This is one amazing product. Softwood wood chips with just the right mix of magnesium chloride to help the chips to melt into and stick on the ice - making the safest icy walkway I ever walked on. This is a Swiss invention and Canadian distribution is finally underway.
See comments at the end of this page from people who have just tried it or to add your own experience, good or bad.
This is my fourth winter using this product and it is unbelievable. It stays put and if a lot of ice builds up over it, you may need more, but when it begins to melt, the chips float to the surface and then freeze right there where you need them. If you have very cold hard ice, fresh chips may not stick right away. Add just a bit of regular deicer or salt to the surface just to get the chips wet and then they stick for the rest of the winter. It is pH neutral for your plants and pets.
At the end of the winter, just vacuum them up and although they will be lacking the magnesium, you can mix them with a new supply the following winter. You could sweep them up but then you collect all the winter's dirt and grit. On a dry day after the ice has gone and the chips are sun dried, hold a vacuum hose just above the chips and since they are so light, they will just come up leaving the junk behind. I found that by strapping a stand-off stick to the hose I can keep just the right distance all the time. Add deicer or fine salt to the bag and you are ready for the next winter with very little loss of material. More details on their website -- www.EcoIceGrip.com
If you are looking for information on de-icers, follow this link.
Moving from a start-up operation with a Swiss product here in Quebec and Ontario in 2017, they were so successful that they built a manufacturing plant in Quebec which started up in December of 2020. As this catches on I am suspecting that the municipalities will start switching from salt for our sidewalks to more effective, longer lasting and natural wood chips. Some are experimenting with it near the river where the salt is an ecological problem. Since the chips can be spread by a standard municipal salt spreader, there is no new investiment needed. Salted areas need to be resalted quickly, the wood chips last a lot longer. We will be seeing more of Eco-Ice Grip.
February 2021 After some initial production problems, they now have the right size chips comming consistently out of the production machine all the time -- quality control is happy and 2021 distribution got underway.
Their 20L bag is retailing for $19.75, good value considering how long it lasts with the potential for re-use. It is estimated that a standard driveway/walkway would probably require 3 bags in a season. If you can't find them at a store near you, you can order them from the web -- and if you buy the 3 bag special, with shipping costs, it comes out close to what the store charges.
December 2021 The ice has already hit the ground and the distribution list on the Eco-Ice Grip website has exploded with stores stocking it from Montreal to Mississauga and up to Ottawa. Check out their Dealer Locator. Two years ago you had to hunt for a bag, now you can find a store near you, or order it delivered.
You can contact EcoIceGrip themselves for more information or to be put on a list to receive information when a retailer is open near your postal code.
info@ecoicegrip.com or 844-ICE-GRIP (844-423-4747)
I like these guys and their product!
jon
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FINALLY!
Glad they got their online act together and allowed people to order directly; I got my two bags yesterday and am looking forward to trying the product. (Well, not looking forward to ice or freezing rain...but you know what I mean!)
Eco-Ice Grip -- Treated wood chips for slippery ice. It does seem great for the environment and not too expensive if about three bags would do a Winter. But are we not throwing it away every time we shovel off the walkway?
Hello Brian,
In my 3 years of experience with these wood chips, I shovel off the snow down to the hard pack ice and when I get there I can see that some of the wood ships have floated to the top with the last little thaw and are now struck firmly on the top -- giving a non-slip surface. So I am no longer digging out the ice and throwing salt all over the grass, unless we are into total slutch. Sometimes I need to add some chips in some areas. Then, when things really melt off, I sweep the chips into a corner and wait for a drying day, when I spread them out to dry, add just a sprinkling of magnesium chloride de-icer and then bag them up for next year. This year I am only buying one new bag for the whole season.
jon
Hi Jon…I eventually managed to buy a bag of Stop-Gliss-Bio (en français) from Ecoverdure on Friday, and used it for the first time yesterday. My driveway was pretty much a sheet of ice, so I decided to spread it by hand so that my grandkids ( and their parents) could feel safe walking on it.
So far, I am very impressed. Everyone (Including me) who walked on it felt stability rarely experienced on salted ice, even if ‘gravelled'.
My initial concern was that even if it were effective, the wood chips would be trudged into the house, making a mess on the living room floor. Not so. The chips stayed embedded in the ice.
My other concern was the price…..about $ 26.00 (tax incl.) for one bag. But based on my initial consumption, I should be able to get another 7 or 8 uses from the one bag. Pretty good when I compare to the unsightly (and often ineffective) use of salt and gravel.
Based on this experience, I think the Eco Ice Grip distributors are already missing a selling opportunity by not making this stuff widely known and available in Reno Depot, Home Depot-type stores. An advertising campaign on TV, or even a video in stores should convince eco and non-eco sensitive consumers alike of the value of this product.
As I continue to use the product this winter, I’ll write you again if I notice anything of interest to report.
Regards….Bill