Yes, finally it is doable, for real and it gets smaller too :-)
The Problem
Not really a problem maybe, but when the ref image gets bigger and bigger for every time you create one and you KNOW that it is just old patches and new code that consumes the space, you really want to get rid of all the junk. There has been some “do this, it works but it is not really sported”, but now we really have a solution for this.
The solution
Using dism with the new /resetbase it is now possible to cleanup the image and remove all the old patches, however, there is one downside here, when you cleanup, there is NO way to uninstall a patch, since that patch is now “base”. So you should only do this when your image is stable and have no issues at all.
Note: the /resetbase only works on a Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 image, there are other solutions for older legacy systems, like Windows 8 and such, and yes, I’m working on posts for that too.
How?
Online:
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase
Offline:
DISM /Image:C:\MyDir\Mount /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase
In the TaskSequence:
On TechNet:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn251567.aspx
/mike
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Categories: Deployment, WIM, Windows 8.1
The Deployment Bunny 
So to uninstall would it be possible to reinstall a patch and then uninstall.
NO, it is simple, after /resetbase it is the BASE, there is no way to remove it and you cannot install it, since that code is already in there.
Reblogged this on MDTGuy.WordPress.com and commented:
Excellent post from The Deployment Bunny! Check it out!
Not yet, i Writing all the posts I have promised folks :-)