What I Learned #9 – Ice Melts

I went to the hardware store yesterday to buy some much-needed salt and was a little surprised by the price of $23 for a twenty pound bag. I told the neighbors. They were equally surprised considering a twenty pound bag of rock salt sells for about $5 at Home Depot.

I decided to take a few minutes to research the cost and see why it might be so expensive. It turns out that it is not rock salt entirely. It is something called “Natural Alternative.” I’m not sure how it is different than salt but doing a quick search online returned at least one seller selling the same product for about $28.

The company says that the “Natural Alternative” is better on sidewalks, safe for pets, doesn’t hurt lawns and is 65% more effective than rock salts. That is a lot of additional value – if it is true.

I tried it and it definitely did a good job of melting the snow. The manufacturers also claim it has a lower freezing point of -16’F whereas I believe regular salt is somewhere in the twenties.

Since I have some remaining rock salt from my last batch, I might do a quick experiment to study the side-by-side difference.