Tips for Safely De-icing The Driveway

Icy front steps and driveways are dangerous, and there are many different methods and products out there that can help you get to your pavement without harming pets or plants plus save you some back-breaking work.

First of all, dress warmly. Wear a scarf, layers and a hat and make sure your gloves are water resistant. Thick socks and warm, water resistant boots with good traction are also essential to the driveway de-icing process.

Here are some steps that will make the process as easy as breaking through ice and moving snow can be:

1. Push don’t lift
The first thing you want to do is get that top layer of snow off before dealing with the ice underneath. Experts say, it is best to push the snow instead of lifting it. This saves your back and your energy. There are special tools for this, but a broom will work just fine with lesser amounts of snow.

2. Use a safe de-icing product
Certain salts can harm pets, plants and even your concrete driveway. Magnesium chloride, while it’s safe for pets and plants, is a very bad idea on a concrete driveway. Magnesium chloride will eat away at and deteriorate concrete pavements, so it is not advisable to use on driveway surfaces.Calcium chloride is safe for plants, but may leave salty residue on shoes.

The safest and most eco-friendly way to melt the ice is pour a few buckets of hot water over the ice and then finish it off with some pellets or crystals of potassium chloride, sodium acetate, magnesium acetate or potassium acetate. These products are a bit more expensive, but will save the life of your pets, plants and pavement.

Heather Brown, Department Chair of the Concrete Industry Management program at Middle Tennessee State University, explained why some de-icers are harmful to pavement:
“Deicing chemicals have been improved to work at a lower freezing temperature whether the pavement needs it or not. This preventative measure can linger in a liquid state long past the event and soak into the pavement causing increased damages over time. Many northern states have already implemented deicing limits due to its aggressive nature to both pavement and local waterways. The South may need to be proactive and train maintenance personnel and homeowners on the dangers of increased usage of deicing salts.”

3. Scoop away remaining slush and add traction
Let your de-icer work for a minute then push the remaining slush to the side. If more snow is on the way you may want to add a bit more de-icer, then you can sprinkle sand or birdseed, which won’t lower the freezing point of water, but it will improve traction.

Also, after you get done making your driveway passable, it is a good idea to go inside and warm yourself up with a nice cup of Old Fashioned Hot Chocolate with our recipe from the Savory Spice Shop.

Contact Sinclaire Sparkman at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter @sinclairesparky