Which Carrom Powder To Use For Carrom Boards?
The hero, here, is fine-grained Carrom Board Powder, that enables the pieces to slide easily.
To find out the answer let us first look into a few common questions that dwell in the minds of carrom board players. Answers to these questions can help a great deal in narrowing down the one powder that suits your needs the best.
1. Borax or boric acid?
Often confused as being the same, borax and boric acid are two separate elements of boron. While boric acid is an acid of boron,also known as hydrogen borate. Borax is a salt, chemically called sodium borate . The difference should be clear now.
The bigger difference here is that borax is never used as carrom powder.
2. Carrom board powder is harmful to fingers.
We all know that carrom powder is harmful, right? Wrong.
There are quite a few substitutes for the powder that are used on the carrom board. Not all of them are harmful. In fact, to be precise, only boric acid is harmful.
The EU has classified Boric acid as a "Serious Health Hazard" and states that "this substance may damage fertility or the unborn child".
In the UK, many players use a version of anti-set-off spray powder from the printing industry which has specific electrostatic properties with particles of 50 micrometers in diameter. The powder is made from pure, food-grade vegetable starch.
Potato and other vegetable starch are not virulent in any way. Neither is talcum powder, although it is nothing but an emergency substitute for lack of original carrom powder choices.
Disco powder is also said to be quite safe.
3. Which is the most common type of carrom powder?
The answer to this is not universal. While most of the European and American countries use some sort of vegetable starch, asians popularly use boric acid and even talcum powder sometimes.
Some options for carrom powder are as follows:
- Potato starch
- Boric acid
- Other vegetable starch
- Talcum powder
- Disco powder
4. The importance of carrom powder
Carrom powder is the lubricant that helps in the smooth gliding of the carrom coins and the striker. The carrom board is bound to lose its smoothness over time. Carrom powder is what keeps the coins and the players going.
A rough board would cause a lot of friction, causing the coins to stop midway just like your mood for playing with all that coarseness.
5. The right way of using carrom powder
It is common knowledge that the carrom powder must be spread evenly, irrespective of what option you choose to lubricate the board with, be it starch, boric acid or talc.
The ideal way, though is to sprinkle the entire board with carrom powder in circular motion before starting to play.
Use the striker for distributing the powder uniformly throughout the board.
Keep in mind to start sprinkling moderately or you will end up making the board smoother than necessary.
6. The carrom powder rule
Although there is no written rule regarding the use of carrom powder, it is understood that the carrom powder must be spread in such a way that all the players find it appropriate for a smooth game. In other words, the powder must be distributed evenly throughout the board.
7. Conclusion
To help you determine the best carrom powder option for your board, lets scan through each of the options available:
- Boric acid is a common option used in tournaments and quite broadly across the globe.it is not very expensive, glides well on the board but is harmful and irritating on the fingers.
- Potato starch is another popular option and is often used in tournaments. Not that expensive, good slide and is not harmful but can cause irritation to your fingers.
- Talcum powder is very widely used but is never used in tournaments. Slides well, no doubt and is neither harmful nor irritating on the fingers but is moderately expensive.
- Disco powder is used many a times but not for tournaments. Too smooth and expensive compared to all other alternatives. However safe on hands and health.
Check out our collection of Carrom Board Powders and other Carrom Board Accessories.