490 North Pontiac Trail
Walled Lake, MI 48390

248.668.1200

Fact or Fiction: Cat Litter.. for Cars?

Posted September 26, 2017

If you’ve ever put together an emergency kit for your car, you may have been shocked to come across the phrase “kitty litter.” What purpose might this odd product serve in, or for, your car?

People have claimed this wonder-substance can do so much, but which claims are based in fact and which have been fabricated? Here are three commonly shared uses for cat litter:

Cat litter provides traction.

This is a fact. If you were to swerve off the road and find yourself stuck in snow, sprinkle a little litter under your tires. Your tires need extra traction to pull out of a deep snowbank or a slick spot of road, and kitty litter works well for this. Just pour some all around your tires and try again to drive out. Note that it’s best to purchase the non-clumping variety.

Cat litter in the trunk can help with winter driving.

This is also a fact. As any cat owner can attest, big bags of cat litter are quite heavy. Some drivers like to keep a bag in their trunks to help the back wheels have better traction. This is especially true for cars and trucks that are much heavier in the front than the rear. The additional weight in the trunk will keep your vehicle’s rear planted more firmly on the ground, which means you could be safer in winter driving conditions.

Cat litter works to melt ice.

This tidbit is a little white lie. While cat litter does help with traction on ice, it does not melt it. Only salt or ice-melt products can help melt ice. Sprinkling cat litter on the ice on your sidewalks or in your driveway will just leave you with soggy cat litter, which could be a pain to clean up.

We hope this information on how cat litter can sometimes help when driving has the potential to help everyone in Oakland County stay prepared for the worst winter conditions. Even if you think ahead and stock your car with a giant bag of cat litter this winter, we hope you’ll trust anything you can’t handle yourself to our team of certified technicians.

Call us at (248) 668-1200 for assistance or to make sure your car is winter ready!

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags:

Previous Post «

Next Post »