no matter how realistic your ice sculptures are, they should never move. If they do, they’re only going to end up going one direction: DOWN. So always take steps to keep an ice sculpture in place.
updated 8/15/23 with more info, links, retitling, seo, and headings
moving ice sculptures are bad: how to keep an ice sculpture in place
In an earlier entry, I talked about sculptures that fell because they slid off of the display. Unless you have a compelling reason for your sculpture to move around, you should always be sure that the ice stays put.
simple cloth napkins or a tablecloth can keep an ice sculpture in place
Ice slides on plastic, and most ice sculpture display trays are plastic. (Once in a while you’ll see a metal one, or even a wood one.) If you put fabric between the ice and the plastic, you can stop it from sliding. I often use a single cloth napkin and I try to keep it from blocking any uplighting. If there’s no uplighting, I sometimes put a tablecloth under my sculpture and use the excess to ruffle around the base. If you do this though, be sure that any cloth you use stays inside the tray. If the fabric extends outside the tray, water will soak up into the fabric and often leak from the fabric outside the tray.
In one case where fabric extending outside the tray was a problem, a misguided country club general manager blamed me for using a leaking tray. (It was not leaking at all.) And since this was over a wood floor, the consequences could have been pretty bad. In the end, it turned out ok, but the incident damaged my relationship with the property. And the fabric that caused the problem wasn’t even the fabric that I used to keep the ice from sliding around. It was additional fabric that the staff added later! 😫
if you're lucky, the display tray has little pegs to keep an ice sculpture in place
Some displays, such as the rotating tray from Gourmet Display (now Cal-Mil) and maybe ones from Buffet Enhancements too, have little metal pegs that stick up and help keep an ice sculpture in place. These trays are nice (but also expensive), since they basically eliminate a safety step.
hmmm, needs a little salt
An old trick to keep an ice sculpture in place is to salt ice cubes that you put around your sculpture. DO NOT salt the sculpture itself! But what happens is that the added ice will melt and refreeze together so that it will generally hold the sculpture in place. There needs to be enough added ice so that it fills up all the leftover space in the tray.
The best kind of salt to use is often the boxed coarse Kosher salt that bars use for margaritas. Regular salt from the grocery store works too. Not recommended is shaking out salt from a tiny shaker. That takes FOREVER!
You can also used crushed ice around your sculpture to keep it in place. You can salt this if you like, but it’s often not necessary, since the crushed ice doesn’t move much.
Btw, an awesome source for pebble ice, that’s ALMOST like crushed ice, is your nearby Sonic Drive-In restaurant. Many locations sell bags of it since they use it all their drinks. If you don’t have a Sonic nearby, sucks for you ☹️ I also like their pineapple shakes 🍍
paper can keep an ice sculpture in place too
If I’m walking into a wedding reception to set up an ice sculpture, I’ll often keep an eye out for the bar. Not because I want a drink (that’ll be later, after I’m done), but because they almost always have little cocktail napkins that I like to use under my ice sculptures. I don’t even feel guilty using the expensive monogramed napkins, since I figure that they REALLY don’t want their ice monogram moving around. If I can’t find cocktail napkins, paper towels are a worthy substitute.
Also, “Anonymous” in the comment at the bottom (from the original version of this post) has a nice suggestion: white cardboard strips. I can’t say that I’ve ever tried that specific method, but it definitely sounds like it would work.
Finally, one last thing: if you’re assembling a sculpture, be sure to get your foundation pieces set in place and immobile as this will make assembly much easier. The last thing you want is for a base piece to slide out from under the heavy ice that you’re trying to freeze to it!
links and stuff
This post is listed on the ice sculpting techniques page, and you could also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page. You can comment there as well as below. And if it won’t LET you comment below, then definitely comment on fb and/or IG. Thanks!
an old comment
The following comment was on the original blog entry. After some technical difficulties etc., the blog was reconstructed, and this was the only way to keep the original comments. Unfortunately, the hyperlinks from the original comments are gone in some cases. You can add your own new comments at the bottom.
Anonymous
To keep an ice sculpture from sliding I use a couple strips of card board under the ice. white cardboard almost disappear.
Saturday, March 31, 2007 – 09:07 PM
