Time To Buy Ice Melting Products

I just love that first light snowfall of the winter season. It makes me think of the holidays. Inevitably, however, soon after that happy, light dusting fades away, in sweeps a blistering, torrential ice storm! That's when I am glad I planned ahead.

A big part of that planning, besides tuning the snow blower or buying a new shovel, is purchasing ice melting products. But have you ever wondered what's in them and how they work?

Ice Melter Basics

Good old fashioned salt is sometimes used to melt ice. But did you know that salt is also an important and required ingredient in ice cream? Whether placed on your front porch to thwart ice buildup, or mixed into your mint-chocolate chip, adding salt lowers the melting or freezing point of water. The result is known as "freezing point depression."

How Freezing Point Depression Works: Ice Melter In Action

When you add salt (table salt is known in the chemistry world as sodium chloride) to water, you are dissolving foreign particles into that water. Of course, you are smart and know that plain old water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

Well, the freezing point of water becomes lower as more particles are added until the point where the salt stops dissolving. For a solution of table salt in water, this temperature is -6 degrees F under controlled lab conditions. In the real world, on a real concrete driveway, sodium chloride can melt ice only down to about 15 degrees F.

Are you seeing why rock salt is not the best product to throw on your icy sidewalks? If you live where I do, 15 degrees is just a sunny fall day! We need something with minus zero melting power.

Here are a few other "mixes" or "formulations" that can melt ice better than rock salt:

Calcium chloride is a popular ice melting combination and can melt ice down to 25 degrees below freezing. Now that is what I need baby!

The cost is a bit higher for an ice melter that contains calcium chloride, but I don't need a lot for my little driveway and 50 feet of public sidewalk. You probably don't either unless you are salting the whole neighborhood.

In addition, when used in accordance with labeling, Calcium Chloride is not as damaging to vegetation as plain old rock salt. Can you tell that I just don't like rock salt?

Magnesium chloride is very much similar to calcium chloride. It is considered less corrosive, safer for use on concrete and less damaging to plants. It gets similar results in similar temperatures.

Potassium chloride and urea are the final choices. These are mixtures commonly found in fertilizers, but that does not mean they are safe around vegetation.

Keep in mind that any ice melting product you use must be applied at rates recommended on the labeling. At high concentrations, potassium chloride and urea are harmful to plants.

Since urea alone does not contain chlorides, it is less corrosive and better to use on concrete containing rebar and around steel structures. The drawback to urea is that it does not melt ice as well as other alternatives.

So what's the best choice in ice melter?

Most ice melting products you can buy or have delivered contain mixtures of some or all of the above. This way, you get the benefits that each offers in regards to pricing and results, without risking the downsides.

Remember: You should never use these products outside the bounds of the recommendations on the label. Stick to the directions, and your results will show it!

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