Specification
- Prevents and clears snow and ice fast
- Free flowing and easy to spread
- Exceeds BS 3247 1991
- Low moisture content
- Long storage life
Brown rock salt is the reliable, cost-effective choice for keeping outdoor surfaces safe and ice-free during winter. This free-flowing de-icer melts snow and ice quickly while providing excellent traction underfoot thanks to its natural grit content. Perfect for:
- driveways
- garden paths
- pathways and steps
- car parks
- access roads
It exceeds BS 3247 standards, has low moisture for long storage life, and works fast even in freezing conditions. A practical essential for low-maintenance winter safety in any outdoor space.
Brown Rock Salt
Price range: £138.00 through £202.00 inc. VAT
| Quantity | 850kg Bulk Bag, 20 x 20kg Bags, 40 x 20kg Bags |
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White Rock Salt
Price range: £172.00 through £272.00 inc. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Specifications, Inspirational Ideas & DIY Guides
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Why Professionals & Homeowners Choose, Applications, Maintenance, Purchasing Tips, FAQs, Related Products
Overview
Brown rock salt is dug out of a mine and crushed to the fine highways grade of roughly 1 to 6mm, with the sand, clay and grit it came out of the ground with left in it. Dry it looks like coarse brown sugar; wet it darkens and leaves a brown film on paving until rain shifts it.
Why Professionals & Homeowners Choose Brown Rock Salt
Here is why brown salt earns its place on the working side of a property.
- The grit bites the moment it lands, before any melting starts, which is why councils and haulage yards have spread it for decades.
- Being brown, it shows up on snow, so you can see what you covered and what you missed.
- It’s the cheaper of the two salts.
- Anti-caking agent and low moisture keep it free-flowing.
- It stores for years so long as it’s kept dry.
- It does leave a brown gritty residue that gets walked indoors and settles into block paving joints. For a front path onto a pale hall carpet I would spend the extra on white rock salt.
Brown Rock Salt Applications
Brown rock salt is for hard surfaces, and it is worth knowing when it washes off into the ground at the edges; box (Buxus sempervirens) and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) planted tight against a drive are the ones that struggle most. Coastal plants like sea thrift (Armeria maritima) cope with it better. I would keep it off planted paths, and I would not use it as a weedkiller, for reasons I set out in my guide to cleaning garden stones.
- Driveways and parking areas, spread the evening before a forecast frost rather than the morning after.
- Access roads, farm tracks and delivery yards, where grip matters more than looks.
- Car parks and forecourts, where visible brown coverage helps whoever is checking the work.
- Steps and ramps away from doorways.
- Grit bins for a shared drive, a private lane or an unadopted road.
- Where I would not use it: entrances leading straight indoors, decorative paving you care about, planted paths, and anywhere the runoff reaches a pond.
Brown Rock Salt Care
Brown rock salt is a repeat treatment since rain washes it off and a thaw carries it away with the meltwater.
- Re-treat before every forecast frost. One spread will not survive a wet day, and salt put down into heavy rain is money wasted.
- Brush and hose the residue off paving once the cold snap breaks, before it works into block paving joints and onto boots.
- Store it dry, covered and off the ground.
- Keep it where pets cannot get into it, and rinse dogs' paws after they have been on a treated surface.
Purchasing Tips
Work the quantity out from area and spread rate. At 20 grams per square metre a 20kg bag treats about 1,000 square metres, so a 40 square metre drive uses around 800 grams a time, and one bag covers roughly 25 frosts.
- Spread 10 to 15 grams per square metre to stop ice forming, and 20 to 40 grams to clear snow or ice already down.
- Our smallest pack is 20 x 20kg, so 400kg. For one household drive that is several winters' worth, so buy it knowing it keeps indefinitely while it stays dry, or split a pallet with the neighbours.
- The 850kg bulk bag is a yard, farm or estate quantity, around 0.7 cubic metres, and it wants a firm level spot for the delivery.
- Expect the colour and the grit content to vary between loads. It comes off a working seam rather than a production line, and the variation does not change how it performs.
- Order the winter's salt in one go, before the first cold snap. Every supplier sells out in the same fortnight, ours included.
If you would rather talk your brown rock salt order through with a person, ring Outdoor Aggregates on 0330 043 7585. The office is open 7am to 7pm, seven days a week.
Brown Rock Salt FAQs
What is brown rock salt made of?
Brown rock salt is mined rock salt, sodium chloride in rock form, with the sand, clay and grit from the seam left in. Those impurities make it brown and give it grip before anything has melted.
What is the difference between brown and white rock salt?
Brown rock salt is mined and left unwashed, while white salt comes from evaporated seawater and is far purer. Brown grips better and costs less, and white leaves no residue near a doorway.
How much rock salt do I need per square metre?
Rock salt spreads at 10 to 15 grams per square metre to prevent ice, and at 20 to 40 grams to clear snow already lying. A 20kg bag covers roughly 1,000 square metres per preventive treatment.
What temperature does rock salt stop working at?
Rock salt works dependably down to about minus 6°C and turns unreliable by around minus 8°C. Below roughly minus 10°C you are spreading grit for traction rather than melting anything.
Does rock salt damage block paving or concrete?
Rock salt does not attack sound cured paving directly, but it drives extra freeze-thaw cycles that flake weak, porous or newly laid surfaces. Give new concrete a full year before salting it, and sweep the residue out after a frost.
Is brown rock salt safe around pets and plants?
Brown rock salt is neither pet-safe nor plant-safe. Crystals lodge between paw pads and crack them, dogs that lick them off can end up unwell, and runoff scorches lawn edges and borders.
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White Rock Salt
Price range: £172.00 through £272.00 inc. VAT -
Brown Rock Salt
Price range: £138.00 through £202.00 inc. VAT
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