selenesurvivalgoddess: Driving in Winter Weather: Salt vs. Sand vs. Cat Litter. ❄️☃️❄️ If you’

selenesurvivalgoddess:

Driving in Winter Weather: Salt vs. Sand vs. Cat Litter. ❄️☃️❄️

If you’re not familiar with driving in winter weather, getting from point A to point B can be treacherous. Snow, sleet, freezing rain, and ice are not a tire’s friend.

People with 4WD or AWD vehicles are not safer either, because their turning ability and brakes are no different than anyone else’s. In fact, more 4WD vehicles are involved in accidents on snow and ice than 2WD. Snow chains are a good solution for driving in deep snow. Remember that safety is ultimately dependent on the driver.

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When tires can’t find traction on icy roads, you can get yourself going again with a stash of salt, sand, or kitty litter in your trunk. But how do they each measure up against the elements?

1. Salt. Salt is by far your best choice for destroying some snow and ice on the roads. But don’t go wasting your table salt. Salt melts ice by lowering the freezing point of water, keeps it from re-freezing, and provides added traction. One pound of rock salt can melt roughly 46.3 pounds of ice! Typically, “road salt” is sodium chloride in the form of rock salt. However, sodium chloride can also be corrosive, extremely damaging to lawns and plants, and it does not work to melt ice if the temperature is lower than 15 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius).

Magnesium chloride is the newest de-icing salt. It continues to melt snow and ice until the temperature reaches -13 degrees F. The salt releases 40% less chloride into the environment than either rock salt (sodium chloride), calcium chloride, or potassium chloride. It is far less damaging to concrete and plants. Magnesium chloride is the best choice of salt.

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I would recommend Safe Step 8300 Magnesium Chloride Ice Melt. You can find it in most warehouse retail stores like Target, Walmart, etc for around $10 for a 20 pound bag. Store your salt bag in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid to prevent spills in your trunk.

2. Sand. Sand provides decent traction for your car’s tires at any temperatures, but does nothing to melt snow or ice. Shovel excess snow out of the way of your tires, then distribute the sand to give your tires some traction. Sand is a good choice for being least harmful for lawns and plants. A bag of Eco Traction Pro is great, or just a bag of all-purpose sand will work.

3. Kitty litter. Sorry cat lovers, but litter is debatably the worst solution. Cat litter is nothing but glorified clay in most cases. It can also be more expensive than a bag of salt or sand for the amount you would need. If you have cats, litter can be a convenient solution if you don’t have salt or sand readily available. Although wet cat litter will create an awful mess. Litter is also bad for lawns and plants. If you’re determined to use litter, use litter crystals, such as ExquisiCat Crystals.

Conclusion: For best results, pre-treat your driveway before bad weather with about ¼ of what you would use if ice had already formed. If it’s too late for that, for concrete and asphalt surfaces, use magnesium chloride salt. Near lawns, plants, and trees, shovel snow away and distribute sand for vehicle traction. Keep your cat litter for your cats.

Pro Tip: Get a Military Collapsible Shovel or a Cold Steel Special Forces Shovel for your vehicle emergency supplies to shoveling excess snow out of the way of your car’s tires before spreading salt, sand, or litter.

Safe Travels!

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