Many of us found that our yards were an oasis from the pandemic. Unfortunately, spending so much time outdoors may have made how dirty your home siding more evident.
Not only is dirty exterior siding ugly, but it can also decrease your home’s worth. Experts say that you should clean your siding if you want to increase your home’s value.
However, power washing isn’t your only solution. Dry ice blasting is another safer method you can opt for if you want a prettier, cleaner home exterior.
But there are more reasons why you should consider dry ice blasting for home cleaning. Keep reading if you’d like to know more about dry ice blasting and why it’s the best choice for your siding.
What Is Dry Ice Blasting?
Dry ice blasting uses carbon dioxide pellets to clean your home’s siding. Carbon dioxide solidifies into dry ice once it cools at or below -109.3° Fahrenheit (-78.5° Celsius).
Dry ice comes in pellet form and shoots at supersonic speeds toward your siding with pinpoint accuracy. The cold temperature freezes away dirt, mold, paint, and other substances without damaging the surface beneath.
If you’d like to know more about the dry ice blasting process, read this for more information. You can learn more about how dry ice pellets form.
Why Is Dry Ice Blasting Good for Home Cleaning?
Dry ice blasting is ideal for home cleaning because it doesn’t cause damage like other blasting methods; you can even clean wood siding. Dry ice is also great for mold and fire remediation, thanks to the gentle technique.
On the other hand, power washing can be dangerous for your home. Power washing is an excellent way to revitalize your house’s siding, but when done improperly, you can:
- Gouge wood siding
- Strip mortar from brick
- Get water inside your walls
- Blast lead paint into your soil
Power washing is also not an option for fire and mold remediation. Your home is likely already saturated after the fire department is done. The last thing you need is more water.
As for mold remediation, adding water will only exacerbate the problem. Moist environments are perfect places for mold to grow. Frozen carbon dioxide doesn’t leave behind water because it sublimates instead of melts.
Sublimation is when a substance turns from a solid to a gaseous form without transforming into water. So, not only will the frozen pellets not chip away at delicate or damaged surfaces, but they won’t cause water damage.
Power washing is also potentially dangerous for you or whoever’s washing your siding. Users risk electrocution if they don’t practice power washing safely.
People using power washing can suffer cuts and other injuries also. Gas-powered washers may cause carbon monoxide poisoning inside enclosed spaces.
Other Benefits of Using Dry Ice Blasting
We’ve already discussed how safe dry ice blasting is for your home and users, but are there other reasons you should consider using carbon dioxide to clean your siding?
Earlier, we’d mentioned that the dry ice pellets don’t melt but sublimate. This method is “dry” compared to power washing, and the surrounding trees and plants absorb the carbon dioxide.
Dry ice blasting emits no toxic gases or harmful chemicals, so it is a highly environmentally-friendly option for home cleaning. But eco-friendliness isn’t the only reason to dry ice-clean siding.
Dry Ice Is Non-Abrasive
If you use a suitable medium and know what you’re doing, you can sandblast wood with little problem. But poor technique may lead to heavy damage to your wooden siding.
You also can’t sandblast old brick as it will degrade the aged material. Dry ice won’t scar or erode wood or old brick surfaces.
There Is No Waste
Ironically, other house cleaning methods cause an enormous mess once you’re done with the siding. Sandblasting gets particles everywhere, and you must carefully dispose of any chemicals you’ve used.
Even power washing leaves the surrounding area wet. But dry ice blasting leaves no residue behind. The ice freezes substances out of existence, and there’s no water left from the ice itself.
Dry Ice Is Faster
Unlike scrubbing with chemicals, water, or other blasting methods, dry ice blasting allows you to work quickly. In the above paragraph, we mentioned how dry ice doesn’t leave additional waste you’d have to clean.
Less material to clean means less time for the overall project. You don’t have to set up a lot of equipment, either. You only need compressed air, dry ice, and an electric power source.
Dry Ice Cleans Many Substances and Surfaces
You can clean mold, soot, odor, and toxic substances from fires and adhesives. You don’t have to worry about the dry ice negatively reacting with these substances or causing further damage to your home.
Dry ice blasting is gentle and clean enough to remove build-up from printing presses, CNC machining, injection molding, and items used in the food industry. Metal, brick (new or old), wood, metal, and concrete.
You can manipulate the dry ice stream to clean around electronics, plumbing, nails, and fasteners. Dry ice can also fit into tight spaces and crevices that other cleaning methods could not.
Clean Your Siding With Dry Ice Today!
Dry ice blasting is perhaps the best method to clean your siding with. Dry ice is gentle, non-abrasive, non-toxic, and clean. You can clean various surfaces with dry ice, including old brick and wooden siding.
Raw Restoration Blasting is the company you need if your home needs cleaning. Reach out and request a quote today if you want to revitalize your home siding.
