Yes you can make the same thing with pantyhose and cord and in an emergency that would work.
Melting ice on roof with salt.
This will melt a channel to allow water to safely run off your roof and break up the dam for manual removal.
For example sodium chloride only reduces the melting point of ice to about 20 f while most of the other ice melt products on the market also much safer than sodium chloride reduce the melting point of ice to somewhere between 0 f and 25 f.
Salt pucks are supposed to eliminate the need to climb onto your roof and are designed to melt snow and ice before ice dams can form.
The tablets are specially formulated with calcium chloride so they won t harm your exterior like products such as rock salt which could rust your gutters and damage shingles.
Most salt pucks use calcium chloride to melt ice which can cause numerous issues down the line.
Use roof melt tablets to reduce snow and ice buildup that occurs on your roof typically on the eaves and in gutters.
There are also many different types of gutter screens covers and heat systems each designed to keep debris.
Purchase sidewalk salt also called calcium chloride from your local hardware or big box store.
The tablets help prevent roof damage by melting through ice dams and allowing water to drain safely.
The product is a very simple concept it is a long thin bag that you will with ice melt to melt ice and snow from the roof in a channel that lead to the gutter or off the roof.
But are they doing more harm than good.
Gently toss the tied off pantyhose onto the edge of your roof to begin melting the snow.
For the diy ice removal there are roof salt products that can help thaw ice hergott says.
Instead fill old pantyhose with the calcium chloride and lay it across the dam.
If there are heavy rains and you already put ice melting socks on the roof the rock salt will dissolve by water and will run down into your gutters so it s best to put them up when it becomes cold.
Avoid using salt or calcium chloride to melt snow off the roof as they are very corrosive and the runoff can also damage grass and plants.
The roofmelt ice melt is designed to eliminate the need to climb onto roofs while melt snow.
But it can still rain between you putting the socks on the roof and first snow.
They work effectively in temperatures down to 25 f.
While safely on the ground toss a roofmelt tablet onto the roof.