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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsAbout rock salt and other products 2 questions
The questions: how can something that is supposed to melt ice, when it gets wet, freeze in the bag? And am I mistaken, or would that reduce the product's effectiveness on melting ice and snow on the sidewalk?
I bought a bag of True Value Fast Melt yesterday. The store had it outside and the yard man put it in my car. When I got home, I took the bag from my car, and noticed right away the contents were frozen solid. I threw the bag on the step numerous times, but it didn't help much. I went inside and got a hammer and an empty cereal box and put a chuck of the FAst Melt in the box and hit it numerous times with the hammer. It was still in chucks, but smaller. I set the bag inside the house, where in a short time, it melted leaving a puddle of salt water.
We have bought rock salt for years. I have never had a product do this, but to be fair, I think we bought other products stored inside. I imagined scooping loose salt out and sprinkling it where I needed it. After using it, I realized that I would have to beat the rest of the bag with a hammer to get any use. And then, after it melted on my floor, I thought with water in it, the product had to be weaker. I called the store and the clerk I spoke to said they are all like that. I was like no, they aren't. And I said I was old and I couldn't use it like that. She said bring it in and she have one of the guys get a bag ready for me, meaning she'd have him beat it to pieces. I took it back and told the clerk who waited on me that I'd rather get a refund than an exchange. She was very nice and gave me a refund. But I have those questions. I tried to Google the problem, but got a lot of hits about using rock salt for ice cream making. Any comments, thanks!
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Clumping/caking of salt (and sugar) occurs often when stored in high moisture environments (like basements or outdoors)
If you read the ingredidents of granular things you buy in supermarkers you'll often find "anticaking"
ingredients added ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticaking_agent ) to prevent this.
Why salt clumps:
http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/why-salt-clumps/
In short salt should be stored in low-moisture environments or be prepared for some de-clumping.
Marthe48
(17,021 posts)I'll look at the link.