Winter storms bring more than snow: they also cover your home, driveway, and walkways with dangerous ice that you’ll need to remove, safely. Things can get a little confusing though, with all the different ice melting sprays, liquids, and sprinkles. Here are the best products and methods for keeping your home ice-free this winter.

Buy the Right Ice Melting Product for Your Driveway and Walkways

When it comes to ice melt, you have more options besides plain rock salt. Some products work better in lower temperatures, while others can be damaging to the environment or harm the pets and plants around your home. Here are your best options:



  • Calcium Chloride: It starts working fast, and it’s effective at sub-zero temperatures. Unfortunately, Calcium Chloride can damage plants and grass. It’ll cost you around $10-$19 per 50-lb. bag.
  • Calcium Magnesium Acetate: It’s environmentally friendly and won’t damage grass or plants, but it isn’t as effective at temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Calcium Magnesium Acetate can also potentially damage concrete. It’ll cost you $20 or more per 50-lb. bag.
  • Magnesium Chloride: It’s environmentally friendly and safe around plants if it’s not over-applied, and it works well sub-zero temperatures. If you’re not careful, however, Magnesium Chloride is also lethal to pets that suffer from kidney disease if ingested. It’ll cost you around $10-$19 per 50-lb. bag.
  • Potassium Chloride: It’s environmentally friendly and safe around plants if it’s not over-applied, but it isn’t very effective at temperatures below 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s lethal to pets that suffer from kidney disease if ingested. It’ll cost you $20 or more per 50-lb. bag.

Standard rock salt (aka sodium chloride) is cheap and fairly effective, but it has plenty of downsides, too. Rock salt doesn’t work as well as its alternatives at low temperatures, it can damage asphalt, concrete, brick, stone, metal, grass, plants, and wood (so just about every surface you might use it on), and it can be lethal to your pets if they ingest too much of it.

Once you’ve picked the right kind of ice melter for your home, next you need to know how much you need. Check the instructions for the specific product you buy, but Margaret Hagen at the University of New Hampshire recommends you use 1.5 to 3 pounds of calcium chloride per 100 square feet, for example. You’ll need around 5 pounds of rock salt per 100 square feet for it to be effective. What you absolutely need to know before you head to the store is how much area you need to cover, and an estimate of how many times you’ll need to cover it. It’s smart to plan for the worst, so consider buying a little extra in case you can’t get to the store later on. A 50 lb. bag is usually enough to get an average home started and then some. If you have some left over, you can store it in an airtight container and save it for next winter.


If you know you’ll have some particularly troublesome areas, like stairs or the pathway to your car, Diane Maceachern at Esquire recommends using a “snow melt mat.” They work similarly to an electric blanket you’d place on your bed. You lay it out, plug it into an outlet, and it will keep the area warm so snow and ice can’t form there. They can be expensive, however, with the smallest ones designed for individual stair steps (10” x 30”) starting at around $70.

Use Ice Melt The Right Way

The best way to combat ice is to stop it before it forms. Douglas Trattner at HouseLogic recommends you pre-treat your walkways and driveway with a little de-icer before it snows. This won’t keep snow from sticking, but it will help keep a layer of ice from forming under the snow. Plus, it gives you a chance to note and avoid all your plants, grass, and gardens before it’s all buried and looks alike. Even if the ice melting product you’re using is environmentally safe, you don’t’ want to dump it all over your plants.



Trattner also recommends you mix a little sand or cat litter with your de-icer. When you walk on the slippery, wet ground, or got out to shovel snow later, you’ll already have a layer of extra traction underneath.

If snow has already blanketed your home, you’ll need to clear it before you start melting ice. Ice melt products won’t work on top of snow. Shovel your driveway and walkways safely and remove as much snow as possible. Gravel driveways can be extra tricky because you can’t shovel them with plastic snow shovels, but the folks at suggest a steel shovel and a sturdy garden rake make clearing the snow easier.

Once the area is clear, read the instructions on the label. Some may have special considerations, like how much product you should use in an a specified area, types of surfaces to avoid, and the best way to spread the de-icer. For most products, however, follow these basic rules:


  • Spread the product evenly on the ground with a spreader tool, a cup, or your hands if you’re wearing protective gloves. Ice melt products are an irritant so keep it away from bare skin.
  • Never use ice melt on concrete that hasn’t fully cured.
  • If you think you’ve used too much on an area (or accidentally got some near your grass or garden), quickly flush the area with some water. Reapply the ice melt as needed.
  • Wear warm clothing while you work outside.
  • Wear foot gear that has a lot of traction, or wear ice cleats (yak trax, crampons, etc) over your shoes.
  • Keep pets away from ice melt, and always wipe their paws before they come inside.
  • If it snows again, remove the snow and apply ice melt as needed.

For thick sheets of ice, youtuber Eric Jaakkola recommends you use a slate bar or ice chopper to break it up. Some warm or boiling water might help too. After you’ve cleared the ice, some biodegradable cat litter, sand, gravel, wood chips, straw, or even fireplace ash will help prevent further ice formation and allow better traction on the surface. Keep in mind, however, that using too much will leave a big mess come springtime when everything melts. Use it sparingly.

Prevent and Clear Ice Dams On Your Roof

Ice dams are huge chunks of ice that form on the edge of your roof and prevent water runoff from flowing to the ground below. According to the folks at This Old House, they can tear off gutters, loosen shingles, and lead to leaks when snow starts to melt. Ice dams are caused by snow buildup, so the best way to prevent them is to clear the snow off your roof after every snowstorm. You can buy roof rakes at home improvement stores for this purpose, but this DIY snow ripper is cheap to build and gets the job done pretty well too.

Icicles are a telltale sign of an ice dam. If you have a spot along the side of your roof with a whole bunch of icicles, you should investigate. If you can safely do so, grab a ladder and carefully take a look to see what you’re dealing with. If the icicles are only on the gutters, and there’s no ice buildup behind them, you’re okay. If there is an ice dam forming, you’ll need to get rid of it.



Don’t try to break it or chisel it away immediately though. Travelers Insurance suggests you fill a nylon stocking with calcium chloride based ice melt (not rock salt, it will damage your roof), then lay it on the ice dam vertically so one end is pointing to the top of your roof. This will melt a channel into the ice and allow water to run off. If you can’t easily reach your roof, or don’t feel 100% comfortable doing so, contact a professional to help.

DIY Your Own Ice Melt If You Can’t Get to the Store

If you’re reading this too late to get to the store, there’s still hope. You may have some stuff around the house that will melt ice just enough so you can remove it from danger zones like stairs and the pathway to your car. Philip Schmidt at Networx suggests table salt (for obvious reasons), baking soda, and windshield wiper fluid can be used in a pinch. Bob Vila recommends giving rubbing alcohol a try, and suggests commercial fertilizer does an okay job because it contains ammonium sulfate (which helps ice melt faster, even at lower temps.) And according to Julie Washington at, a solution comprised of one part water and three parts vinegar can be used to melt some small, extra-icy trouble spots like windows and gutter spouts.

What should you avoid using? Vodka or other liquors, bleach, and soy sauce. While soy sauce might work a little, it would require a lot of it to be an effective ice melter. It’s better off being used to melt your taste buds.


Image by stockakia (Shutterstock) and remixed by Nick Criscuolo.