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In this video I want to talk to you about a winter traction aid that I have found that solves a lot of problems
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I mean in the past I've used salt and sand on my walkways and I really don't like either of those
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I don't like ice melting products either for a couple of reasons. First of all you end up tracking them in all over the place
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They don't actually work all that well. They can only melt a little bit of ice
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Sand provides decent traction but only on glare ice, not on the variety of conditions we see here
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So I really haven't been keeping up with those things and just kind of putting up with a slippery walkway until now
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But I have found this stuff which I really like. It's called Lava Grip and it's mined from a volcano in British Columbia, Canada believe it or not
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One of the reasons I like this is because it actually works. And it works in a lot of different conditions too
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Part of that has to do with the particle size. There's some pretty big chunks in here. Small ones too
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But the larger sized particles mean that it means that it works on glare ice as well as on slush and thicker ice and snowy conditions like you see here
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So another reason I like it is because it's actually fairly breakable. I mean as rocks go
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Each particle is more breakable than say regular stone. And that's a good thing because it means that fresh sharp traction promoting surfaces and edges and corners and things are always being revealed
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So it keeps on working for a long time. Another reason I like it is because there's no possibility of harming our pets around here
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Because the ice melting products by definition must release heat. That's how they work. That's how they melt ice
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But those chemicals can injure the feet of dogs and cats and irritate them too
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So I like the fact that this is basically inert. It's not going to hurt anyone
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Another reason I like it, and I'm going to like it more in the spring than I do now, but this actually has some measurable amounts of plant nutrients in it
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So phosphorus, potassium, other things. Not a huge amount. But at least it's not going to hurt your lawn
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And it's not going to kill your flowers. So in the spring you can do one of two things
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You can just sweep it off onto the grass or flower bed and it's actually going to do those plants some good
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Or you can sweep it up and put it back in the container and use it again next winter
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So it's kind of recyclable that way. And this means that you're not going to need very much of it
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I think for a walkway and step arrangement in a typical Canadian winter, around here anyway, I don't think you'd go through more than a jug of these in a season
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So it's pretty economical too and works quite well. And one other thing, because it's dark, although it doesn't melt snow or ice chemically, because it's dark in colour
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it catches the solar energy and warms up on sunny days and actually starts to melt down and even improve traction more
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So yeah, a few reasons why I like this stuff
