How to Dissolve Ice on the Sidewalk
Ice-melt products dissolve ice by decreasing water's freezing point. When possible, avoid purchasing rock salt, calcium chloride- and ammonium-containing melts, which can corrode the sidewalk, damage steel on nearby vehicles and harm area plants. Magnesium chloride melts, while more expensive, not only cause less collateral damage but work more quickly, eradicating the ice on your sidewalk in minutes. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Ice-melt product, preferably containing magnesium chloride
- Bucket, 5 gallon
- Gritty material such as sand
- Water
- Large hand scoop
Instructions
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Transfer your ice melting product into the bucket. Add only as much as directed by the deicer’s packaging for the square footage you plan to cover.
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Mix a generous amount of sand, soot or kitty litter into the bucket. While your product works, the gritty material provides traction, and during bright, sunny winter days, the darker surface melts more quickly than bare ice. Add a few cups of water into the mixture to accelerate the melting process.
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Scoop out the mixture and dispense it across icy surfaces. Cover the ice with a thin, even layer of the wet deicing mixture. Depending on which chemicals your ice melt contains, you may wait between several minutes and several hours before the ice completely dissolves.
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Tips & Warnings
Whenever your local weather service issues freeze alerts, use the deicer on sidewalks as a cautionary action. This prevents or delays ice formation, resulting in far less work than melting existing ice.
Buy ice melt products during off seasons, since stores often sell out during icy seasons.
If you get caught in a freeze without a deicing product, use a combination of warm water and table or water-conditioning salt.
Wear weather-appropriate clothing while deicing your sidewalk, and use warm, protective and moisture-resistant gloves while handling the ice melting product.
Never use fertilizer to defrost your sidewalk. The resulting melted and mixed water and fertilizer can pollute nearby waterways.
References
Resources
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