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Dry Ice vinyl removal?

Mike Paul

Mike Paul

Super Active Member
Got a call today to see if I remove vinyl lettering.

I Said maybe send pics of the truck.

He wanted to know if I would use Dry Ice or a heat gun…?

Thought he was f in with me but dry ice removal is a thing…

35 years in business never heard of dry ice removal. Lol
 
DL Signs

DL Signs

Never go against the family
Dry ice blasting is cool, you can do a lot more than remove vinyl, they'll clean just about anything without damaging. Just like most things though, good equipment isn't cheap. In some areas you may be able to rent them.
 
S

somcalmetim

New Member
Dry Ice, where have you been all my life?
Would defo like to see a real life demo of that...looked like he took paint off one of them but would be cool if you could control that.
 
DL Signs

DL Signs

Never go against the family
somcalmetim said:
Dry Ice, where have you been all my life?
Would defo like to see a real life demo of that...looked like he took paint off one of them but would be cool if you could control that.
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If you ever get the chance to see a demo, or one in action, go for it!
I did see the tail end of a demo done at a detail shop owned by a guy I know several years ago. He called and said "you gotta come see this", so I did. He wanted one because it can be used to clean everything from greasy engines & undercarriages to interior plastics, rubbers, leathers & fabrics. Unfortunately he's pretty much a one man shop, and just wasn't comfortable enough financially to pull the trigger on it, otherwise I'd have one at my disposal to "borrow" ;)

You adjust air pressure and dry ice delivery to dial it in for what you're doing. It's not abrasive, so it's not efficient for stripping paint, but it will remove any paint that isn't bonded well, which is something that has to be considered, especially on vehicles. Wide open, they have a lot of power, enough to remove undercoating from cars, sign vinyl, but turned down, delicate enough to clean fine leather.

Good machines aren't cheap, but if you have a demand, costs can be recouped like anything else, however there is one major expense besides the machine. You also need a hefty air compressor capable of continuous clean higher volume air delivery, like you would need for sandblasting. The sales guy used a diesel compressor in his trailer with all the dryers and coolers, I think he said you'd need at least a 15hp shop compressor to handle it. A compressor that size with all the dryers, cleaners and air coolers needed is an easy 8-10 grand minimum if you don't already have one.
 
DL Signs

DL Signs

Never go against the family
White Haus said:
Well ain't that some shit. I've NEVER heard of this before.
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It's been around for a while, but just started gaining in popularity recently as the machines became more refined.
A couple companies have add-on accessories where you can add fine blast media with the dry ice for paint stripping, having the dry Ice mixed prevents it from heating up, so it doesn't warp thinner metal. Wish these had been around when I had the body shop, I would have invested heavily.
 
GAC05

GAC05

Quit buggin' me
DL Signs said:
It's been around for a while, but just started gaining in popularity recently as the machines became more refined.
A couple companies have add-on accessories where you can add fine blast media with the dry ice for paint stripping, having the dry Ice mixed prevents it from heating up, so it doesn't warp thinner metal. Wish these had been around when I had the body shop, I would have invested heavily.
Click to expand...
Might have come in handy when I was spraying undercarriage rustproofing. By the end of the day, I'd be fully rustproofed (with a 10 year warranty) and had to basically shower with kerosene to get it off. A little ice-blasting sounds good.
 
White Haus

White Haus

Not a Newbie
GAC05 said:
Might have come in handy when I was spraying undercarriage rustproofing. By the end of the day, I'd be fully rustproofed (with a 10 year warranty) and had to basically shower with kerosene to get it off. A little ice-blasting sounds good.
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My first jobs out of high school were at a few dealerships.....Porsche/VW, Acura, Honda etc doing detailing. I remember at the Honda dealership they moved the payment "structure" to piecemeal....so a full detail would get x, rustproofing would get y, etc etc. The old lifers would always jump on the rustproofing projects because they paid more, meanwhile I'd take the gravy jobs that were less nasty and easier to knock off. They were covered in the stuff by the end of the day, I don't think I'll ever forget that smell.

Ah the memories. Best part was working at the Porsche dealership, they would let us kids take the brand new units to the gas station to fuel them up. (big mistake) Had lots of fun working there but in the end I only lasted about a month, I thought it was too "stressful" and quit. The manager, who was a great guy, begged me to stay but I decided I had enough. Stupid 18 year old me, thinking washing luxury sports cars was a stressful job. :rolleyes:
 
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