Let's see if I can add to the confusion... I work for one of the distributors of these products and we use them on our own accounts as well.
Magic -0 Brown liquid, Recommended for treating salt and can be used to pre-treat walkways, parking areas, roads, etc. Water soluble and non-staining.
M1000 Mostly clear liquid, used for pre-treating walkways, lots, roads, etc. Not recommended for pre-treating salt because it isn't absorbed well and tends to leach out. Water soluble and non-staining.
M2000 Bluish in color, used to pre-treat walkways, parking areas, roads, etc. Can be used to pre-treat salt. Higher in cost than Magic and M1000. Water soluble and non-staining.
The following information is from our own use on these two recent storms. We use Magic extensively and Caliber occasionally when needed because of the color issue.
As Alan stated their strengths are in the pre-treatment of lots, but are also very effective when used to treat salt. Let’s look at how quickly salt loses its effectiveness you will see what I mean. Anyone got a good link to the chart about salt melting vs temps? When Magic is applied to salt, the salt remains effective to a much lower temperature. This means you will use significantly less salt to treat the same amount of square footage as temps drop.
We pretreated our lots a day or so ahead of a projected event with liquid Magic at a rate of approximately 1 Gal per 1500 sqft using a spray bar with fan nozzles attached to our dedicated deice/salt truck. The results have been that as the snow falls and the Magic comes back into solution the snow did not even begin to accumulate until after the first inch or so. Our contracts require a clean lot, vice a 3" trigger, etc., so we are always going to be on site to perform a service during any precipitation event. When it does accumulate, even areas that weren't touched during the 12+ we had, when plowed, were "black and wet" underneath which greatly reduced cleanup. Even then, as flurries continued the residual effect of the Magic on the pavement kept them "black and wet". For hardpack or ice, we would have to switch nozzles to a pencil point type for better penetration, and consequently much more liquid. We did this for a client who has since become a pre-treat customer.
We also have people who pre-treat with treated salt. By applying it when prior to the storm when the pavement is dry the salt, with Magic applied, gets crushed into the pavement. As precip starts, it begins to burn it off immediately and prevents the bonding of the snow to the surface.
We are basically presenting it this way to our customers. Use the liquids to pre-treat, and treated salt during storm use. We do use the liquids also during storms if there is a problem area, or on hills where gravity helps it travel, but the salt seems to give more bang for the buck. As for laying down our treated salt, I was able to use less than half of what we normally would have used. We have just finished figuring our costs on this last round and compared to a similar event last year our material costs were way down. Labor was too, less plowing and cleanup mainly. And we did factor in our Magic and all that goes along with treating salt, etc.
We got so busy during this last storm that I only had time to snap a picture or two. When I find my camera, I’ll try to get them posted. I know its somewhere in the deice truck, or maybe one of four plow trucks I was in, or maybe the Bobcats….
Pete :usa