Salt Shield – Independent Lab Testing Results

Ver-tech Labs’ Salt Shield technology was developed to help vehicle owners and operators prevent and mitigate damage from road deicers in use today. Originally developed as a special low pH car wash detergent and presoak, Salt Shield has proven effective at preventing and mitigating the damaging effects of road deicers. These road salts, primarily magnesium and calcium chloride, have been causing extensive corrosion damage to transit vehicles, over the road trucks, snow plows and heavy equipment. Salt Shield can be readily integrated into your routine maintenance procedures.  When used properly, Salt Shield is your first line of defense in the corrosion battle.

Salt Shield uses a unique chemistry that “neutralizes” the corrosive effects of magnesium and calcium chloride.  Road deicers exposed to Salt Shield become soluble in water allowing for easy removal. Once the road deicers are removed from the vehicle they are no longer able to cause damage to the vehicle.

Ver-tech Labs hired an independent test laboratory, Element Labs, to prove that Salt Shield dissolves and sequesters road salts better than other typical vehicle cleaning products (Element Materials Technology, Report No: ESP009547P dated March 27, 2012). Salt Shield technology was compared with two other vehicle cleaning products.  Both of the products compared to Salt Shield are manufactured by Ver-tech Labs and have been used in the field for many years.  The first product is an alkaline or high pH detergent containing 4% EDTA. The alkaline product is used in both touchless and friction car and truck washes, as well as with pressure washers. The second product is a neutral pH foam detergent used in friction or brush type car and truck washes. These products were selected because of their similarity to most of the truck and transit wash products that are in use today.

Element used a 20% calcium chloride solution to demonstrate the effects of the products on this solution.Typical road deicers are 5-10% solutions of magnesium or calcium chloride. When mixed, the 20% calcium chloride solution is murky or cloudy. The diluted solutions of the detergents are added to the calcium chloride sample one milliliter at a time. After the addition of 14 mils of Fleet Vision with Salt Shield the calcium chloride solution becomes clear. When adding the alkaline and neutral detergents the calcium chloride solution becomes even cloudier, even though 50 milliliters of solution was used.

This test shows the ability of the special additives in the Salt Shield components to dissolve and then sequester or chelate calcium chloride ions in solution. In contrast, the neutral and alkaline detergents flocculate the calcium chloride solution or make the calcium chloride ions insoluble, and consequently, more difficult to remove. Salt Shield technology will work just as well with magnesium chloride as it does with calcium chloride.

Detergents with Salt Shield technology will make it easier to remove road deicer residue, a primary source of corrosion, from the vehicle during routine maintenance.