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.