Should You Use Coffee Grounds Instead of De-Icing Salt? Here's When it Works

Winter is a quiet time in the garden, but there are still some outdoor chores that need tackling. One of these is ensuring your driveway and walkways are clear of ice and snow and safe to use. Many homeowners scatter salt to melt snow and ice.

This strategy is easy and quick, but de-icing salt is dangerous to plants. Think twice before using salt on your driveway and paths. Your plants are dormant now, but as the world thaws and salty water makes its way into the soil and to the roots, they’ll suffer.

Could used coffee grounds be a safe, natural alternative?

Why is Salt So Bad for Plants?

Most de-icing products are made with rock salt (sodium chloride). Sodium chloride helps melt ice by lowering the freezing point of water. It works down to a temperature of about 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 degrees Celsius). At colder temperatures, salty water still freezes.

The salt you apply to paths or your driveway can eventually make its way into the soil and plant roots as winter turns into spring and cause salt injury. This is when the snow melts, and plants begin taking up water again. Too much salt in the water and soil can cause dehydration and nutrient imbalances in plants. Salt water on foliage can also cause damage.

Do Coffee Grounds Melt Ice?

This sustainable, eco-friendly tip is, unfortunately, a myth. It’s made the online rounds as a more natural way to melt driveway ice, but it doesn’t really work. If there is some heat left in your grounds, you might get a little bit of melting, but the grounds themselves don’t actually melt ice or snow.

Using Coffee Grounds for Traction

Busting this persistent myth doesn’t mean coffee grounds can’t be a suitable substitute for salt. Creating traction on slick spots can be as effective as melting ice is at making a pathway or driveway safe and passable.

Clear the snow first, especially if you have more than an inch (2.5 cm) or so. Shoveling might be enough to clear your pathways, but if you have icy spots, sprinkle coffee grounds over them. The grittiness of the grounds creates a rougher surface to prevent slips and falls.

Other Plant-Safe Alternatives

It’s possible to use salt sparingly in winter without damaging your plants, but this is a risky strategy. Know where water runs from paths and driveways before you use salt on them. If melting snow and ice drain into your lawn or beds, too much salt will cause damage.

Using coffee grounds for traction is just one safer alternative. The grounds are natural and won’t damage plants when they get into the soil. Other materials that you might have in your shed can also provide traction: sand, grit, pebbles, sawdust, and unscented cat litter. All of these can safely be swept away in spring or allowed to drain into soil and beds. Quikrete sand from Amazon adds traction easily and can help improve drainage in your potting soil, too!

If you prefer to melt ice rather than rely on traction, which might not create perfectly safe conditions, some household products will help. Both vinegar and rubbing alcohol, like salt, lower the freezing point of water. Vinegar is safer for plants, but alcohol can be used sparingly. You can find vinegar and isopropyl alcohol on Amazon.

Mix two parts vinegar with one part warm water, or one quarter cup of rubbing alcohol with a half gallon of warm water. Put the solution in a spray bottle and apply it to the ice. Because this can be time-consuming to apply, it’s best used on smaller areas, like porch steps or patchy areas of ice on paths or driveways. A pump sprayer, available from Amazon, will make the work easier and more efficient. The solutions will turn the ice into a slush, which you can shovel off for a cleaner surface.

Improving traction on icy winter surfaces is a great way to use spent coffee grounds. Just don’t rely on it to actually melt the ice. Coffee grounds and other alternatives to salt will help you make your outside space safer and usable throughout winter without harming plants.