Alaskan 20kg Premium Ice Melter Bag or Scotts EZMELT Ice Melter 20kg $13.48 (with Price Match)

Nice thanks OP. I've been using ez melt the past 2 winters, it's great. No fillers, sand, etc. Just straight ice melter.

Is there a difference between the two in results?

norrric wrote: ↑ Is there a difference between the two in results?

One keeps snow off with the scary roar of a polar bear and the other one uses a man named Scott.

the alaskan is already on sale at lowe's

Alaskan starts acting very fast and will melt almost anything even at -20c. It also has little pebbles about 4X the size of a grain of sugar that stay behind on your walkways after the ice has melted and the salt is gone. I use it on my steps (5 wide steps + landing) and a 20kg bag lasts about 2 seasons. It doesn't damage the flagstone.

The pebbles it leaves behind make their way inside your house and do not vacuum easily.

I've never used Scott's ice melter.

What's the best way to store these outside without clumping? Was thinking of putting them in one of those 19L buckets with a lid

slimjim91 wrote: ↑ What's the best way to store these outside without clumping? Was thinking of putting them in one of those 19L buckets with a lid

Tried this but the full 20kg bag doesn’t fit in those Home Depot buckets. Need a wider one. Thinking of getting a tall plastic garbage can

Perfect been need some ice melters after the storm on monday

Thanks OP, just ran out too so perfect timing.

BTW, I did the $10 off $50 coupon from subscribing to Lowes newsletter using 10minmail which I think is better savings than price matching?

Not as good of a deal as OP but free shipping for those who need ice melter and don't have a car/want to lug a 44lb bag home. Reviews are good. $16.49 + tax delivered. https://www.staples.ca/products/2995129 ... elter-20kg

New to the salt game and was wondering what the difference is between this and the big yellow bags which are about $7.98 for the 20KG bag (I just bought a couple of bags last week). Is there a big material difference that I'm missing?

jumperson22 wrote: ↑ New to the salt game and was wondering what the difference is between this and the big yellow bags which are about $7.98 for the 20KG bag (I just bought a couple of bags last week). Is there a big material difference that I'm missing?

I think the difference is straight up rock salt (yellow bag) vs salt with additional chemicals to aid in melting (Alaskan). Either way, use both conservatively unless you want to replace your whole front lawn in the spring.

I find the “ice melter” works better at lower temps.

redkulat wrote: ↑ Nice thanks OP. I've been using ez melt the past 2 winters, it's great. No fillers, sand, etc. Just straight ice melter.

for some reason, I feel that EZ melts is more effective than Alaskan

jumperson22 wrote: ↑ New to the salt game and was wondering what the difference is between this and the big yellow bags which are about $7.98 for the 20KG bag (I just bought a couple of bags last week). Is there a big material difference that I'm missing?

I used both this winter. For the Alaskan salt, you can see the snow and ice thaw instantly into puddles. For the yellow bag (assuming it's the same type) nothing happens. I checked on it 30 mins after thinking maybe they take awhile to activate and it's the same thing. The salt was still there undisolved.

Haven't been using these ice melters much. Does anyone have insight on if they're good/bad for concrete on driveway etc. Will it ruin it? Are there alternatives?

jumperson22 wrote: ↑ New to the salt game and was wondering what the difference is between this and the big yellow bags which are about $7.98 for the 20KG bag (I just bought a couple of bags last week). Is there a big material difference that I'm missing?

iirc, alaskan is pet-friendly, but im not sure if its all of their salts, or they have a specific pet friendly version.

edit: upon some googling, it seems they have a specific pet friendly version, and this is not it, so the reason is just what others have said, nothing to do with pet friendly.

StevenK330486 wrote: ↑ Alaskan starts acting very fast and will melt almost anything even at -20c. It also has little pebbles about 4X the size of a grain of sugar that stay behind on your walkways after the ice has melted and the salt is gone. I use it on my steps (5 wide steps + landing) and a 20kg bag lasts about 2 seasons. It doesn't damage the flagstone.

The pebbles it leaves behind make their way inside your house and do not vacuum easily.

I've never used Scott's ice melter.

is that supposed to be a good thing though? i mean i get the little pebbles being left behind on the driveway so your shoes can grip it better and prevents slipping. but then ur just getting less salt, and the pebbles do not melt snow/ice, so the same drive way that used to take an X amount of alaskan salt, that we bought from previous years, now takes more than 2X amount of the alaskan salt that we bought this year. i thought they went overboard a little bit with the ratio of salt:pebbles as a cost reducing thing for them, it looks like its 40% salt, 60% pebble, i feel it should be 70/30

jumperson22 wrote: ↑ New to the salt game and was wondering what the difference is between this and the big yellow bags which are about $7.98 for the 20KG bag (I just bought a couple of bags last week). Is there a big material difference that I'm missing?

if i remember correctly, yellow bag salt (regular salt) don't work as well the lower the temp goes. they only work til around -10 i think. the premium salt will still work to even lower temps.

just use sparingly. don't be like my neighbors who just throws clumps of salt everywhere and end up having piles of salt here and there. spread out evenly as much as possible and you should hopefully be ice/slip free.

Used Alaskan Ice Melter for a few years until last year I switched to Sifto from HD. Have not really noticed much difference. The Alaskan looks and feels nice definitely but @ $5.47 a bag for the other brand I cant complain. I do use a spreader to salt my driveway and walkway so yes I just dont dump bags of salt on the drive way.