Whice ice top white?

[Query]

An indoor rink I skate at has white ice. It is very hard to see blade tracings, a nuisance.

Why?

In another thread, someone said a layer white paint is often used under the hockey markings, to make them stand out - but in this case the top of the ice is white, which makes it hard to see the hockey markings through it.

The ice was pretty smooth, so it wasn't snow from prior skaters. The ice at that rink is sometimes rough because they have no dehumidifier (they economize a lot on maintenance), but it wasn't very humid.

So is there something about the way the ice is surfaced, or the water is purified (or not) that could make the top white? Something else?

(My usual rink, which has wonderful ice, is closed for the season. This white rink is close by, so a lot of us have moved there.)

[irenar5]

I read somewhere that some white powder is added to the ice to give it its color.  I am not sure what the white powder is though...

[sarahspins]

I read somewhere that some white powder is added to the ice to give it its color.  I am not sure what the white powder is though...

It's Titanium Dioxide and a lot of rinks add it to the resurfacer water it to "brighten" the ice..

[icedancer]

We have a rink like that in our area - the ice is white, the ceiling and walls are white.  The whole place is white.  It is completely disconcerting to skate there...

[sampaguita]

I once had a dream of skating in a rink with everything white. The rink was irregularly shaped, like a pond. There were no rink barriers, and the benches beside the ice were also irregularly shaped. It was beautiful, and so surreal (of course, it was a dream, duh). I've been wishing of skating in a rink like that ever since.

[jjane45]

I once had a dream of skating in a rink with everything white.

OT-er and OT-er... why does it remind me of the King's Cross Station-like Limbo in Harry Potter?

[sampaguita]

OT-er and OT-er... why does it remind me of the King's Cross Station-like Limbo in Harry Potter?

Yeah, it was something like that, but without all the glare. Just one plain, clean, all-white pristine rink with pristine ice. And the best part of the dream was...I was skating well. Really well.

[Query]

I discussed it with the Zamboni driver. He said he both cuts (scrapes) and floods (adds water).

But just after he finished, I noticed that the scratches from ice tracings were buried but not removed. The top surface was smooth, but the appearance is awful. So I think it is snow after all - the snow at the bottom of the scratches.

I don't know whether there is a "depth of cut" adjustment on Zambonis. Perhaps it is set to high. Or perhaps they haven't sharpened the blades in a while?

On top of that, they once lost power a couple days. The ice didn't melt completely, but it did partly - which explains why the hockey paint has bled so that the edges are gradual. All they did was at a lot of water on top.

This rink never completely melts the ice. The paint is many years old.

Someone told me hockey players have trouble seeing the hockey markings too.

The good news is that they are finally supposed to replace the non-working dehumidifier next month. It's only taken them about 10 years to get around to it.

So why skate there? They are the closest rink to the one that is closed to the season, and they let non-staff coaches teach private students - so my coach can teach me there.

Besides, they are not a busy rink. I wonder why.

[VAsk8r]

Query, it looks like I am not too terribly far from you, depending on where in Maryland you are. I'd really like to check this rink out sometime.

I read this thread Wednesday evening, and Thursday morning I showed up at my rink for 7 a.m. ice. They'd cut the ice the night before, so it had a cloudy, flat look to it. To add to that, it was foggy and humid in there, and there was actually fog rising above the ice. I wondered if I was actually still in bed dreaming that I was at the all-white rink instead. I've seen the flat look of the ice after it's sat all night before but never fog. Other skaters commented on it too.

[sampaguita]

The hockey markings on our rink have faded, and I think I know the "white" appearance that you are talking about. We also don't have a dehumidifier, since it's located inside a mall, but the air is very humid. The ice temperature is also not that cold, and the ice is pretty soft. I don't think they put white paint over the hockey markings -- I think the white paint underneath the hockey markings are now visible because the colored hockey paint bled.

[Orianna2000]

We had fog rising from our ice the other day. It was hot and humid outside and the rink's AC was broken. (At least out in the lobby. Not sure about in the rink itself, it seemed about like usual, but the lobby was hot.) The safety glass was completely fogged up with condensation, so it was kind of like the dream described. All white, everywhere, with fog rising from the ice. Kind of creepy!

[Skittl1321]

I keen refilled freeze that areap a pair of contacts in my bag incase it is foggy. It fogs up my glasses and I can't see.

Our ice doesn't get melted.to repaint. They just chip away above the paint, one circle/line at a time. And the

[lines]

Which rink is this? I am in MD too...

[Query]

Lines, which of us was your question for? I'll answer privately in my case, so the rink won't get too mad at me.