Magnesium chloride flakes are not only an exceptional ice melt and deicer, they provide the added bonus of being low impact and versatile for a handful of uses beyond melting ice. Today we’ll look at 4 ways to use magnesium chloride flakes that might shock you.
What is Magnesium Chloride?
Magnesium chloride is a naturally occurring compound and, in commercial grade, contains 34% chlorides and 18% magnesium. Magnesium chloride comes in many shapes, sizes and physical forms. It can be liquid, pellets, pastilles or flakes. Regardless of what form it’s in, magnesium chloride has a low environmental impact and is mild on most surfaces and vegetation when compared to other ice melt chemicals.
Used worldwide, magnesium chloride has been proven to provide dependable ice and snow melt. Few chemical compounds are both effective for ice melting AND safe for the environment, plants and animals. In addition to melting, it prevents ice bonding to surfaces, making plowing roads more efficient.
4 Ways to Use Magnesium Chloride:
- Anti-icing: Spreading mag flakes on roads proactively before a snowstorm will actually prevent ice buildup and the sticking of snow to surfaces;
- Pre-treating: Sprayed in a liquid formulation on salt, magnesium chloride helps the salt to stick to roads. You can also use a mix of magnesium chloride and salt together on roads for extra bonding of salt to the surface.
- Dust control: Along with melting ice, mag flakes are an excellent agent for controlling dust because it takes moisture from the air and creates a bond that keeps dust from getting into the air. It’s even used commonly at indoor horse riding arenas for this specific purpose!
- Replace plant nutrients: While too much of any ice melt chemical can harm a plant, chloride and magnesium are important nutrients for plant growth. Magnesium chloride helps rectify magnesium deficiencies in plants, and it is a substitute for magnesium sulfate.
All deicers will cause degradation of surfaces over time, but magnesium chloride is gentler than others. Also magnesium chloride is a safer alternative than other ice melt chemicals, like calcium chloride which has a toxicity that is the highest of all chloride-based deicers. Studies, set to real-world parameters, showed that calcium chloride damages concrete twice as fast as magnesium chloride.
Magnesium chloride flakes are the best choice when performance and the environment are the priority – or when you’re looking for a few additional uses. Contact us today for more information.