Dry Ice Blasters for Commercial and Industrial Printing
Clean Printing Equipment Without Disassembly or Secondary Waste
Clean Printing Equipment in Minutes Instead of Hours with Dry Ice Blasting
Cold Jet dry ice blasting machines transform how printing operations approach equipment maintenance. By replacing labor-intensive hand scraping, chemical solvents, and time-consuming disassembly with a non-abrasive, waste-free cleaning process, print facilities achieve the following:
- Significantly Faster Cleaning Times: Clean ink trays, rollers, and press components in minutes instead of hours.
- Clean Without Disassembly: Remove accumulated ink, adhesive, and grease without taking equipment offline. Cold Jet dry ice blasting cleans intricate gear assemblies, journals, and hard-to-access areas.
- No Secondary Waste: Dry ice sublimates on contact, leaving only the removed contaminant behind. There are no chemical-soaked rags to dispose of.
- Protect Sensitive Components: The non-abrasive and non-conductive process safely cleans delicate sensors, electronic controls, and precision surfaces without causing damage.
- Enable Proactive Maintenance: With cleaning times reduced by 60-80%, facilities can clean more frequently and experience higher print quality.
Ready to cut your press cleaning time and improve print quality? Contact us today to learn how Cold Jet dry ice cleaning can help your printing operation reduce downtime, eliminate chemicals, and achieve a deeper clean than manual methods.
What Are the Benefits of Dry Ice Blasting for Printing Operations?
A faster, easier way to reduce downtime, eliminate chemicals, and improve print quality
Cold Jet dry ice blasting is non-abrasive, non-conductive, chemical-free, and effectively removes ink, adhesives, grease, and paper dust without damaging rollers, sensors, or delicate press components. Because dry ice sublimates upon impact, it leaves no moisture or residue behind—allowing equipment to return to production immediately after cleaning.
Traditional cleaning with putty knives, hand picks, wire brushes, and chemical solvents is slow, labor-intensive, and often ineffective—taking 24-36 hours for a thorough press cleaning. This causes facilities to delay maintenance, allowing buildup to accumulate and quality issues to compound.
Cold Jet dry ice blasting eliminates these pain points and provides the following benefits:
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Dramatic Reduction in Cleaning Time
Facilities consistently report cleaning time reductions of 60-80% compared to manual methods. A flexible packaging manufacturer reduced frame cleaning from 16 labor hours to just 45 minutes with a single operator when switching to Cold Jet dry ice cleaning.
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Clean in Place Without Disassembly
Dry ice blasting cleans equipment while fully assembled and often while components are still warm from production. This transforms cleaning from a major production disruption into a routine maintenance task.
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Improved Print Quality and Reduced Scrap
Ink buildup on side frames, grippers, and rollers leads to alignment problems, ink spit, and inconsistent color across runs. Because dry ice delivers a deeper clean in far less time, facilities can perform thorough maintenance more frequently—catching buildup before it affects output quality.
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No Secondary Waste
Dry ice sublimates on impact and leaves no cleaning media behind. No chemical-soaked rags, no sorbent pads, no hazardous waste—just reduced disposal costs and less material headed to the landfill.
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Safe for All Press Surfaces
The non-abrasive and non-conductive process cleans delicate components without damage. Unlike scraping and wire brushing, dry ice blasting won’t wear down roller surfaces or damage sensitive sensors and delicate anilox cells.
Dry Ice Blasting Applications for Printing
Cold Jet dry ice blasting equipment serves cleaning and maintenance needs across multiple printing sectors:
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Commercial Printing
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Flexible Packaging & Label Printing
Commercial Printing Applications
Dry ice blasting achieves deeper cleaning in a fraction of the time—without disassembly
Cold Jet dry ice blasting reduces cleaning time by 60-80%, enabling more frequent cleaning. Proactive maintenance increases press uptime, lowers scrap rates, and extends the service life of high-value tooling.
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Printing Presses and Rollers
The core application for dry ice blasting in commercial printing is cleaning printing press components, rollers, journals, and ink handling systems. The process removes burnished ink, grease, and accumulated residue from flexographic, gravure, lithograph, and letterpress equipment. Dry ice blasting delivers the speed and efficiency needed without introducing moisture or solvents into the production environment. The non-abrasive nature of dry ice protects roller surfaces while removing stubborn contaminants.
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Ink Trays and Feed/Delivery Units
Stainless steel ink trays, delivery units, and feeder systems accumulate heavy ink deposits that are time-consuming to remove manually. One commercial printer found that ink trays taking an hour to clean by hand required only 10 minutes with Cold Jet dry ice blasting. Beyond time savings, the process reaches corners and crevices that scrapers and rags miss, preventing the gradual buildup that affects ink transfer and print consistency.
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Gear Assemblies and Drive Systems
Ink mist, grease, and paper dust accumulate in drive gears, deck guides, and bearing housings, leading to mechanical wear and registration errors. Cold Jet dry ice blasting reaches into intricate gear trains and journals to remove these contaminants without the need for disassembly. Maintaining clean drive components reduces friction and prevents the mechanical “slop” that causes misalignment and premature equipment failure.
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Dry ice blasting cleaning flexographic printing press
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Cleaning ink try with dry ice blasting
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Large printing press cleaned with dry ice blasting
Dry ice blasting cleans the following equipment in commercial printing operations:
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Flexographic Presses
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Offset Lithographic Presses
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Rotogravure Presses
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Digital Presses
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Letterpresses
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Rollers & Drums
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Ink Trays
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Feeder Units & Delivery Units
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Gear Assemblies & Deck Guides
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Grippers
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Side Walls
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Electronic Components
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Sensors & Controls
Flexible Packaging & Label Printing Applications
Dry ice blasting removes stubborn adhesives and ink buildup across your packaging line
Flexible packaging and label printing operations juggle multiple ink types, adhesives, and substrates. With tight production schedules, many facilities resort to outsourcing roller cleaning—an expensive approach that removes critical equipment from production for extended periods. Dry ice blasting brings this cleaning in-house while dramatically cutting cleaning time.
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Printing Lines and Multi-Substrate Equipment
Flexible packaging printers running different inks and substrates need versatile cleaning solutions. Dry ice blasting adapts to these varying requirements, effectively removing both water-based and solvent-based inks along with the adhesive residue common in packaging applications. A corrugated cardboard printer achieved cleaning results 75% faster with dry ice blasting than their previous method of hand cleaning with water and chemicals, while a bag manufacturer reduced cleaning time from 24-36 hours down to 8 hours.
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Laminators and Coating Equipment
Laminating, coating, and metallizing equipment accumulates stubborn adhesive and residue in hard-to-reach areas. Cleaning by hand with water is problematic and time-consuming, particularly with strongly adhering contaminants in tight spaces. Cold Jet dry ice cleaning cuts laminator cleaning time from 10 hours to just 4 hours while effectively reaching areas that manual methods can’t address.
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Label Printing Equipment
Label printing operations deal with accumulated ink, adhesive carry-over, wrap-arounds, and stray labels that build up over years of production. One label printer successfully used dry ice blasting to remove years of ink and adhesive residue from equipment without damaging precision surfaces. This capability allows facilities to quickly clear label jams and reuse components that might otherwise require replacement while reducing dependence on expensive solvents.
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Dry ice blasting removes heavy ink and grease buildup from printing press
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Cleaning burnished ink from flexible packaging equipment with dry ice blasting
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Dry ice blasting removing burnished ink and adhesive from packaging line
Dry ice blasting cleans the following equipment in printing and packaging operations:
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Flexographic Printing Lines
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Rotogravure Printing Lines
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Offset Lithographic Printing Lines
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Laminators & Coating Equipment
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Label Presses
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Ink Trays & Reservoirs
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Printing Heads & Deck Assemblies
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Frames, Side Walls & Structural Components
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Glue Nozzle Heads & Adhesive Applicators
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Rubber & Plastic Rollers
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Sensors & Controls
What Do Printing Operations Need for Dry Ice Cleaning?
To get started with dry ice cleaning for printing equipment, you’ll need the following:
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Dry Ice Blasting Equipment
A successful cleaning process starts with the right equipment. Cold Jet dry ice blasters are built for reliability and ease of use, handling everything from delicate electronics to heavy adhesive removal. Each machine ships ready for your application with blast and air hoses, an applicator, and a nozzle included.
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Compressed Air
Most printing facilities have existing compressed air systems that can supply the required air volume and pressure.
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Dry Ice Supply
A reliable supply of dry ice ensures you have cleaning media when maintenance windows arrive. We can help identify dry ice suppliers in your area and recommend order quantities based on your cleaning schedule and equipment. Once established, regular delivery schedules align with your maintenance routines.
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Machine and Operator Training
Proper training ensures your team can effectively and safely use dry ice cleaning equipment across your printing applications. Cold Jet provides comprehensive training covering machine operation, cleaning techniques, and safety guidelines.
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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Operators should wear appropriate safety gear including gloves, hearing protection, and eye protection while operating dry ice blasting equipment.
What Is the Best Dry Ice Blaster for Printing?
Cold Jet offers a range of dry ice blasters to match different printing equipment and cleaning requirements. Popular systems for commercial and industrial printing include:
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Aero2 PCS ULTRA
The Aero2 PCS ULTRA is the most versatile machine for printing and packaging applications. This mobile dry ice blaster handles everything from gentle cleaning of delicate sensors and electronic components with MicroParticle dry ice to aggressive removal of heavy adhesive buildup using 3mm dry ice. The Particle Control System allows operators to dial in the exact cleaning intensity for each application.
Aero2 PCS® ULTRA -
Aero 40FP
The Aero 40FP offers greater power to tackle stubborn contaminants like heavy ink buildup, baked-on adhesives, and thick grease on packaging and printing equipment. Its design allows for consistently powerful, pulse-free blasting. Ideal for printing press cleaning and cleaning heavy-duty packaging equipment.
Aero® 40FP -
Aero2 PLT ULTRA
The Aero2 PLT ULTRA combines powerful cleaning performance with straightforward operation. Its robust design handles heavy ink, grease, and adhesive removal while remaining easy for operators to use across multiple shifts. Ideal for commercial printers and packaging operations seeking reliable performance.
Aero2 PLT® ULTRA
Why Choose Cold Jet Machines for Printing Equipment Cleaning?
Adding dry ice blasting to your maintenance program is an investment, and Cold Jet machines deliver real value. Built for consistent performance, our equipment provides faster ROI and greater long-term value than competitors.
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Trusted Printing Industry Expertise
Cold Jet has developed deep expertise in the cleaning challenges printing operations face. We work with commercial printers and packaging manufacturers worldwide to develop effective cleaning solutions for their most demanding applications.
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Industry Leading Reliability
Cold Jet dry ice blasters are engineered for demanding production environments. Our machines offer superior reliability and longer service life than competitor equipment, ensuring your investment delivers results year after year. Printing operations rely on Cold Jet equipment for consistent performance across multiple shifts and facilities.
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Lower Operating Costs
Cold Jet dry ice cleaning equipment maximizes efficiency, using less dry ice, compressed air, and electricity than competitor machines. This efficiency translates directly to lower daily operating costs without sacrificing cleaning quality. Combined with reduced labor time and eliminated chemical purchases, the total cost savings are substantial.
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Unmatched Support and Training
Our support team provides expert maintenance services and comprehensive equipment training, ensuring your operators achieve optimal results from day one.
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Application-Specific Accessories
Cold Jet offers specialized accessories including applicators, blast hoses, and nozzles optimized for printing and packaging operations. Our team helps you select the right configuration for your specific cleaning requirements.
OUR CUSTOMERS & WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT US
Printing operations around the world rely on Cold Jet
With over 24,000 machines installed globally, Cold Jet delivers reliable dry ice cleaning solutions for commercial and industrial printing.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Interested but don’t know where to start?
Contact us today to learn more about our solutions and see how they can meet your unique needs.