Can You Use a Regular Tarp for a Backyard Rink? Tarp vs Rink Liner

A regular tarp for a backyard rink will hold water, but it's usually the weak spot in a homemade rink. Hardware-store tarps are made to cover things, not to hold thousands of litres of water through a Canadian winter. Here's how a utility tarp compares with a real rink liner, and when a tarp can still work.

The short answer: you can use a regular tarp for a small, one-season rink, but it isn't ideal. Most utility tarps are dark, woven, smaller than the label says and often pieced together, which means leaks, soft ice and a poor fit. A seamless white rink liner avoids all four problems.

Tarp vs rink liner at a glance

• A tarp can work for a tiny rink for one winter.
• Dark tarps soak up sunlight and soften the ice above them.
  
• Many tarps are sold by "cut size" and come up 4 to 8 inches short.
• A white, seamless 6 mil rink liner is made for the job.

Rink tarp vs utility tarp: same word, different product

People shop for an "ice rink tarp" and a "rink liner" and mean the same thing. The real difference is between a rink tarp made to hold water and a utility tarp made to cover a woodpile.

Utility tarps are built to shed rain, block wind and put up with ropes and bungee cords. A rink liner has one job: hold a big, heavy sheet of water flat and watertight until it freezes, then keep holding it through every thaw.

4 problems with using a regular tarp for a backyard rink

1. Blue, green and silver tarps melt your ice

Colour matters more than most first-time builders expect. Light surfaces bounce sunlight back and dark ones soak it up. NASA's explanation of albedo puts it in numbers: fresh snow reflects up to 90% of the sunlight that hits it, while the open ocean absorbs more than 90%.

A blue or brown tarp under a few inches of ice can warm up on sunny days. The ice right above it softens first, so you get slushy patches while the rest of the rink looks fine. It's the same reason we don't recommend painting lines on your backyard rink.

2. Woven tarps leak once the coating wears

Most hardware-store tarps are woven polyethylene: a mesh of plastic strips with a thin coating on each side. The mesh gives the tarp its strength, but the coating is what actually keeps water in.

Drag the tarp over your frame, or catch it with a shovel or a skate blade, and that coating can wear through. The tarp still looks thick and tough, but water finds its way out through the weave.

3. A "10 x 20" tarp isn't always 10 x 20

Many tarps are sold by cut size, which is the size of the material before the edges are hemmed. Once it's hemmed, the finished tarp is often 4 to 8 inches shorter in each direction.

A few inches matters on a rink. Your liner has to cover the ice, run up the boards and lap over the top, so a tarp that comes up short can leave you with a low edge and a leak.

4. Big tarps are often pieced together

Utility tarps are made from rolls of fabric in set widths, so larger sizes are often several panels joined along seams. Every seam is a spot where water can work its way through under the weight of a full rink.

Taping two tarps together yourself is even riskier. A flat rink puts steady pressure on every joint, and there's no easy way to be sure a taped seam stays watertight all winter.

What to look for in a backyard rink liner

• Bright white on both sides, so it reflects the sun instead of soaking it up.
• One seamless sheet, with no welds, seams or weaves that can leak.
• Thickness in mil, not layers. A mil is one thousandth of an inch (see the NIST unit conversion table), and a 6 mil liner is 20% thicker than a standard 5 mil liner.
• The actual stated size, so what you order is what shows up.
• Enough size to cover the rink, climb the boards and lap over the top.

Not sure what size you need? Our rink liner size calculator works it out from your rink size and board height, and shows you the matching liner and price.

Why RinkMaster rink liners beat a utility tarp

We've been helping families build backyard rinks since 2011, and our liners are made for exactly this job. Here's what you get:

• 6 mil poly, 20% thicker than a standard 5 mil liner
• One single sheet, with no seams, welds or weaves
• Bright white on both sides
• The actual size stated: a 20' x 40' liner measures 20 feet by 40 feet
• A 10" strip of patch tape and a setup instruction sheet in the box
• Free shipping across Canada

Our ice rink liners come in 90 sizes, from 20' x 25' up to 65' x 150'. They also have nearly 2,000 customer reviews, with an average of 4.6 stars.

Want the frame too? Have a look at our rink liners and skating rink kits.

When a regular tarp can work

A tarp isn't always a mistake. For a small practice pad, a one-winter experiment or a mini rink for young kids, a light-coloured tarp can get you through.

If you go that way, give yourself the best odds:

• Pick the lightest colour you can find, white if possible.
• Buy one tarp bigger than you need rather than joining two.
• Check whether the size is cut or finished, and size up if it's cut.
• Lay it out on a calm day and don't drag it over the frame.
• Keep patch tape handy for small holes.

Tarp vs rink liner: key takeaways

• A regular tarp for a backyard rink can hold water for a season, but it's a compromise.
• Dark tarps absorb sunlight and soften the ice above them. White liners reflect it.
• Woven tarps rely on a thin coating to hold water, and scuffs turn into leaks.
• Tarps sold by cut size can be 4 to 8 inches short each way, which matters when the liner has to climb the boards.
• Joined panels and taped seams are common leak points.
• For a rink you want to skate on all winter, a seamless white 6 mil liner in the right size is the safer bet.
• Check your size with the calculator before you buy.

Building your first rink this year? Our step-by-step guide on how to build a backyard ice rink walks through planning, boards, filling and upkeep.