Salt will tenderize a steak: what will it do to your car, truck or SUV on McHenry roads?

No, you don't want to spread road salt on your

car, truck or SUV. But you might want to

consider what road salt from McHenry roads

is doing to your vehicle.

Think about it: salt is used to tenderize a steak. It pulls some of the moisture out of the meat and dissolves into the fibers of the meat. Using salt to brine meat is described as ‘similar to osmosis.’ It breaks down protein. It can also ‘lock in moisture’ depending on how you apply it. If salt has these kinds of chemical reactions with your food doesn’t it make sense that it also has chemical reactions when it comes up off McHenry roads onto your car, truck or SUV.

The combination of oxygen, moisture and salt causes corrosion to metal. According to the Web page sciencing.com:

“One form of corrosion that occurs when metal and saltwater get together is called electrochemical corrosion. Metal ions dissolve in water and saltwater conducts electricity and contains ions, which attract ions from other compounds. During electrochemical corrosion, electrons from other compounds are attracted to the metallic ions. Saltwater attacks the metal and corrosion occurs.”

The article goes on to describe another form of corrosion caused by the mixture of salt and moisture with metal: “Anaerobic Corrosion.” In this case, “when metal is exposed to saltwater for an extended period, anaerobic corrosion leaves deposits that contain sulfates and surround the metal … Hydrogen sulfide is produced” corroding the metals while bacteria grow in the saltwater.

“Between the ions, sulfates and bacteria, metal is attacked from all angles when it is in saltwater.”

McHenry road salt also attacks your car, truck or SUV’s paint

The salt you use to tenderize your steak is purified. You’re going to eat any salt that remains on the meat when you’re done grilling that beauty. But it’s generally a very bad idea to eat road salt. The folks that spread road salt don’t expect you to use it at the dinner table. Therefore, they’re far-less concerned about removing impurities.

Think about a drop of water containing road salt that flies up from the road and lands on your vehicle. In time, the moisture evaporates. It leaves behind a dot of abrasive sediments. Now you come out to clean the frost off your windshield the next morning. You lean into the car, truck or SUV pressing against that drop of sediment. To make matters worse, you’re moving back and forth as you scrape the frost from the windshield. The entire time, you’re grinding that sediment against your vehicle’s finish.

Would you spread sand on your car and then rub it with a rag? Of course not. But that’s essentially what you’re doing, without even realizing it, when you allow the salt and sediment to remain as a gritty film on your car. The sediment is so evenly spread that it looks like a thin gray blanket.

The solution is to wash that salt and sediment off your car, truck or SUV. As long as winter lasts, the McHenry roads are likely to throw more sediment and road salt on your vehicle. But, if you stay after it, you can do a lot to preserve the finish, and the metal underneath it, from the effects of road salt.

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

October 20 Hootenanny will benefit veterans with PTSD

Been to a Hootenanny lately? When you read that question did you ask, “What?” Well, if you have gone to a Hootenanny in a while, or if you don’t know what a hootenanny is, we have an event for Oct. 20 that will clear up either question. From 6 p.m. to Midnight, Saturday, Oct. 20, MC3, the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce business networking group, is helping to host an inaugural Veterans R&R Wild Horse Hootenanny at Beyond Stable Farm (11129 Rte. 176, Woodstock). The event will benefit Veterans R&R Operation Wild Horse. Operation Wild Horse serves veterans with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Working with the horses has proven to have an incredibly calming effect on the veterans. And, it’s good for the horses, too, rescued wild mustangs. This means that the hootenanny is for a very good cause. But, it’s also a lot of fun. So, what is a hootenanny? According to a Google search, a hootenanny is “an informal gathering with folk music and sometimes dancing.” The V...

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