Non-stick spray useless on snow shovels

Photo courtesy of
‘101_0720’
courtesy of ‘AlishaV’

Yes, I realize the vast majority of you are not Lifehacker readers and think this headline ranks somewhere along with “bologna fails at making warm hats,” but some of us were suckered in by this past Lifehacker post suggesting that non-stick cooking spray will help prevent wet snow from sticking to shovels.

If you didn’t try it, don’t bother. It might have worked for one shovel-load – might – but it surely did not make it any easier to get sticky snow off my shovel yesterday. Save your nonstick spray for your shelter-in-place omelet.

Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.

Hmm, guess I just did.

My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.

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4 thoughts on “Non-stick spray useless on snow shovels”

  1. I considered using some extra virgin olive oil or bacon grease on my shovel, but then remembered how we made skis slippery in Alaska – wax. Rubbing my (dry) shovel down with an old candle made the wet snow release nicely.

  3. What Tom said. WD-40 is the stuff. Soak the shovel blade down and it’s good to go for an hour or so. When it starts wearing off, soak the shovel down again.

  4. 90% of WD-40 is a petroleum based product. Not that great to just willy nilly spray it around outdoors excessively and introduce it directly into the environment. Remember, after a major storm, all that snow goes into the storm drain, and when Blue Plains waste water treatment facility can’t handle the load of all that water (which it can’t after 2 feet of snow) all that storm drain water goes directly into the Potomac River. And we wonder why the Potomac River has pollution problems. So please, don’t spray that stuff on your shovel. Just hit the shovel on the ground and the majority of the snow will fall off. Is it that hard?