(ARA) – Canadians can pretty much count on seeing snow and ice in all of its manifestations every year. But just as there are many kinds of snow, there is a growing army of residential deicing products to help consumers attack almost any slippery surface. The most commonly used deicer is rock salt – sodium chloride, the same mineral that, in a different form, is in salt shakers. It melts ice when the temperature is minus 5 degrees Celsius or warmer and it’s an economical choice, making it a good staple to always keep on hand.
“When choosing an ice melter, temperature is just one of the things to take into consideration. You also need to think about where you are going to spread it and who’s going to walk on it,” says Jerry Poe, technical director with Sifto Canada Corp., one of the companies introducing new, more-specialized residential ice melt products. “Homeowners now have the same kind of options that used to be available only to ice control professionals.”
Specialized deicers deal more effectively with challenging conditions by adding ingredients such as magnesium chloride, potassium chloride and calcium chloride.
One benefit of these minerals is that they melt ice at lower temperatures. For example, magnesium chloride melts ice and snow effectively down to minus 26 C and calcium chloride works all the way down to minus 32 degrees.
These minerals offer other benefits, as well, when used as directed. Magnesium chloride, which occurs naturally in oceans and ancient sea beds, is very gentle to plants and won’t harm shoes or carpeting when it’s tracked indoors. Pet owners also prefer ice melt products made from magnesium chloride because the mineral is gentle on paws and skin. It doesn’t burn paws that have become cracked in cold temperatures and, because it dissolves so quickly, is less likely to solidify and clump in fur between the pads.
The line of Sifto Safe Step ice melters includes manufactured blends of specialized minerals with salt from Sifto’s facility in Goderich, Ontario, the largest salt mine in the world.
One product blends sodium chloride in a proprietary formula with potassium chloride and calcium chloride and is available as Safe Step Xtreme Ice Melter. The unique formulation works at extremely low temperatures – down to minus 31 C – melting ice and keeping walkways safe longer. Also, because potassium chloride is a natural fertilizer, it’s kind to plants.
Other ice melting products available include Safe Step Enviro-Gard, a blend of rock salt with magnesium chloride, potassium chloride and a proprietary natural substance, MG-104. This product works at temperatures down to minus 23 C and prevents refreezing 2 1/2 times longer than conventional ice melters. In addition, when used as directed, Enviro-Gard is environmentally friendly – it won’t harm plants or pets, is gentle to concrete, and cleans up easily, without harming floors, if it’s tracked in.
When these minerals, either alone or in engineered blends, are used for deicing, homeowners can choose a product that deals with their specific ice and snow challenges. Poe encourages homeowners to consult product packaging to determine the right product for their needs.