If you want an eye-catching way to keep a drink cool, a crystal clear ice ball is a perfect thing to drop in your glass. While it might seem like you can only get clear ice balls or cubes at a bar or restaurant, they’re actually really easy to make at home. There are a few simple tricks for making ice balls clear, so keep reading to learn everything you need to know!

Things You Should Know

  • Boil distilled water twice to remove impurities and get the clearest ice. Filtered and tap water will also work, but may make the ice a little cloudy.
  • Fill an ice ball mold or ice cube tray with the water and freeze it for at least 24 hours. Once the balls or cubes are frozen solid, pop them out of the mold.
  • Store clear ice balls and cubes in a resealable bag in your freezer to keep them from absorbing odors.
4

Fill the ice ball mold with the boiled distilled water.

  1. Pouring water up to the fill lines ensures the ice has room to expand. If you’re filling a sphere mold, pour the water into the hole on top until it’s completely full. If you’re freezing clear ice balls in a tray mold, pour the water into the insulated cooler up to the fill line and slide the tray into the opening.[4]
    • Ice ball molds may work differently depending on the brand, so always double-check the instructions that came with yours.
5

Freeze the water for at least 24 hours.

  1. Water needs time to freeze slowly to prevent cloudy ice. Stick your ice ball mold in the freezer and leave it alone for a minimum of 24 hours. The water will freeze starting from the top down to the bottom of the mold, pushing out gas bubbles that could leave a cloudy appearance inside the ice spheres.[5]
    • Set a sphere mold on top of a short thermos with a diameter just smaller than the mold. Fill the thermos up with water and put the sphere mold on top so the hole is submerged in the water.
    • Open your freezer gently while you’re making clear ice balls since sudden sharp movements can cause bubbles to form in the ice.
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6

Pop the ice balls or cubes out of the mold.

  1. The ice balls will be easy to push out of the mold once they're frozen. Gently take a sphere mold off of the thermos or a tray mold out from the insulated cooler. Separate the halves of the mold carefully so you don’t damage or crack the ice balls. Then, push on the outside of the mold so the ice ball comes loose.[6]
    • If you have trouble pulling the mold out or apart, try running some cold water over it to help loosen the ice.
    • If there’s ice sticking to the bottom of the mold, just knock it off the excess with a wooden spoon. Be careful not to hit too hard so you don’t crack the ice balls.

About This Article

Hunter Rising
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. Hunter Rising is a wikiHow Staff Writer based in Los Angeles. He has more than three years of experience writing for and working with wikiHow. Hunter holds a BFA in Entertainment Design from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and a Minor in English Writing. This article has been viewed 3,583 times.
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Co-authors: 3
Updated: December 22, 2022
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