Caffeinated Traction

[plumtreeblossom]

I had to shovel a patch of the balcony, but the resulting cleared spot was dangerously slippery and needed something for traction. I didn't have any sand, nor enough table salt, and the idea of cat litter and its clay mess was too gross. But what I did have was spent coffee grounds, so I spread them around. They worked really well. Biodegradable, too. For a larger area I guess you'd have to buy some cheap ground coffee to add, since the grounds from the coffee pot only go so far.

And now to take a hammer to the ice slick at the end of our driveway.

Comments

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

And I'll bet your driveway smells wonderful...

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Mare 1, ice slick 0.

I showed it who's boss!

[trouble4hire.livejournal.com]

I believe that starbucks will give you used coffee grounds for free. they are good to use for mulch/compost.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine had a large bag of TVP (texturized vegetable protein) that was left by her ex. She had no interest in eating it, but it turns out that it great to toss on an icy driveway.

Better than sand, because the birds eat it so you don't have piles of grit left over when the ice melts in the spring.

Hurray for repurposing. :-)

[dpolicar]

I was about to tell this very story. Go you!

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

Yay....

[ron_newman]

Isn't that usually called "tofu" ?

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

google on "sidewalk ice scraper" (or chisel) for an invaluable tool. Likely they're getting quite thin in the stores now, but buy them in November, and you'll never be sorry! Almost as important to have as a snow shovel in this part of the country.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

My dad gave an ice chopper to my sister as a house warming present. She smiled and thanked him politely.

First ice storm, she was a total convert.

It looks like this, btw: http://www.thebokeegroup.com/catalog/images/ICE%20CHOPPER.jpg

Smashin' shit up

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Dunno, I'm not sure that tool could do what I did. I wailed on the ice with a hammer and broke it up into thick shards, then shoveled the shards away. Smashing the ice was kind of fun in a destructive way. :-)

But I'll try the scraper. I've experienced that the hammer method doesn't work when it's down near zero. The sunshine today helped me a bit.

Re: Smashin' shit up

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

When you have a nice, thick sheet of ice, up to an inch or more, the scraper/chisel thingie works great. I have one that is extremely heavy on the metal end. I just select a spot a few inches (or a foot!) from the edge of the ice, and hit that spot HARD wtih the chisel. The ice "breaks" off very easily.

This is great for those inevitable "puddles" that emerge after a 30-32 degree day, when your snow melts just enough to form a nice, smooth puddle at the base of your stairs, which does an insta-freeze when you're not looking a little later in the evening.

Re: Smashin' shit up

[smacaski.livejournal.com]

We had an ice chopper at my old apartment. Trust me, it is also fun in a destructive kind of way.

The only reason I don't have one now is that my landlord actually clears the sidewalk and steps himself. But who knows, maybe he brings one with him.

[ka9sqb.livejournal.com]

But I shudder to think of hyper-caffeinated
squirrels who thought they were only
licking for the salt.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

They act like they're already caffeinated to the gills! Any more and they'd levitate (which would be cool form an observer's perspective!).

[ron_newman]

If you need to do this again, I recommend you invest in a pair of Yaktrax. They are a good thing to have in any event.