How to Skate at Home on Synthetic Ice

One of the greatest inventions that ever made its way into the ice hockey community is synthetic ice. Over the decades, since it first made its way into the spotlight, this dynamic flooring has become more advanced, stronger, and more lightweight so that it can be easily installed in just about any setting that has a flat surface and a solid floor. It is no wonder why so many people have transformed their garages, backyards and even living rooms into ice skating rinks so that they can ice skate and play hockey any time they want.

Where Synthetic Ice Started

Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s ice skating was becoming a big time sport. As the sport continued to grow in popularity, developers and entrepreneurs began to collaborate in hopes to cash in on the up and coming figure skating craze.

The idea was to create a kind of flooring that could mimic ice and allow ice skaters to skate across the surface much like they can on real ice. Although this was a brilliant idea, the possibility of it becoming a reality proved to be very challenging.

Frozen water is not as easy to synthesize as early developers hoped. When ice skates glide across the frozen surface of the water they cause a little bit of the water to heat up and melt. This melted ice, also known as water, acts as a lubricant for the skates to slide across in a smooth manner without halting or catching on anything. As long as the ice flooring was kept below freezing temperatures, the ice made a perfect platform for skaters.

The hard part was creating a flooring that was capable of producing its own lubricant that would offer the same amount of slickness as frozen water. The very first instances of artificial ice were awkward and cumbersome. The only way people could actually skate across the flooring is if there was an added silicone-based gliding agent that caused the floor to be somewhat slick.

After several years of evolution, the kind of synthetic ice flooring that is available today is much more like traditional ice than ever before.

What is Synthetic Ice, Anyway?

The main ingredient of synthetic ice flooring is polymer plastic. As simple as this may sound, there is actually quite a bit that goes into the creation of this kind of product. Polymer plastics are synthetic plastic substances that are engineered on a molecular level. Polymers are tiny molecular chains that are connected together much like the chains of human DNA. When a developer creates a polymer plastic from the ground up, they can add, remove, or modify parts of the molecular structure that make up the chains.

As a result of polymer engineering, developers can create a plastic that is enriched with built-in lubricants and conditioners that activate under pressure or heat. Just as when ice skates create friction across a real ice flooring, ice skates will create friction and heat on polymer plastic flooring. This way a small amount of lubricant will be released upon the surface as the skater glides across it.

Ice Skating at Home

Since the polymer plastics are already made and ready to use, they will not cause any hardships or toxins in your home. You can install synthetic ice panels in your home and skate on them without having to worry about any harmful vapors or other potentially dangerous problems other than poor ice skating skills.

Yes, as you skate across the surface a tiny amount of lubricant will secrete onto the flooring, but it is not toxic or dangerous – as long as you purchase the panels from a trusted source such as Sniper’s Edge Hockey.

Because of the superior engineering of the ice panels, a person can purchase enough synthetic ice to install onto a large area in the home, and actually be ice skating on those panels within a manner of hours. The panels are so lightweight, but so tough they are easily put together and implemented in a way that creates a sound, flat, seamless hockey skating floor.

Steps for Installation

There can be more or less steps for each installation of hockey flooring based on the needs of the home, or area that the panels are going to be installed on. For example, if you want to build your skating rink on a yard outside that is not made of concrete, you will have to lay down some sort of base so that the flooring does not crack and break under the pressure of the ice skates.

Although the flooring is considerably tough, if it is put on something soft such as grass, dirt, or carpet it will not have enough strength to endure the skates on its own. It will need a hard under surface so that the flooring has enough support to withstand the weight of ice skaters on ice skates.

In most cases, laying down plywood as a base will work great.

First Step

The first step, if you have not done so already, is to designate a place where your flooring will be installed. For the best results, install the panels on a flat, hard surface such as a concrete platform, in the garage, or on a back patio. When you settle on the exact place where your floor will be built, it is important to measure out the area so that you know how many panels that you will need to install the flooring.

Next Step

Assuming that you already have a flat, solid place to lay the panels on to build the floor, once you have your panels ready to go be installed you lay one of them out in the center of the area. The reason why you build from the center out is because if you try to build from the outside of the rink inward, if your measurements are even slightly off, you will never be able to fit the last panel into the last place on the flooring.

Start with one panel, then build outwards. Once the panel is flat on the ground, get the panel that will go beside it and carefully connect the tabs together. Once the tabs are interlocked with each other, use a rubber mallet to pound the connections flat to the ground.

Last Steps

As you lay the panels out, and connect them you will find that they are easily assembled and join together at the tabs with a strong grip. It will not take much time at all for you to install a pretty decent sized hockey skating area. When all of the panels are down and attached together, take the rubber mallet and go over the entire area making sure to pound down any areas that are not flat. The goal is to create a seamless flooring area that has no bumps, dips or gaps.

Start Skating

Once you have your flooring area assembled and flat it is time for you to put the skates on and give it a try. If you have never skated on synthetic ice panels before you will notice that there is a slight drag in comparison to real ice. Although the flooring is similar to real ice, there are many differences. When you are new to skating on synthetic ice, just take it slow until you get used to it. Although there is not enough drag to hinder you from being able to skate, the resistance is enough to build a new kind of strength and stamina that will greatly benefit you and your hockey game.