In the packaging and printing industries large amounts of tough to remove dirt, grime, and residue is created from the manufacturing process. This residue typically needs harsh solvents and chemicals to remove, and still needs large amounts of elbow grease to clean. Even after the use of these solvents and physical effort, the surfaces still retain some residue and get dirty quickly afterwards. Some inks and materials aren’t soluble at all once they are dry, and the only way to remove them is through hand scraping.
OSHA warns about the dangers of cleaning printing rollers or packaging plant machinery and how performing this cleaning by hand exposes workers to two serious hazards.
The first is the exposure to the cleaning solvents and chemicals, which often produce dangerous fumes or cause severe skin damage. The second issue is that to clean the rollers and other parts the machinery the system Lockout/Tagout is bypassed and the machinery is still operating. This creates the potential for lacerations or amputations if a finger or piece of clothing gets caught by the rollers or machinery.
One option for cleaning that removes all of these hazards while also speeding up the process and preventing damage to the equipment is Dry Ice blast cleaning. Cleaning with dry ice is done by using a machine that shoots tiny fragments of dry ice at the dirty surface, and the subzero pellets of dry ice expand on contact with the residue, causing it to lift away from the surface underneath.
An ink covered printing press roller partially cleaned using dry ice blasting
Since it uses dry ice, which is just solidified carbon dioxide, there are no harsh solvents or chemicals, and very little residue to clean up. Dry Ice blast cleaning can also safely be used while the machinery and printing presses are still in operation since fingers and rags are not used near moving parts.
Printing presses and packaging molds are often delicate and easily damaged or malformed, and standard cleaning methods can lead to this. Sandblasting, chemicals, and hand scraping can damage the molds or print rollers, but since dry ice blasting does not use abrasives or solvents it does not damage the surface.
