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What is the best Ice Melt

W

wartknight

Well-Known Member
Mar 24, 2006
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Whatever I used at my old house ruined the concrete (at least according to the guy who put the new stuff in) Don't want to make the same mistake with my new house.
How does grass react to having ice melt on it? First winter having a lawn and I assume some will get on it.
Thanks.
 
I don't know of anything that won't ruin the concrete. I'd love to hear what people know.

Another thing you want to look out for is letting that stuff sit up next to your foundation. We had an old water softener in our basement when we moved in and I immediately took out because there was a hole in it and eating a hole in our foundation. Salt is nasty the way it just turns concrete into paper flakes.
 
Use a shovel. The sun will do the rest if you get the concrete cleared, even on days when the thermometer is hovering around zero.
 
If you have new cement, then nothing. You need to let it cure at least a year. I have used nearly everything and every ice melt will damage the concrete. Some of the stuff says it wont, but you have to get it off the cement with in a few hours of application. What does that tell you about it?
 
If you get much ice on the lawn it will "burn" it. Not much you can do besides be careful.
 
Potash is one of the main ingredients in ice melt and doesn't harm the concrete at all. It will be slower than most ice melts because it doesn't have the same ingredients, but it will still work. It's also good for you lawn/plants when it runs off because it's a fertilizer. Used to be called muriate of potash. You can buy it at any farm store.
 
cyfan964 said:
Potash is one of the main ingredients in ice melt and doesn't harm the concrete at all. It will be slower than most ice melts because it doesn't have the same ingredients, but it will still work. It's also good for you lawn/plants when it runs off because it's a fertilizer. Used to be called muriate of potash. You can buy it at any farm store.
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Just so I don't sound like an idiot at the store, and this board is anonymous, how exactly do you pronounce "potash"
 
Look for a product by the name of 'Safe walk'. It is a product that works great on melting ice, doesn't stain the concrete like some products and when you get snow and scoop/blow it in the yard will not kill the grass. It is actually made in northern Iowa and corn is one of the main ingredients. I have used it for the past 3-4 yrs and and don't plan on switching anytime soon. You can get it at Hy-Vee's and quite a few local hardware stores.

http://safewalkicemelt.com/
 
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Urine?

Seriously though, urea is one ingredient you can use but it can harm vegetation. Both potassium (potash) and sodium based salts are cheap, but only work down to 10-20 degrees or so. Divalent cation salts like CaCl2 and MgCl2 work below 0. I think all salts will screw with vegetation and concrete.

A cheap alternative that won't ruin plants or concrete is dark kitty litter. The darker the better to absorb the sun's rays. This would also aid in traction.
 
Cyclonesrule91 said:
Look for a product by the name of 'Safe walk'. It is a product that works great on melting ice, doesn't stain the concrete like some products and when you get snow and scoop/blow it in the yard will not kill the grass. It is actually made in northern Iowa and corn is one of the main ingredients. I have used it for the past 3-4 yrs and and don't plan on switching anytime soon. You can get it at Hy-Vee's and quite a few local hardware stores.

Home - Safe Walk
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Smoked my driveway and a neighbors. Wont use this again and we personally know the owner. Gave excuses of what we did wrong.
 
flamethrower.jpg
 
BCClone said:
Smoked my driveway and a neighbors. Wont use this again and we personally know the owner. Gave excuses of what we did wrong.
Click to expand...

Seriously?? I have never seen any pitmarks or anything else telling me that my driveway was taking a hit and my driveway was 2 yrs old when I started using it, nor have I heard anyone else complain about it either. Just out of curiosity though, what did he give you as the excuse of what 'you' did to cause the problem?

The owner is out of Buffalo Center / Lake Mills area correct?
 
cyfan964 said:
Potash is one of the main ingredients in ice melt and doesn't harm the concrete at all. It will be slower than most ice melts because it doesn't have the same ingredients, but it will still work. It's also good for you lawn/plants when it runs off because it's a fertilizer. Used to be called muriate of potash. You can buy it at any farm store.
Click to expand...


Just make sure you are getting white instead of red potash. Red potash will stain the **** out of everything it touches. Get it at a farm store or just take a couple 5 gallon buckets to a coop/fertilizer retailer as some of them will sell potash in small amounts like that.

I personally have not bought ice melt in 5 years, i have a two 5 gallon buckets of potash that has lasted me forever.

Also as someone else mentioned as long as its not to thick of ice, the snow is cleared off, and your driveway faces the south the sun will take care of it regardless of temp. However my old house had a north facing driveway and the sun would do basically zero to it so I had to stay on top of it and use a little potash to keep it clear. Current house has a sloped south facing driveway and only had to use potash on one little spot once, otherwise the sun clears it for me after the snow is off.
 
Cyclonesrule91 said:
Seriously?? I have never seen any pitmarks or anything else telling me that my driveway was taking a hit and my driveway was 2 yrs old when I started using it, nor have I heard anyone else complain about it either. Just out of curiosity though, what did he give you as the excuse of what 'you' did to cause the problem?

The owner is out of Buffalo Center / Lake Mills area correct?
Click to expand...

Used to be buffalo center, now he is a Florida resident. Unless he sold it to his kid. The product was (still is?) produced and packaged in the twin cities area last I knew.

I was told I left it on too long. I put it down but since it wasnt very sunny, it didn't do anything right away. It bit into the ice a little, but not enough go actually do anything. The next day it got sunny enough to activate it, but being at work I couldn't do anything until I got home. I then cleaned things up.

I was told I needed to remove it all "shortly" after application. So basically if it doesn't work, you need to chop the ice and get it off right away. A local business used it on their cement and has nasty pits, their cement was at one year old. They were told the cement wasn't cured long enough, iirc.
 
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