# Ice in Urinals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560 "2003-02-17T03:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nicks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@nicks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicks)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/1 "2003-02-17T03:34:40Z")
Does anyone know why they (food service, bars, etc.) put ice in urinals. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/2 "2003-02-17T03:37:08Z")
Ice?! As in the stuff that’s solid water at 0°C?! Surely you’re talking about the little fragent soap puck thingies? ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/3 "2003-02-17T03:40:35Z")
Some places do put ice in the urinals. I’m unsure why. Once, I was at a restaurant where there was ice in the urinals and a little plaque on the wall nearby which read: “We would like you to know that this ice is rarely used for your drinks. - The Management” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nicks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@nicks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicks)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/4 "2003-02-17T03:41:39Z")
No…actual ice. A number of places that I’ve been to have the ice in the urinals…If it was one place…ok, not big deal…maybe it’s just they way they get rid of it, but after the Xth place, I started wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/5 "2003-02-17T03:44:10Z")
Belive it or not, this has come up on the SDMB before: [Ice in Urinals- Huh?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15302&highlight=urinals) ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/6 "2003-02-17T03:45:58Z")
I thought it was just to provide a target for when drunk. ---
**Author:** ![nicks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@nicks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicks)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/7 "2003-02-17T03:47:23Z")
Thanks…‘Ice’ was under the 4 letter min for a search to work… ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/8 "2003-02-17T03:57:56Z")
Wow! Never happens over here in NZ, must be an American thing. Sorry for being so presumptuous. Guess I should look before I leap. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/9 "2003-02-17T04:07:25Z")
I work heavy highway construction, and I’m pretty used to using those facilities delicately referred to as “porta-johns.” (Actually, we call 'em shithouses, but that’s not very nice, is it?) During the main (summer) season, one of those bricks of mothball-smelling stuff is the norm, but when the weather gets really cold, the urinal is periodically filled with stuff that _looks_ like ice, but is actually rock salt. It seems to be a pretty good way to keep a completely unheated shithouse from freezing, chemically anyway. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/10 "2003-02-17T05:08:52Z")
There must have been a lot of drunk penguins. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/11 "2003-02-17T05:19:42Z")
Tbone and Squirrel - no, it’s definitely ice. I’ve seen it at a few places in the UK. And I seem to remember they also do it at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. (I simply poured my money down the toilet there.) And not just a few cubes; the whole urinal was piled full of crushed ice. My guess was that it somehow keeps the smell down - certainly the washrooms seemed fresher. It cools the air a bit, too. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/12 "2003-02-17T21:32:25Z")
Hey, **r\_k** , please read the posts more carefully. I was talking about a porta-john, a little fiberglass shed with a seat and a urinal that sits outside on a construction site. They don’t put ice in 'em in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/13 "2003-02-17T21:38:07Z")
They do this in the local Perkins. IMHO, it substantially reduces the amonia smell, especially in hot weather. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-in-urinals/155560/14 "2003-02-17T21:47:45Z")
I’ve also found that it reduces any splashing or spraying from hitting the porcelain.