So I finally got my hands on that fancy dry ice blaster last month. Wanted to clean up this old engine block buried in the garage for years. Figured it'd be easy, right? Wrong. Almost froze my fingers off day one. Learn from my mess.

Grabbing Gear & Setting Up

First thing? Gotta suit up proper. Skipped gloves once... big mistake. Those pellets are stupid cold. Now I always wear:

• Thick insulated gloves – like, welding grade
• Full-face shield (regular safety glasses ain't enough)
• Long sleeves, heavy pants, steel-toe boots
• Hearing protection – thing sounds like a jet engine

Dragged the machine outside my garage. Tried running it indoors last week – do not recommend. Stupid CO2 gas buildup almost knocked me out. You need serious airflow. Open space, wind at your back. No kids or pets nearby either.

Loading Up & Firing It Off

Unlocked the hopper lid carefully. Had mine fly open once when I rushed it – sprayed pellets everywhere. Used my scoop to fill it slow and steady. Dry ice pellets evaporate fast, so I only loaded enough for ten minutes of work max.

Checked the air pressure gauge on the compressor. Set it lower than I thought – only about 70 PSI to start. Higher pressure shreds the pellets before they hit. Started blasting at an angle first, like 45 degrees. Straight-on blasts ricochet like crazy. Learned that when I chipped a window across the yard.

Safety Checks While Blasting

Kept glancing down at my gloves every minute or two. That cold creeps up. If anything felt stiff or wet? Break time. Hands need full feeling to handle this right. Also paid attention to my breathing. CO2 collects near the ground – felt a little dizzy once, stepped away immediately for fresh air.

Finishing Up Clean

Ran outta pellets with the job half done. Didn't force it – just hit the emergency shutoff (yellow button next to trigger). Drained leftover air pressure safely, unplugged everything. Let the machine sit ten minutes before lugging it away. Residual cold can still burn if you touch metal parts too soon.

Threw away all used pellets in a plastic bag outside my trash can. Left them inside once – next morning, the damn lid blew off from gas buildup. What a cleanup nightmare.

Takes practice, but when you respect that machine? Works wonders. No shortcuts with safety. My knuckles still tingle remembering frostbite day.