Dry Ice Cleaning Is a Restorer’s Dream Come True

Perhaps you’ve heard of dry ice cleaning, and you might have read about it here at Hagerty. Rather than do a deep dive on the process itself (as Craig Fitzgerald does in his excellent piece about this procedure), we will instead take a look at how it stacks up against chemical cleaners we normally use when restoring an older vehicle.

Dry ice cleaning is indeed a service, something the average DIY-er cannot afford to take on themselves. This craft requires specialized tools, a sizable facility buildout, and a fair bit of practice to maximize the benefit of dry ice as a cleaning media. Unlike powdercoating, which offers numerous possibilities once you acquire a used oven, the cost of a dry ice cleaning facility easily spirals above $50,000. That’s where Seth Luague of Dry Ice Detailing Pros enters the story. He picked up the dry ice cleaning technique during the pandemic, earned a stellar reputation in the Houston car scene, and honed his craft into one of the most perfect ways to restore a vehicle.

I liked the cut of Seth’s jib, and his portfolio of detailed cars (with happy owners) impressed me enough to give him a shot. And I had a challenge for him, to provide a frame-on restoration of a vehicle with undersides still in “barn find” condition: My 1974 Mercury Montego MX Brougham, bought for deeply personal reasons.

I was thrilled to purchase the Montego in its partially restored, barn find condition, but I assumed it would be a bit rough under its yellow body. It sat unused since 1986, and miraculously survived both a house fire in 1993 and an engine fire in 2019. The engine fire ensured many factory finishes were beyond saving, but Seth didn’t shy away from the challenge.

Once Seth worked the Montego into his schedule, I visited his shop to perform a chemical clean on a few under hood parts, seen to the left of the blue painter’s tape. I used a Chemical Guys all-purpose cleaner on easy to reach items that didn’t need to be removed, and weren’t caked in grease and grime: rubber hoses, fan shroud (plastic), and the alternator (aluminum). The hoses came out pretty well after multiple applications, but the residue-free fan shroud on the right side (dry ice) looks like a brand new part compared to the left (chemicals) in real life. I could make my side of the shroud this good, had I removed it, scrubbed it down and washed it off with a garden hose. But even then I’d wonder if chemical residues would discolor the factory finish.

Then we had Seth touch up a few parts on the right hand side with his iced-out machinery. Decades of dirt and oil accumulation was blown away from hard-to-reach places I wouldn’t touch with a chemical wipe down: Plastic wiper motor wiring harnesses, A/C compressors, and Ford’s deeply recessed Duraspark ignition module. While I wanted to show dry ice’s value in a different light for this article, you weren’t there seeing me struggle to move dirt around with a shop rag on my side of the engine bay compared to Seth just blasting it all down to the ground on the dry ice side. So instead enjoy the video below of an alternator freshly cleaned by me, but perfected by Seth in the end.

Seth’s quick pass on the alternator did an amazing job removing corrosion. He didn’t have to struggle to jam fingers into tiny spaces, so perhaps the point of dry ice cleaning is made. But there’s more. You haven’t seen it blast away dirt while saving factory finishes:

I was impressed by how much better dry ice had cleaned that spring on the hood latch, but I was blown away when he moved down the body. He eliminated years of grime without damaging the zinc-coated bolts holding that part to the Montego. Sharing this video with the team here at Hagerty Media elicited similar responses of delight. Clearly this service is worth every penny.

Speaking of cost, doing a vehicle of this size takes at least six hours of labor, and the cost of dry ice varies over time. I paid a little under $2000 for this service, but prices will go down if you are detailing a smaller vehicle with fewer decades of decay.

I admit that pictures of the Montego’s fire damaged engine bay may not be the best endorsement for dry ice cleaning. But in real life the engine now presents every corner, edge, and crevice in high resolution detail like a low mile original. For the right owner, this is a priceless experience.

In order for me to replicate what you see in the slideshow above, I’d need to lather, rinse, and repeat every component, after yanking it from the Montego’s body. I have neither the time to live in front of a parts washer nor the interest to inhale those chemical fumes for the next few months, so this service is right up my alley.

Seth kept the Montego at his shop for several days, and my last visit to collect it left me gobsmacked. Credit must be given where it’s due, as Seth provides a service with time-earned skill and precision. You will notice the fender liners still have dirt flick up from moving tires, as I saved a few dollars on something I can clean myself. Or not, because the Montego will likely get driven on a regular basis, occasionally on muddy pavement.

Aside from removing the wheels, there’s no disassembly required. When the car is done, there’s no chemical smell, no messy residues. The dry ice just sublimates, only leaving the need to clean dirt from horizontal surfaces like the shop floor.

While the Montego drives pretty well, what I now see before me suggests it needs a few new suspension bushings, and gaskets for both the rear axle and transmission. Those bits are now easier to handle, and its amazing to see how every factory finish that survived the last 50 years remains intact after dry ice cleaning.

When not working on a tired machine like this Montego (hey, let’s call a spade a spade), Seth dry-ice details everything from modern classics to exotics to off-road vehicles. He notes that retaining factory markings is a “mark” of a good detailer—one that brings the vehicle to like-new spec without removing signs of originality. He’s spent the time to research museum quality examples to make this happen, most notably by using the photo albums in Bring A Trailer auctions for reference.

Finding someone who maximizes the potential of dry ice cleaning is paramount, as Seth notes there’s no credentialing outside of Dryce Nation’s community of independent entrepreneurs. A qualified dry ice cleaner should be able to explain the entire process to you, discuss the types of dry ice they utilize, their hourly rate, and total price.

For Seth, this is a true family business, as he and his wife Kim run Dry Ice Detailing Pros. Both strongly urge would-be customers to check a shop’s online reviews and social media to see the quality and volume of cars they do. These two are a powerhouse duo on Instagram, showing the benefit of dry ice cleaning in hundreds of posts with thousands of likes.

Kim also suggests finding someone who loves dry ice cleaning, as passion is a key ingredient to a thoroughly detailed, finished product. That passion should yield a consistent finish, especially in long, flat areas where a change in technique can eliminate uniformity. Seth passed the test for me, as the Montego’s long underbelly has a uniform color indicative of a proper restoration to factory standards.

Seth makes explaining dry ice techniques rather simple, as he assigns skill levels to tasks. Level 1 is assigned to tasks that detailers can ” touch and see.” Level 2 is harder, as you must rotate the tool to clean a complex shape from every angle. Then there’s Level 3, which takes significant effort to ensure the dry ice gets deep into the body.

“Experience is everything when operating any specialized machinery, especially your technique with a dry ice machine’s gun.”

Seth Luague, Dry Ice Detailing Pros

Seth is also in the beginning stages of laser cleaning, though he believes the technology is currently too aggressive for automotive enthusiasts seeking a vehicle restored back to its original condition. While he is optimistic about the future of lasers, it is likely only intended for taking a vehicle back to bare metal.

Like any good small business, Seth and Kim want their work to withstand anything their customers throw at it over time. As a result, they also offer hydrophobic industrial ceramic coatings similar to what’s available for farm equipment, and petroleum coatings that behave more like a traditional undercoating. While I was never intending to do a follow-up coating, I am so enamored with how the Montego came out that I am seriously considering it.

Well, after I address all the wear items under the body, and get the darn thing fully functional underhood. But now that everything is clean and restored to near perfection? That’s going to happen a lot sooner.