Awesome Homemade DIY Deicer for Your Home Using Items You Already Have
What can be used as a deicer? As we all know the winter months bring cold weather in many parts of the United States. With all the sub-zero temperatures on the way I wanted to make a liquid form DIY deicer that I could use on hard surfaces. There are several different types of ice melt on the market, some are liquid de-icers and others come in the form of a solid deicer. Ice melt products commonly contain sodium chloride or rock salt, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, and/or urea, also known as carbonyl diamide. I’m sure we have all heard about the environmental impact these different products can have so I decided to try to make my own ice removal product using all natural ingredients. I did some research on diy de-icing agents, decided on a recipe to try and put it to the test. Here are my results for you.
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For my test I mixed together the following:
2 cups water
I added 1 cup rubbing alcohol with a higher alcohol content. I used the highest percentage I could buy at Walmart.
Last I added 1/4 cup Dawn and mixed it together.
The alcohol and Dawn are the key ingredients in this solution as it takes a colder temperature to freeze. Rubbing alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water (128°F below 0).
You can use this liquid ice melt right away or put it in a bucket to save for when you’re ready.
Now for the test!
After a recent snow fall we used a snow shovel to clear a walkway and there was that really slick ice under the snow.
I poured the mixture onto the ice. You could watch it starting to work right away and melt the snow and ice. This was thinner ice so you’d probably need more to melt away thicker ice. You can make more of the mixture for bigger surfaces. I do believe that if the ground surface remained wet during extremely cold temperatures the solution could freeze up again when the pavement temperature drops. I recommend doing it early in the day, when you have higher temperatures and giving it time to dry out before the colder temperatures in the evening and overnight. I would use it again after my experience.
Now, this kind of deicer would be a challenge to use in big parking lots, long driveways, etc and you’d need a more professional deicing product that maybe contains some calcium magnesium acetate in the form of a granular product in a several lb bag. We used to use solid ice melt or road salt, however, we found that it tore up and destroyed our concrete. The application rates vary between products, and when you put it on top of ice that can affect how fast it’ll melt. It’s also important to pick a quality product with good reviews as some common deicers are more effective than others. Make sure to put washer fluid that can withstand very low temperatures in your car. There is always the lowest effective temperature listed on most products, so be sure to check on that also its effectiveness will be based on how much snow (snow accumulation) and ice you have, as well as where you live. For example, north America gets much colder than south America where they don’t get lower temperatures.
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DIY Deicer for Sidewalks and Driveways Video
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Check out some of my other winter posts!
I’ve never tried this…we have a LOT of ice right now. I’m going to check and see if I have all the ingredients and give it a try. I saw your post on the Simple Homestead hop and had to check it out!
Thank you Lisa and the key is the alcohol and dish soap mixture. If it gets cold enough anything will freeze but this has been working pretty good on our steps.
That’s such a handy tip! Our gutters drain right onto our front walkway and it rarely gets any sun to melt the ice. Pinned.
Thank you so much and I hope this helps you – thanks for the Pin.
Wow, what great information, my friend! I will have to remember this 🙂
I hope you are well and I trust your February is going well. Can you believe March is just around the corner?! Thank you for the many sweet comments on my blog. It’s always a delight to hear from you.
Happy weekend! Hugs! Stephanie-The Enchanting Rose
Thank you Stephanie! Great to hear from you my friend. I’m so glad you had some time with your family and love reading your posts. Thanks for stopping by my friend and sending hugs to you!
Wow Chas! So cool! That’s great info…never knew you can do this with everyday products! We have so much snow and ice this winter, this will be so helpful. Thanks so much!
Thank you Kathleen, I hope you’re staying warm with all of that cold weather.
This is brilliant!
Thank you so much Michele
Wow, what a great alternative to something store bought. Here in Tennessee, we don’t have much need for deicer, but I love that this is so easy to make and utilizes normal household items. 🙂 Thanks for sharing at Sweet Inspiration!
Thank you so much Amy and thanks for stopping by 🙂
We do not have that problem but I know that many readers do. Your solution sounds very practical and we will feature your post on the next Blogger’s Pit Stop. Well done.
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop
Thank you Kathleen and thank you so much for the feature. I’ll see you at the next link up 🙂
Thank you for sharing. I need all the help that I can get on this north facing sidewalk!!!
Thank you Amy, and we used to have a north facing house – I totally know what you’re saying!
Thank you so much Charles for this tip. In the tundra of Northwest Iowa this is coming in very handy! We have had the polar vortex hit I was extremely hard in this area. I trust yourhealing is still going well! I haven’t had multiple surgeries and stents on both legs and can sympathize and empathize with what you are going thru.keep those suggestions coming,Jay
Hi Jay, I’m so glad this is helping you! I totally understand as I come from MN and remember the cold all to well. I noticed you said Charles – I get that a lot. I’m actually Chas short for Chastity 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing your story and I’m hoping you’re doing well? I’m getting stronger every day thank you for thinking of me.