Salt, fertilizer, kitty litter? What's best for defrosting icy sidewalks in a pinch

Pickling salt, fertilizer, kitty litter? It seems everyone hasa suggestionfor what to use on the Lower Mainland's icy streets, now thatroad salt is in short supply.

In order to figure out which home remedies are worth your while, we decided to test a number of them.

Along with science educator Sam Marriott fromScience World in Vancouver, we put road salt up against these recommendations:

• Table salt.
• Fertilizer.
• Cabbage juice.
• Vinegar.
• Kitty litter.
• Sand.

The latter two createtraction, and as Marriott points out, their darker colours can also be beneficial for melting ice as theyabsorbmore heat in the sunlight.

Results

After allowing each method an hour to do its work, we found both the table salt and the fertilizer (which was mostly comprised of salts)melted some of the surface of the ice and made it less slippery.

However, the table salt seemed to create the strongest defrosting effect. Marriott says thatcould be attributed to the fact that table salt is finer in texture than the road salt andfertilizer we tested, allowing more of it to make contact with the ice.

While fertilizer can work, Marriott cautions against relying on it because large amounts can kill vegetation and be toxic when consumed byanimals.

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Both of the liquid solutions cabbage juice and vinegar did little to nothing to the ice. In fact, thosetest patches felt even more slippery.

As for creating traction, the kitty litter and the sand both did the job. Theygave the ice grip, but the kitty litter could leave clumps of messy clay after the ice melts.

Final Verdict

Marriott says if she had to choose just one method, and time was of the essence, she would go with sand.

It providesimmediate traction, is cost effective and is least likely to create environmental damage.

If you can wait for the ice to melt,she saysstandard road salt is still the most effective method.

But she says the key is to try and lay the salt down before it snows, so it prevents the snow and ice from adhering to your surface. Keep in mind though,too much of it isn'tgreat for concrete or your plants and animals.