Why are my ice cubes white and not clear?

Cloudy or white ice cubes are typically caused by microscopic dissolved minerals—such as calcium and magnesium—and trapped air bubbles that get suspended and frozen inside the water during the rapid ice-making process. When water freezes from the outside edges inward toward the center, air and minerals are pushed into the middle, creating a cloudy core. To produce perfectly clear ice cubes, you can use pre-filtered or boiled water, or employ directional freezing techniques that allow water to freeze slowly from the bottom upward, forcing trapped air out.

Cloudy or milky white ice cubes are caused by microscopic trapped air bubbles and dissolved mineral impurities (such as calcium and magnesium) that get pushed toward the center of the cube as water freezes from the outside in. When water freezes rapidly in a standard automatic residential ice maker, dissolved gases cannot escape fast enough, getting trapped in the crystalline matrix and scattering light to create a cloudy appearance. Conversely, crystal-clear ice is achieved by directional freezing, where water freezes slowly from the bottom up, forcing impurities and air bubbles out into a designated reservoir. While white ice cubes are completely safe to consume and taste fine, they may melt slightly faster than pure clear ice due to internal structural air pockets. You can verify this characteristic by boiling distilled water before freezing it to produce clearer ice cubes.