First, let’s learn about the most common family of deicing ingredients, chloride salts. Chloride salts work by interfering with water molecules’ ability to freeze. They are known as freeze point depressants and each one can lower water’s freezing point to a certain temperature.
The 4 types of chloride salts used for deicing are:
Sodium chloride is typically white evaporative or mined rock salt and is the most commonly used.
Potassium chloride is probably the least common chloride used in deicing.
Magnesium chloride is less common than sodium chloride and is typically sold as a liquid or added to solid deicers. It has also been found to reduce corrosion.
Calcium chloride works at the lowest temperatures and is typically used as a liquid additive for some solid deicers.
A complex chloride is a naturally derived, homogenous blend of the 4 main chloride salts. Solid complex chlorides™ are mined from ancient sea deposits and also contain other naturally occurring minerals.
Some deicing companies add chlorides together to try and boost performance or reduce corrosion (like coating sodium chloride granules with liquid magnesium or calcium chloride to work at lower temperatures). These mixtures are NOT complex chlorides™. They are not homogenous mixtures, do not contain the same chemical and physical properties, or match the performance of natural complex chlorides™ with minerals.
Complex chlorides™ display a natural phenomenon called chemical synergism. Here, the combined effect of chemical substances is much greater than the sum of its parts. The substances enhance each other’s efficiency and make their combined efforts even more powerful. Synergism is most commonly seen in the medical community when medicines are combined for an even greater effect on the body (ie. the combination of aspirin and caffeine for synergistic pain relief).
Chemical synergism in a deicer amplifies the performance of each chloride. The combination of 4 different chlorides creates a dynamic solution as each chloride continues to work together for faster performance and re-freeze cycle prevention on road surfaces.
In contrast, deicers with artificially added chlorides, display the chemical “additive effect.” Their ingredients simply perform their individual chemical reactions without affecting each other’s performance.
Harvested from a Jurassic Era mineral deposit in central Utah, Ice Slicer® is the poster child for complex chloride™ deicer power. The earth spent over 200 million years perfecting this unique blend of chloride salts and over 60 trace minerals; it truly is mother nature’s perfect recipe for melting ice and snow.
Ice Slicer® is 90% complex chlorides and 10% insoluble minerals so you get powerful deicing performance without clogging up your spreading equipment with insoluble material.
But don’t just take our word for it...let’s hear from snow boots on the ground as to what makes the complex chlorides and minerals in Ice Slicer® so special.
The Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University conducted a thorough study of “the unique synergy of complex chlorides and mineral products.” They surveyed 31 road agencies and winter maintenance experts across 16 states and asked them what they saw when using complex chloride mineral deicers, including Ice Slicer®.
Here are the complex chloride benefits reported:
“The top five primary benefits for using solid complex chloride/mineral products listed by respondents include: 1. “Lowering the freezing point of water” (20.7%), 2. “Prevention of ice formation” (17.2%), 3. “Improving the product longevity on the road” (13.8%), 4. “Preventing refreeze” (13.8%), 5. “Weakening of ice bond to pavement” (13.8%).”
Ice Slicer® users have found that our complex chloride™ deicer outperforms white salt every time. Give us a call before this coming winter to see Ice Slicer’s® unique synergy in action!
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