No Shovel? The DIY Mixture That Will Take Care Of Your Snowy Driveway

Snow adds a beautiful backdrop to festive moments and serves as the perfect canvas for playful snow fights, crooked snowpeople, and powdery snow angels. But soon it'll be time to bid the icy world goodbye and say hello to real life. This means you'll have to grab a shovel to remove the accumulated snow from your driveway. However, what do you do when you don't have a shovel handy? You grab some rubbing alcohol, warm water, and dish soap to concoct a DIY snow removal mixture.

When applied to snowy surfaces, like snow-covered driveways, this budget- and environment-friendly solution should thaw ice, speed up the melting process, and prevent ice from reforming. However, before you don your winter gear and arm yourself with the mixture, contact your city or local municipality's public works department to understand if they provide any snow removal services. Generally, such departments take care of the removal process (even if it's just the common roadways) for areas experiencing cold weather and heavy snowfall.

After you check with the public works department and ascertain you will have to tackle the snow piled up in your driveway on your own, grab a container to create the DIY snow removal mixture. Next, combine ¼-cup of rubbing alcohol, ½-gallon of warm water, and 6 drops of dish soap and mix them well. Now, liberally pour the solution on the snowy driveway. Since rubbing alcohol is a combination of isopropyl alcohol and water, it has a lower freezing temperature than water (128 degrees Fahrenheit below 0), and speeds up the de-icing process, helping to melt ice. However, exercise caution while applying the mixture since the dish soap might lead to a slippery surface.

Remember, you might have to create more of the mixture depending on the amount of snow blanketing your driveway. As soon as the ice melts, sweep away the resultant water to prevent it from solidifying again and undoing all your hard work. You can even transfer this solution into a spray bottle to get rid of the snow on your car windows.