Dry Ice Blasting

Balance Motor Works are now able to offer Dry Ice Blasting for residents of Sussex and further afield. You may or may not have heard of this process. It’s not new, but it is becoming more popular as people hang on to cars for longer, and the car park ages.

Our Dry Ice Blasting service is popular with

• Car enthusiasts both Classic and Modern
• Car Dealers
• Car Restorers

Dry ice blasting is a cleaning process that utilises dry ice pellets (solid carbon dioxide) crushed by the Stainless ice roller and then accelerated at high speeds to clean surfaces. Here’s a brief overview of the process and why it’s so effective:

Process of Dry Ice Blasting

Loading the Blasting Machine – The dry ice pellets are loaded into the blasting machine which in our case has a 10KG hopper for Dry Ice

Crushing and accelerating the dry ice pellets – First the roller in the dry ice machine crushes the pellets, then compressed air at up to 120 PSI is used to accelerate the pellets through the nozzle at high speeds. We have control over the pressure and the amount of dry ice delivered as well as its size, to cope with delicate work, as well as the hard graft of blasting an underbody.

Impact on the Surface -When the dry ice pellets impact the surface being cleaned, they undergo a phase change from solid to gas (sublimation). This rapid phase change results in micro-explosions on the surface.

Contaminant Removal – The force of the micro-explosions lifts and removes contaminants such as dirt, grease, paint, or other surface coatings. If you are restororing the underbody of a car we can use Dry Ice to remove old underseal. Dry Ice blasting is effective at removing nearly all contaminants without the need for harsh chemicals or manual scrubbing.

Advantages for Car Cleaning

Non-Abrasive – Dry ice blasting is non-abrasive, making it suitable even around delicate surfaces like car paint. It doesn’t cause damage or scratching – that is if you’ve got the gun set right, if you get it wrong you can easily remove paint as this video shows.

No Residue – Dry ice sublimates into carbon dioxide gas, leaving no secondary waste or residue. This is particularly important in automotive applications, where water or abrasive residues could cause issues. Back in the day steam cleaning an engine bay was a thing – but as you can imagine caused a few running issues afterwards !

Environmentally Friendly – Dry ice blasting is environmentally friendly as it doesn’t involve the use of chemicals or solvents. It is a dry and non-toxic process. Is it “Green”? OK so the CO₂ is extracted from the air, frozen and then gets re-released. The only carbon emission is from the energy to make the dry ice, which of course could be renewable.

Versatility – Dry ice blasting can be used on various surfaces and materials, making it versatile for different automotive cleaning applications including the interior trim – which most people find quite remarkable when they see the results.

How much does it cost?

Like all things that offer remarkable results, Dry Ice Blasting isn’t cheap. A lot depends on the level of contamination which has a direct effect on the time required and the amount of Dry Ice. We’ve set these different “Stage” prices as a good guide for the typical job. We are happy though to provide a bespoke service to suit your needs.

• Engine detail underbonnet • Inc gearbox	• Stage 1 plus underbody • Including accessible suspension	• Stage 2 plus wheels removed • Includes brakes & hubs • Suspension control arms • Wheel arches (with liners in)

Give us a call or send an email to book your car in. We usually need 7 days notice for Dry Ice Blasting.