Dry ice blasting cleans with frozen carbon dioxide instead of water, sand or chemicals. It removes soot, char, mold, grease and buildup from wood, brick, concrete, metal and equipment, and the ice turns into gas on contact, so there’s nothing left to clean up except what was removed. We use a Cold Jet PLT Ultra dry ice blasting system powered by a Sullivan air compressor, for homes and businesses across Los Angeles.
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Igor, the owner, speaks Russian, Ukrainian and Hebrew.
How it works
Small pellets of dry ice are fired at the surface with compressed air. They hit at about −109 °F, which makes the dirt brittle, and then turn straight from solid to gas. The expanding gas lifts the contamination off the surface.
What that means in practice:
- No water. Nothing gets wet, so there’s no drying time and no new moisture for mold.
- No chemicals. Dry ice is food-grade and non-toxic.
- No sand or grit. It isn’t abrasive, so it cleans wood, brick and many finished surfaces without eating into them.
- No secondary waste. The ice disappears. The only thing to collect is the dirt that came off.
- Safe around electrical components. Dry ice doesn’t conduct electricity, so motors, panels and wiring can be cleaned without water.
For homes
Fire and smoke damage
Soot and char on framing, attic rafters, roof sheathing, brick and stone. Cleaning the burned material at the source is a big part of removing smoke odor. Where the wood is structurally sound, cleaning it can be an alternative to tearing it out.
Mold on wood
Mold on attic sheathing, crawl space joists, subfloors and wall framing. Dry ice blasting removes the growth without soaking the wood. It’s one step in a full remediation: containment, HEPA air filtration, fixing the moisture source, and verification with air samples sent to an independent lab.
Brick, stone and concrete
Fireplaces, chimneys, block walls and patios stained by soot, smoke or grime.
For businesses
Restaurants
Kitchen equipment, walls, floors and back-of-house areas covered in grease and buildup. No water and no chemical residue near food areas.
Warehouses and commercial buildings
Walls, ceilings, racking, loading areas and structural steel. Cleaning after fire or smoke damage, or before repainting and tenant turnover.
Industrial equipment
Production machinery, molds, conveyors, motors and electrical cabinets. In many cases equipment can be cleaned in place, which means less disassembly and less downtime.
Food processing
Ovens, mixers and processing lines. Dry ice is food-grade, so there’s no chemical residue to rinse off afterward.
What it can’t do
Dry ice blasting removes contamination from the surface. It doesn’t strip thick paint the way sandblasting does, and it doesn’t remove deep rust or repair wood that has lost its strength. If another method is better for your surface, we’ll tell you.
How a job works
- Visit and test. We look at the surface, what needs to come off, and what’s around it.
- Prep. We protect what shouldn’t be touched and set up ventilation. Dry ice turns into CO2 gas, so the work area needs fresh air, and we monitor it in enclosed spaces.
- Blast. We clean the surface section by section.
- Clean up. We collect the removed material. There’s no sand, water or chemical to dispose of.
Dry Ice Blasting FAQ
Is dry ice blasting safe for wood?
Yes, for sound wood. It removes soot, mold and dirt without sanding or soaking the wood.
Does it leave a mess?
The ice itself turns into gas. What’s left is the material that came off the surface, which we collect.
Can you clean equipment without taking it apart?
Often, yes. Dry ice doesn’t conduct electricity and doesn’t leave water behind, so a lot of equipment can be cleaned in place.
Is it safe for my family or employees?
Yes, with proper ventilation. Dry ice becomes carbon dioxide gas, so we ventilate the work area and keep people out of it while we work.
Is the estimate free?
Yes. The on-site estimate is free. If you need a detailed Xactimate estimate for an insurance claim, that may be billed separately, and we’ll tell you before we prepare it.
Do you work outside Los Angeles?
We serve Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, the Westside and Santa Clarita. For larger commercial or industrial jobs farther away, call us.
Areas we serve
Los Angeles · Encino · Sherman Oaks · Calabasas · Beverly Hills · Bel Air · Hollywood Hills · Malibu · Culver City · Santa Clarita
Photo credits: dry ice pellets by Richard Wheeler (Zephyris), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Industrial dry ice blasting by Silverije, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Images resized.