Ice Melter

In the last few decades, we’ve seen an explosion of boutique ice-melters that take low cost rock salt and mix small amounts of premium deicers in with them and then wrap them into a really fancy package.  These combinations are often 90 percent or more rock salt with a small proportion of a superior ingredient, such as CMA, MAG, or calcium chloride.  Ingredients in these proportions make them about as powerful as rock salt and they possess the very same characteristics.  Frequently they're priced equal to premium deicers and are in very attractive bundles.   Most if not all of these products don't disclose their components and therein lies a large number of problems.   The majority of these boutique deicers are extremely clever and take great actions to hide what they're really trying to market.   Organizations are taking a $2 bag of rock salt and set it in a bag with quite expensive images like babies, dogs, and evergreen trees on top quality color package, and then call it green this or enviro that.  They're selling for 4-5 times their actual price!  A number of these packages are outright consumer fraud and nobody at the government level appears to be considering bringing truth in labeling to the ice melting marketplace.  It’s a digital free-for-all as firms are generating fancy bags of salt with dye in it and promoting it for 80-90% gain!  We're frankly disgusted with some of the sleazy marketing which is being used.   How can you avoid being burnt by the pig in lipstick?  You need a certified analysis of components on your deicer from your provider.  We provide these records routinely on any and all products that we sell.  We've got nothing to hide and our view is that if we teach our clients they will make the perfect choice that will benefit us.  Its part of the bargain when you utilize MeltSnow.com.  We aren't playing this game and we're attempting to lead the charge from the lies in labels and invite all of you to do the same.  Demand to be provided a written statement on the producers letterhead of what they're selling to you.  If their product is coated with peanut oil, then they have a duty to inform you that if someone walking over your deicer has a peanut allergy.  If they're selling you rock salt dyed green, you might not believe the green dye and beautiful evergreen trees around the bag are worth the $7 per bag top?   We aren't shooting rockets off into the moon and there are not any secrets.   Say what?  If its patented, then you're protected under the patent and the formulation is recorded for public viewing in the patent office.  Its a public record so why is it secret?  Its because they don’t need for you to see that you're paying $8/bag for $2/bag rock salt with dye.    Not that you're getting the hottest in chemical deicer technology.   We don’t want to seem like we're down on blended deicers  were not.  Most of them work pretty well and often the perfect combinations of these goods in the proper amounts can form synergies which are extremely effective.  If we include 8-10 gallons of liquid calcium chloride or liquid calcium chloride to a ton rock salt and we could reduce the working temperature another 10 levels and utilize 30% less to do the same job.  In practical terms, we're increasing the price of the compound from $100/ton (only the salt) to $108-$110/ton.  So we increased the price of a 50 pounds.  Bag by just $0.25, not by $7.00!  ($10.00/2000 pounds x 50 pounds). The majority of us can easily tell what we're getting by just making a visual evaluation of the item.  Does this look like its all white pellets or is it a granular material that looks like its mostly salt?   MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE Fortunately while to many people it looks like the market is flooded with a great deal of different goods, if you invest a little time with your provider asking the obvious questions of what am I purchasing here you are able to quickly separate the options and find the best one for your needs.  If you're still confused, call us.   Below are some helpful charts that provide a whole lot of pertinent details on the products that we provide that can be useful as you browse the decision procedure.  All of these are developed by Dead Sea Works in support of the MAG goods, but they're a fantastic reference point to check at all of the common deicers in each category.   Most importantly, ask questions of your provider about what they're selling to you and require a certified chemical breakdown of the goods.