WD40 or Pam – Put that on your shovel to keep the snow from sticking and make throwing it easier. This comes from a veteran winter person from Michigan and Wyoming.

Maybe there are a few isolated pockets where analog repeaters are still in operation, but please for the sake of your own safety, don’t rely on an unsubscribed cell phone to save you in an emergency WITHOUT CHECKING THE LAW FOR YOURSELF. The consequences could be tragic.

@ Trent: No snow where I am (10 ft. above sea level). It’s also not usual to have to worry about ice every day in the winter. I’m not one for having leisurely mornings, so finding ice on the car is not pleasant. Thanks for the tips!

They don’t use CaCl and use sand sparingly in Oregon.
My biggest hill is the half block from where I park to the road.. and I couldn’t get up it with my car. Luckily I need to use up my leave time and took a day off to get tire chains and catch up on sleep.

I really don’t miss living where it snows.

Don’t let frugality trump safety.

Calicum cloride is just another salt (CaCl2), it does not create heat when it melts ice. Melting point depression (causing a solid, like ice, to revert to its liquid state at lower temperatures) is based on the number of ions that the salt dissociates into when dissolved. CaCl2 dissocates into 3 ions (Ca2+, Cl-, & Cl-), whereas rock salt is NaCl and only dissocates into 2 ions (Na+ and Cl-). Each ion allows the melting point to depress approx. 2 degrees Centigrade. This is why up here in Fairbanks, AK we don’t use salt on the roads, driveways, etc. It doesn’t work at all below about -10 degrees Centigrade.

Melting point depression has nothing to do with creating heat. Mixtures will have lower melting points and higher boiling points than pure substances. This is also how anti-freeze works and why you add salt to pasta water.

What is actually kind of cool, when it gets cold enough (below -20 F) the ice will sublimate, go from ice to water vapor without passing through the liquid water phase.

Most cat litter nowadays has clay in it which doesn’t help much with traction. Sand is better and cheaper.

I went to Walmarts and bought a box of extra heavy duty plastice (10×20 feet) and cut it into 4 large pieces. I would use 2 pieces for 2-3 years and then use the other 2 after that. I would cover my windshield, tuck it into the front part of the front doors, and bring around to the back of the front doors and slam it shut. Kept my windhsield, rear view mirrors, and locks all ice free. I would do the same thing for the back half of the car, but would have the trunk open while I wrapped, and then slam it shut. My car was completely wrapped and took only seconds to unwrap. The first time I did this wrapping each winter, it might take me 4-5 minutes to get it all set up. But it was well worth the effort.

The heavy duty plastic is made with an oil base so it never stuck to my windows. I lived there for 18 years and it worked fine. Also did it agains last winter while I worked through the winter again.

I now have my own carport with a plastic shielding down the side to withn 2 feet of the concrete. Keeps me covered.

Trent, would the diswashing liquid and alcohol & water be okay to sparay around my car doors to keep the rubber from freezing? Even in the carport 3 of my doors will freeze shut.