After the merriment of the holiday, winter leaves you with a lot to do. The presence of the snow you have enjoyed during the holiday becomes a difficult situation to live in. Are you looking for ways to melt snow or ice on your sidewalk? Are you curious if Epsom salt can do the job?
Yes, Epsom salt can indeed melt ice on the sidewalk, all you have to do is sprinkle Epsom salt on your sidewalk to melt the ice. However, to speed up the process, evenly mix Espoo salt and sugar and sprinkle on ice, and you’ll get a quicker result.
To start the day you might want to get those ice off your sidewalk. Thus, this article will look into ways you can melt ice off your sidewalk using Epsom salt. Whilst also suggesting other methods to get ice off your sidewalk.
Just before we get into it, Let’s understand what Epsom salt is.
Epsom Salt Explained
Epsom salt chemically known as magnesium sulfate is a naturally occurring mineral salt, it was named after Epsom a town located near London in England, where the salt was discovered. It comes in form of a white crystalline solid or a rock-like form.
Epsom salt strikes a resemblance with table salt and can indeed be mistaken for one, but its bitter taste puts it off and because of the chemical composition, it is not safe to be consumed.
Hence, it is mostly used for relieving stress and is often dissolved in a warm bath. You can tell already that Epsom salt is of strong composition and in our case, we are looking at a different use of the salt which is to melt ice.
As we have seen with regular table salt, Epsom salt is also capable of melting ice. This process can be very slow, and you have to use it in large quantities which can make it costly, but it might be worth the price as Epsom salt is safer for plants and animals.
How To Melt Ice on Sidewalk with Epsom Salt
Epsom helps lowers the freezing point of ice which in turn melts the ice, but the process is slow.
To speed up the melting process as Epsom on its own is going to do the job slowly, a catalyst may be added. The addition of sugar to Epsom is going to speed up the reaction a bit more. Below is the simple process:
- Mix Epsom salts and sugar in a ratio of 1:1, just so that one is not more than the other
- Sprinkle the mixture evenly on the surface of your sidewalk
How Else Can I Melt Ice on Sidewalk?
Here are some great ideas to make ice disappear on your sidewalk.
1. Using a Snowblower
Snow Joe SJ625E Electric Walk-Behind Single Stage Snow Thrower/Blower. Check On Amazon.*
A snow blower is a machine that is capable of removing snow in areas where it is not wanted. Getting a snowblower might be a good option as it helps you retire the use of a shovel and provide you with an effective way of clearing your sidewalk.
There are many models of the snowblower, and the choice can be on user preference. Either by the duty you want it to carry out (heavy or light workload), or the size of where you are trying to clear. The snow blowers give value for money as it has an average lifespan of 9 years.
The idea of having a snowblower is cool, but knowing how to operate it is even better;
- For a gas-powered snowblower, you want to make sure to use fill the fuel tank. If it’s electric, plug it into the nearest outlet, and if it uses a battery, make sure you have it charged till it’s full.
- Move your throttle to the highest setting.
- Turn on your snow blower.
- When moving the snowblower gently on your sidewalk, you want to keep a consistent pace. Moving it too quickly can clog the machine.
- Aim the chute exactly where you want it, or if you are using an older model, you can adjust the chute to blow snow in the direction of the wind.
2. Use De-Icers
These are products that attract moisture to themselves to form a liquid brine which generates heat and melts ice.
If you spray the solution on the sidewalk, the brine will spread out and break the bond the ice has created with the sidewalk, thereby loosening it and making it easier to use a shovel on.
3. Saltwater
While table salt can vital in cooking, so are they in melting ice. A mixture of some type of salt- rock salt, table salt, sea salt, with warm water.
Conclusion
This beautiful season of winter that we enjoy during the Christmas and New year holidays, leaves us with difficult tasks to do, as we will witness snowy weather which can make our movement very difficult.
The different technique has been a device to tackle this snowy condition. Among these solutions is Epsom salt.
Epsom salt which is chemically known as magnesium sulfate forms in a white crystalline solid. The mechanism it uses is to lower the freezing point of ice which will in turn melt the ice. This process can be slow, but with the help of sugar as a catalyst, it can be faster.
Other methods can be used in melting ice, methods as saltwater, a snowblower, de-Icers, etc.