Have you ever wanted to change the color of your campfire? This feat will amaze and astound you and your kids while out camping this summer.
It’s a lot simpler than you might think and can be done using common household items. Here are two methods for adding some some color to your next camping trip.
#1: The Copper Pipe Method
This technique is the simplest and most affordable way to add color to your fire. All you need is a chunk of copper pipe with an old garden hose inserted inside of it. For an added effect, drill a couple of holes into the pipe for more sparks.
#2: The Homemade Colored Wax Method
Make your own fire color changers with items that you already have around your home. But before we get started, it important to make a couple of things clear:
- Only employ this method after you are finished cooking.
- Don’t inhale the smoke.
It is also important to note that you will be using chemicals in this step. Your choices are:
- Potassium chloride: Makes a purple flame
- Magnesium sulfate: Makes a white flame
- Strontium chloride: Makes a red flame
- Copper chloride: Makes a blue flame
- Lithium chloride: Makes a pink flame
- Copper sulfate: Makes a green flame
- Sodium chloride: Makes an orange flame
You will need three items to make colored flames.
- Paper cups
- Your chemical(s) of choice
- Old candle wax
The Process:
- Melt the candle wax in a double boiler or old pot.
- Take out the number of paper cups that you are planning to use and fill them with a ¼ inch of your chosen chemical.
- Pour the melted wax into the cup, making sure that it completely covers the chemical.
- Stir the mixture and make sure that all the chemical is coated with wax.
- Let the mixture cool for at least 2-3 hours.
- When you are ready for the colored flames you can either throw the entire cup into the fire, or cut off the side of the cup.
Extra Tips and Tricks
- Use iron filings for gold sparks.
- Sprinkle some sugar on your campfire for small sparks.
- A little bit of regular flour will create a flash flame.
- Use powdered coffee creamer for sparkly flashes.
- Use powdered aluminum or magnesium shavings for silver sparks.
What do you think? Are you going to try either of these methods? If so let us know how your experiment fared in the comments below.