Why a salt stick is the winter motoring accessory you didn’t know you need

Halfords’ new one-metre-long ‘snow salt stick’ could turn out to be the great motoring accessory you didn’t even know you needed, this winter.

Costing £3.50 and presented in the kind of rugged, reusable cardboard tube you might find wrapped around a poster delivered to your door, it is claimed to cover 60 square metres, enabling users to rapidly and efficiently thaw ice and melt snow, in freezing weather conditions.

Few London motorists are lucky enough to have driveways but, for those that do, it could make the difference between getting to work or school in the morning – or remaining stranded, through lack of traction with your tyres.

It will also help motorists left ‘stranded’ at the roadside, outside their homes, by slippery slopes and cambers.

As Halfords point out, the giant ‘Winter Wizard Salt Stick’ works rather like a shake’n’vac dispenser, thanks to a rotating a plastic ‘spreader’ at one end. The manufacturers claim it works ten times faster than rock salt and it can be used on steps, driveways, paths and car parks.

Are they right? Until snow and ice hits London with a vengeance it’s hard to say with certainty, but the package – and claims – look pretty impressive.

The 1.5kg salt stick, which is easy to store upright in a cupboard or garage, or even in your car boot, is claimed to be totally soluble and to leave no residue. It’s also claimed to be non-hazardous to animals.

For more information, visit halfords.com.