Fireplace and woodstove ashes have many uses. I’m going to share one very useful way I reuse my wood ashes to sand my icy road.

First clean out your ashes from your woodstove or fireplace. Always use a metal pail or container as ashes can still be hot and have ciders that can cause a fire if you place them in non-metal container.

Immediately take your pail outside to avoid any fire hazard in your home or porch. Never store wood ashes near your home as they can cause combustion with other materials and start a fire.

Sprinkle the wood ashes from your pail onto the icy road. I like to spread the ashes down the roadway where my tires will gain the most benefit from the wood ashes. As the ashes melt into the ice, the bits of wood and ash provide some much needed traction on my icy driveway. Even one small pail of ashes sanded this whole area shown in the photo.

So if you have icy roadways or walkways, consider reusing your ashes from your woodstove or fireplace to sand the area. It really works quite well on icy surfaces.