Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David

"RobertPatrick" wrote in message
...
(David Combs) wrote in
:

Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David




Try some spray silicone. Works for me.

David Combs wrote:
Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David



Pam cooking spray. Seriously.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Van Chocstraw wrote:
On 12/20/2009 03:29 AM, David Combs wrote:
Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David


Had similar problem with a roof rake. Solved it by spraying Heavy Duty
Silicone on it when it's dry. Another thing that works is Plexus
plastic cleaner, protectant and polish. It's for plastic windshields
like on motorcycles but works good in this application too. Good for eye
glasses too.

I tried that (silicone, that is) yesterday on my snow shovel; it was
worn off after a couple hours of shoveling. Of course, around here,
that's usually a full season, but we got over 20" of snow within 36
hours here, and I'm still digging out. (want to get the driveway and
walk to the front door clear before the sun hits it, so I don't have to
put any salt down)

I remember living places that regularly got this much snow, but if I
still did, I'd have a snowblower! (when I *did* live there, I was not
so well off, so I didn't - and I always managed to rent the house on a
large corner lot, too. Poor planning, etc...)

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

"David Combs" wrote in message
...
Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David


Armour All is the slickist thing I know of. Don't EVER use it on a
motorcycle seat. Don't ask how I know this (G) ww

Silicone spray

shoe polish (the paste wax type) might work????

I remember from a couple decades ago, my Dad really loved
Pam brand cooking spray, it's vegetable oil in a spray can.
If it releases stuff from a frypan, maybe snow off your
shovel. I'd try the cooking oil spray, first. Oh, some
Crisco on a paper towel, and rub it in. Works for cakes and
muffins.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"David Combs" wrote in message
...
Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of
it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much
snow))


Thanks!

David

I read this after my post. Honest! I hadn't thought of the
candle wax, though.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"RobertPatrick" wrote in message
...

Try some things from the kitchen: Cooking spray (Pam),
cooking oil from a
bottle rubbed on with a paper towel. Try some candle wax.
I don't mean to
burn it and drip it on, but use as you would ski wax. How
about small
machine oil, like you might use for a sewing machine.
Perhaps auto/engine
oil and rub it on the shovel with a rag. Do all this prep in
a protected
area so the stuff doesn't freeze before it hits the shovels.
Then set the
shovel outside to cool before you begin to use it. The snow
will stick
less than when it's warm.

Good luck! And now you know what we deal with a lot on
upstate WNY.
Great Lakes and Finger Lakes area.

Look at the thing I just googled. Looks like fun. Maybe the
kids will want
to "play" and they can do all the shoveling. lol.
http://www.wovel.com/

David Combs wrote:

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of
it.

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

1. Ask your spouse to do the shoveling.

2. That didn't fly over here either. I paint a thick layer
of floor wax on both sides of the shovel every couple of
winters. More durable than spray-on solutions.

On 20 Dec 2009 03:29:32 -0500, David Combs wrote:

Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David

Metal or plastic shovel? I would not use petroleum based oil on plastic.
Since you can't get out I would go for candle wax used like ski wax. It
will last longer than oils will.

On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:54:41 -0500, Nate Nagel wrote:

David Combs wrote:
Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David



Pam cooking spray. Seriously.

nate

I just finished plowing my 250' driveway (for the fourth time). I spray the
plow with cheap cooking spray, front and back. It works very well. I forgot to
do it once yesterday and had large lumps of snow collected on the front of he
blade. I did NOT forget this morning. :-)
__________________
Bill Waller
New Eagle, PA

In article ,
RobertPatrick wrote:

Look at the thing I just googled. Looks like fun. Maybe the kids will want
to "play" and they can do all the shoveling. lol.
http://www.wovel.com/

Man, that thing looks awesome. Makes me want to move back to snow
country just so I can try it.

Buy shovel that is Teflon coated


"David Combs" wrote in message
...
Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David

RobertPatrick wrote:
(David Combs) wrote in
:

Here I am 10 miles north of NYC, and we're in the middle
of (so they say) one heck of a snowstorm.

I've been out shoveling.

Problem: Snow sticks to the shovel, maybe 2 (3?) inches of it.

Sticks so securely that you can't "jerk" it off
by thrusting the shovel out horizontally and jerking
it back, with (hopefully) the snow left hanging
in the air before THUMP hitting the ground.

Rather, have to turn it sideways, and then (not too
hard; don't want to break it!) hitting its left or
right edge against something hard (eg sidewalk, street).

QUESTION: what can I do to make it slippery enough that
the snow doesn't stick?

I've thought of ski-wax, but neither I nor my neighbors
have any.

Good ole wd-40? (Works for EVERYTHING ELSE (except maybe
for drinking))

Ideas?


(Nope, can't drive to home depot til maybe Monday (too much snow))


Thanks!

David




Try some things from the kitchen: Cooking spray (Pam), cooking oil from a
bottle rubbed on with a paper towel. Try some candle wax. I don't mean to
burn it and drip it on, but use as you would ski wax. How about small
machine oil, like you might use for a sewing machine. Perhaps auto/engine
oil and rub it on the shovel with a rag. Do all this prep in a protected
area so the stuff doesn't freeze before it hits the shovels. Then set the
shovel outside to cool before you begin to use it. The snow will stick
less than when it's warm.

I was going to say it but it's been said. After waxing/oiling/... let
it sit outside until it gets below freezing. Snow will melt and stick
to a warm shovel.

In article ,
willshak wrote:



What if it doesn't get below freezing outside?
A lot of snow falls when the temps are in the 30's. It can be wet and heavy.
My snow clearing tools (shovels, ice breakers, and car brooms) stay
outside all winter.

If it's not below freezing, you might consider letting the snow melt
instead of shoveling it.

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
willshak wrote:


What if it doesn't get below freezing outside?
A lot of snow falls when the temps are in the 30's. It can be wet and heavy.
My snow clearing tools (shovels, ice breakers, and car brooms) stay
outside all winter.

If it's not below freezing, you might consider letting the snow melt
instead of shoveling it.

there's still snow on the street in front of the neighbor's house from
before xmas, and it's been above freezing just about every day. If I
hadn't shoveled it, my side of the street would likely be the same.
That said, I still stick (well, not really) by my original
recommendation to use Pam. And do leave your shovel outside, its still
colder than in.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Smitty Two wrote the following:
In article ,
willshak wrote:



What if it doesn't get below freezing outside?
A lot of snow falls when the temps are in the 30's. It can be wet and heavy.
My snow clearing tools (shovels, ice breakers, and car brooms) stay
outside all winter.


If it's not below freezing, you might consider letting the snow melt
instead of shoveling it.

You don't live in the northern US, do you?
Let's wait for the snow to melt, in the meantime, keep driving your car
in and out of the driveway, packing the snow down to glacial consistency.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

willshak wrote:

Smitty Two wrote the following:
In article ,
willshak wrote:



What if it doesn't get below freezing outside?
A lot of snow falls when the temps are in the 30's. It can be wet and heavy.
My snow clearing tools (shovels, ice breakers, and car brooms) stay
outside all winter.


If it's not below freezing, you might consider letting the snow melt
instead of shoveling it.

You don't live in the northern US, do you?
Let's wait for the snow to melt, in the meantime, keep driving your car
in and out of the driveway, packing the snow down to glacial consistency.

Don't forget the sidewalk--- Great to get 3-4" of wet snow- watch it
turn to slush, but not quite melt-- then it goes to 10below and you're
slip-sliding until April.

Jim
[back to the op- I like the 'Pam' ripoff from samsclub. I use it on
shovels and snowblower augers]]

In article ,
willshak wrote:

Smitty Two wrote the following:
In article ,
willshak wrote:



What if it doesn't get below freezing outside?
A lot of snow falls when the temps are in the 30's. It can be wet and
heavy.
My snow clearing tools (shovels, ice breakers, and car brooms) stay
outside all winter.


If it's not below freezing, you might consider letting the snow melt
instead of shoveling it.

You don't live in the northern US, do you?
Let's wait for the snow to melt, in the meantime, keep driving your car
in and out of the driveway, packing the snow down to glacial consistency.

I used to live outside St. Paul, about the coldest nastiest area in the
continental U.S. Much harsher winters than New England, for example. I
never saw my driveway, nor sidewalks, nor most streets, for five months
of the year. We walked and drove on snowpack. No big deal. The glacier
melts in the spring.

Nope, I don't live in that **** anymore. That's just plumb crazy.

rochacha wrote:

Smitty Two wrote in
news
In article ,
willshak wrote:

Smitty Two wrote the following:

-snip-
If it's not below freezing, you might consider letting the snow
melt instead of shoveling it.

You don't live in the northern US, do you?
Let's wait for the snow to melt, in the meantime, keep driving your
car in and out of the driveway, packing the snow down to glacial
consistency.

I used to live outside St. Paul, about the coldest nastiest area in
the continental U.S. Much harsher winters than New England, for
example. I never saw my driveway, nor sidewalks, nor most streets, for
five months of the year. We walked and drove on snowpack. No big deal.
The glacier melts in the spring.

Nope, I don't live in that **** anymore. That's just plumb crazy.

-snip-

You guys have a tad bit lower temps with pop. over 50k:
http://www.city-data.com/top2/c460.html

Which is to their advantage, IMO. In NY [I'm way to the east, out of
the snowbelt] we go from 15 to 40 and back to 15 fairly regularly.
Don't ever try to leave a "snowpack" as it turns to glass quickly and
may not get a traction coat of snow on it for a month.

All in all the NE is darned cold (with the higher pop. than other
places). Such as the west with a lower pop. in general and higher
elevations.

At least we don't get hurricanes and wildfires which are very bad, IMHO.

I wouldn't trade our weather for any other part of the country. Never
too hot or too cold for more than a couple days. . . rarely boring. .
.. no wildfires, earthquakes. . . damn few tornadoes, and a once in a
decade mild hurricane. In my nearly 60 years we've had a few
too-dry years, and a few pretty wet ones-- but not enough to scorch or
flood the earth.

Jim

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
willshak wrote:

Smitty Two wrote the following:
In article ,
willshak wrote:



What if it doesn't get below freezing outside?
A lot of snow falls when the temps are in the 30's. It can be wet and
heavy.
My snow clearing tools (shovels, ice breakers, and car brooms) stay
outside all winter.

If it's not below freezing, you might consider letting the snow melt
instead of shoveling it.

You don't live in the northern US, do you?
Let's wait for the snow to melt, in the meantime, keep driving your car
in and out of the driveway, packing the snow down to glacial consistency.

I used to live outside St. Paul, about the coldest nastiest area in the
continental U.S. Much harsher winters than New England, for example. I
never saw my driveway, nor sidewalks, nor most streets, for five months
of the year. We walked and drove on snowpack. No big deal. The glacier
melts in the spring.

Nope, I don't live in that **** anymore. That's just plumb crazy.

My driveway slopes. Driving over and packing down the snow is not an
option, unless you like replacing transmissions in your light-duty FWD
minvan. DAMHIKT. :^(

Yes, if I can't see black, unless the prediction is for 30s or higher
and bright sunshine, I HAVE to clear at least one lane, if I plan to
park back inside that night. And I really, really like parking inside.
Some of my neighbors a block away with flat driveways do drive over it,
unless it is deep enough they are afraid of getting high-centered. When
I was a kid in the flat part of Indiana, we seldom cleared the whole
drive, but just did enough to have a place to get in and out, and scrape
off the car without getting shoes full of snow. (Few people in southern
IN use their garage for cars- too useful as junk storage,)

--
aem sends...

On Jan 3, 1:51*pm, Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,





*rochacha wrote:

WNY has you beat hands down for snowfall with population over 50k.
We get about 2 times the snowfall.
(not that we like it mind you
I keep the plow on the truck into April.

http://www.city-data.com/top2/c464.html

You guys have a tad bit lower temps with pop. over 50k:
http://www.city-data.com/top2/c460.html

All in all the NE is darned cold (with the higher pop. than other
places). Such as the west with a lower pop. in general and higher
elevations.

At least we don't get hurricanes and wildfires which are very bad, IMHO..

I don't know how much things have changed in NY in the last 33 years,
but I know they've changed where I used to be. I left my hometown in '76
and my brother tells me the winters there are MUCH milder than they used
to be. Daytime highs of 0 F or less were common, stretching for weeks on
end. A week or two of solid 40 below was nothing. A foot of snow fell
within a week of Halloween every year, and the ground was not seen again
until mid April.

Nowadays, they have several almost total thaws throughout the winter.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Gee whiz. It's been raining half the day here 'up north' in most
easterly Canada at almost 48 degrees North!
Snowed before Christmas now all gone, but gets icy some days. Now some
10 days past the shortest day of the year.
F.Cast says it will be above freezing (32F or 0 Celsius) for most of
the week.

Our deck/patio is completely clear of snow, last trace in front yard
went today. Neighbours yards completely clear.
Chilly but out there filling bird seed feeders in my slipper
yesterday; fewer birds this year so far, weather seems milder than say
50 years ago when one dug one's way out to go to work and dug your way
back in each evening.

Maybe the weather is more screwed up? Of course we are alongside the
North Atlantic and that may be warmer than in the past. And more full
of carbon dioxide (carbonic acid)? Also the rian here is more acid
than say 100 years ago.

Fewer icebergs coming down from up north in last few years and/or they
melt more quickly before arriving off shore. Oil rigs now at risk
instead of the Titanic!

Anyway. Only used the new snow-blower (November 2009) twice so far.
Looks like a couple more weeks, at least, sans snow.

It's just not fair. The Beaners send us the anchor babies,
and the Canadians send us cold air. We're the world's
dumping ground, I guess.

Snow shovel. Didn't we conclude that cooking spray like Pam
was the snow release?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"willshak" wrote in message
m...


It's all because of them f***in' Canucks up North. We get
all their
cold air in the Winter. If Mexico was up there, it would be
warm here in
the North US.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Global warming! We need to buy carbon offsets from Al Gore,
or we'll all die.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"terry" wrote in message
...


Gee whiz. It's been raining half the day here 'up north' in
most
easterly Canada at almost 48 degrees North!
Snowed before Christmas now all gone, but gets icy some
days. Now some
10 days past the shortest day of the year.
F.Cast says it will be above freezing (32F or 0 Celsius) for
most of
the week.

Our deck/patio is completely clear of snow, last trace in
front yard
went today. Neighbours yards completely clear.
Chilly but out there filling bird seed feeders in my slipper
yesterday; fewer birds this year so far, weather seems
milder than say
50 years ago when one dug one's way out to go to work and
dug your way
back in each evening.

Maybe the weather is more screwed up? Of course we are
alongside the
North Atlantic and that may be warmer than in the past. And
more full
of carbon dioxide (carbonic acid)? Also the rian here is
more acid
than say 100 years ago.

Fewer icebergs coming down from up north in last few years
and/or they
melt more quickly before arriving off shore. Oil rigs now at
risk
instead of the Titanic!

Anyway. Only used the new snow-blower (November 2009) twice
so far.
Looks like a couple more weeks, at least, sans snow.

In article ,
willshak wrote:

It's all because of them f***in' Canucks up North. We get all their
cold air in the Winter. If Mexico was up there, it would be warm here in
the North US.

All right. That's decidedly not PC. But it's very funny.