job, and easier cleanup. Did you ever find any more information on it?

When I said cleaner, I meant you would likely stay cleaner that you would have scraping/wire brushing/wiping, and I think cleaning the area afterwards would be easier, if the stuff was still somewhat cold when you swept it up...

Tony

Dry ice blasting is used in the oil patch. I don't think it really removes paint. http://www.dryiceoftexas.com/videos/deadpaint.htm

We have several blasters (we call them "snow machines") that we use for cleaning parts and they run off a bank of CO2 tanks. One of the main issues we found was condensation forming from the cold dry ice hitting the parts. We ended up putting the blasters in cabinets purged with dry nitrogen and use heat lamps. That way we don't get the condensation forming.
Samantha

It makes sense that it would remove paint, with the ice pieces knocking off the supercooled paint from the surface. Unless that video posted above is using something other than dry ice, looks like it works pretty well.
Samantha, when you clean parts with it, what WON'T it remove?
Tony

I worked for Praxair at one time and they sold the dry ice units for blasting. This is CO2 in ice form. It does a great job used in some places. Removes grease and oil from electric motor windings without much damage to tje insulation underneath. Not all thet great on paint or rust removal. Lots more expensive than other type of abrasive blasting. It takes some specialized equipment. Real advantage is there is very limited clean up after blasting cause the dry ice evaporates. Praxair was pushing the machines for commercial use as that was a way to sell the co2 product.

Tony,
Our's won't clean any rust off a part, just airborn particulate.
Samantha