The Fastest Way To De-Ice Your Driveway During Freezing Winters

If you live in an area that gets the true four seasons, then you know that come wintertime, there are some important steps you'll need to take to prep for the cooler weather. There are different chores to be done to winterize your home both inside and out. One of the most commonly repeated winter chore is to de-ice your driveway. Maybe you need to DIY some homemade ice melt for your driveway, or you want to seek a few environmentally friendly options to get the dreaded icy chore done. But if speed is your current need, then we're here to give you the answer: Using calcium chloride is one of the fastest ways to de-ice your driveway..

As you get ready to de-ice your driveway in winter, there are a few important factors that will determine which tactic is best for you. People will often consider things like their area's temperature, their landscape, required manual labor, and available time. Fortunately, calcium chloride checks a lot of these boxes. It's a type of salt that works particularly well at lowering water's freezing point, meaning that it will quickly turn dangerous ice on your driveway back into water. It's efficient, requires minimal labor, and works in very low temperatures.

The primary function of any de-icing product (one that actually melts versus the options that are used for traction to avoid falls) is to lower the freezing point of water so that the ice thaws back into a liquid. Salt is a handy, inexpensive item that does this well, which is why it's so often the preferred method for de-icing. People can use rock salt, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, or even home products like pickle juice that have a salty brine. 

But when it comes to what types of salt melt ice the fastest, it just so happens to be that calcium chloride that comes out at the top of the list. To put it in scientific terms, calcium chloride works better than other salt options because it has three ions to block ice bonds from forming, making it work faster than if you used a type of salt that only has two ions (like rock salt). 

Another reason calcium chloride is a type of salt that works more rapidly is because it aggressively pulls moisture from the air, which quickly breaks the salt down into a brine while generating its own heat in the process. On top of its fast-acting benefits, calcium chloride also works in lower temperatures. Salts like rock salt won't work below 12 degrees Fahrenheit, but calcium chloride will — and it will continue to be effective all the way down to -25 degrees Fahrenheit. So, if your icy driveway is too cold for your usual salt, try this better version for a faster, more effective melt.