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Grit salt, gritting salt and rock salt are all names for the same product: mined sodium chloride, spread on a surface to stop ice forming or to melt ice that is already there. Salt lowers the freezing point of water, so at minus 3 degrees the moisture on your drive stays liquid instead of turning to ice. Our rock salt advice page goes into the chemistry if you want it.
Brown rock salt contains natural marl, the clay that comes out of the mine with the salt. That marl gives extra grip underfoot and helps the salt stay where you spread it, which is why highways teams use it. White British salt is washed and leaves far less residue, so it is the better choice around shop entrances, block paving, indoor thresholds and anywhere footprints matter.
For preventive gritting before a frost, 10 to 15 grams per square metre is enough. On ice or packed snow that has already formed, go up to 20 to 40 grams per square metre. A 25 kg bag therefore covers roughly 1,600 square metres preventively, or around 600 square metres of existing ice. We worked the sums through per surface in how much grit salt you need for a driveway, and there are more seasonal pointers under gritting tips.
Grit salt keeps working to around minus 8 degrees Celsius and slows down noticeably below minus 6. In a hard frost, or on a surface that never sees the sun, calcium chloride is the better option because it stays active far lower and pulls moisture towards itself to start melting faster. We compare the two in rock salt versus ice melt.
Facility managers, contractors and property managers usually order half or full pallets before the season starts, because stock and delivery slots both tighten the moment the first frost is forecast. A full pallet is 40 bags of 25 kg, one tonne, and it stores for years if it stays dry. For bulk quantities on public roads and estate roads, see road salt. Lead times and kerbside delivery are explained on our delivery page.
Keep bags dry and off bare concrete. Salt is hygroscopic, so it draws in damp air and cakes. A grit bin, a covered pallet in a shed, or the original shrink wrap left intact all work. Worth reading first if the surface is new: will rock salt damage concrete.
Nothing. They are two names for the same mined salt. "Grit salt" is simply the more common term for the winter use.
About 10 to 15 grams per square metre before frost, and 20 to 40 grams per square metre on ice that has already formed.
To around minus 8 degrees Celsius. Below that, use calcium chloride, which works much lower.
Brown for grip on tarmac and concrete. White where residue would be a nuisance, such as block paving or a shop entrance.
Indefinitely, as long as it stays dry. Damp salt cakes together but still works once broken up.
Yes, and white salt is the sensible choice there because it leaves almost no residue behind.
