Has anyone actually used cat litter to grit their drive?

[partystress]

Feeling v smug that I managed to snap up a couple of big bags to 'grit' our steep shared drive with, but have Googled and worried now by stories of stuff sticking to shoes, tyres etc and scepticism about whether it works. Looking for advice or someone with cats prone to diarrhoea...

It's worked for our paths, still there after two days and even though more snow has been coming down and freezing, the path is still safe to walk on.

The only slight pain is it sticks to shoes so have been doing a lot of vacuuming by the front door!

Apparently you shouldn't use cat litter because of the chemicals in it getting into the water or something like that, I can't remember the details but I definitely heard on the radio that it's not a good idea. Sorry!

can't you just clear it with a spade and brush, i did ours, took a while but worth it and you get to do a workout at the same time .

as i said on other thread, i need cat litter for my cat's ltter tray, but all the shops are out of stock because of people buying it to 'grit' their drives.

Well have done the deed - thanks all. Sorry JP, but your cat v welcome. Think the thing about pollution is worries about salt getting into water.

but it's ok to bung aload of cat litter into the sewers?

Why would cat litter go into the sewers?

The litter gets washed into the drains by the melting snow/rain and then goes in to the sewers

Actually I think surface water drains go into streams, so even worse than going into sewers.

Cat litter is made of different things according to brand so read the label before buying . Pellets of wood or paper won't work, anti=bacterial ones are full of chemicals but as far as I know the granular lime/mineral ones are fine for a grit substitute.

Also heard that fire ashes were good but a bit chicken to try it. Has anyone else?

My parents used to use ashes from the fire every morning on the front steps when we were children.

It works a treat.

Surely the clumping (clay) sort will make the situation worse?

AP once blocked the loo by putting cat litter down it, it all clumped in the u bend of course...

Get yourself a snow shovel, and clear the snow out of the way!

Or even better, get half size snow shovels for the children...

We scattered some of our usual cat litter which is non clumping on the drive, and it has worked fantastically.Sophisticat pink for the record, and doesn't get trekked in

My Dad used to use ash from the coal fire on the driveway to help get his car out of the garage. He kept a box of it in the boot of the car incase he got stuck on his way to work.

The amount of salt getting into water from cat litter on the average drive would be infinitesimal. Ditto the salts from dishwasher powder. You can use sawdust or ash either. Better than getting a nasty fall on the ice.

People around here are not gritting at all for fear of being sued. I'm being told that snowfall is an "act of God" so you can't be sued if someone falls over on your drive. If you have changed that situation by gritting and someone falls on your property the compensation culture will get you. You have public liability for problems that occur on your property.

DH put some down in front of our house - I told him not to because I remembered from when I attempted to use it to keep the slugs away from my delphiniums, that it just soaks up water and melts.
It was fine when the snow was actually there and it was still frozen and may have actually made the path a tiny bit grittier, but now it's melted, the pavement is smeared all horrible cat litter colour and looks dreadful.