What makes colorful flames

Read and adhere to any warnings on chemical containers. If you use alcohol as a fuel, please remember that it is much more flammable than wood. Never add alcohol or any liquid fuel to a burning fire, or it will react much light lighter fluid! Search for:. Dry colorants easily produce a colored fire campfire. Chris Rhoads. Related Posts. Road de-icer, desiccant drying agent. Search form Search. Melt old candle wax in a double boiler.

Get a bunch of small paper Dixie cups. Pour just enough melted wax into the cup to cover the chemical, and quickly stir it with an unfolded paperclip or other small stir rod. This is to thoroughly coat all of the chemical. Allow the mixture to thoroughly cool and then peel or cut off the sides of the paper cup. We leave the paper bottom on. To use a liquid, you can either soak paper or wood and allow it to dry before burning it or you can pour the liquid into a shallow dish, allow it to evaporate and collect the solid for use in projects.

I recommend using alcohol or an alcohol-based fuel because alcohol burns with a blue flame, so you'll get a bright green color from the copper. However, you will get green flames if you simply sprinkle copper sulfate on a wood fire or if you use a different fuel, except other chemicals in the fuel may add yellow, orange and red to the flame. Simply sprinkle copper sulfate onto the fuel, light it and enjoy the green flames!

The copper is not consumed by the fire so if you are burning a clean fuel you can reuse the copper sulfate again and again.

Here's a YouTube video of copper sulfate green fire, showing you this project in action. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. You can also use rolled-up newspapers. Dissolve the chemical in water. Mix 1 pound g of your chosen chemical per every gallon 3. Stir well to help the powder dissolve more quickly. For the best results, use a single chemical per container of water.

Take care not to drop or break any glass containers in your campsite or near the firepit or fireplace. Be sure to wear safety glasses, rubber gloves, and a protective mask or respirator when mixing the chemical solution. It's best to mix the chemical solution outdoors because some of the chemicals may stain your work area or create hazardous fumes.

Soak the wood materials in the chemical solution for a day. Pour your chemical solution into a large container, such as an old ice cooler or plastic storage tub.

Place the wood materials in a mesh bag such as an onion or potato bag before submerging them in the solution. Weigh the bag down with a brick or other heavy object, and allow the wood to soak for 24 hours. Remove the mesh bag from the mixture and allow the wood to dry. Lift the bag out of the chemical solution, allowing it to drain for a moment over the container. Next, dump the wood pieces onto a sheet of newspaper or hang them up in a dry, breezy location, and allow them to dry for another 24 hours or more.

If you don't allow the wood pieces to dry out, you'll have a hard time getting them to burn in your fire.

Burn the treated wood in your fire. Build a campfire or ignite a fire in your fireplace. When the fire has burned down to a low flame, toss the treated materials onto the fire and allow them to burn for several minutes until the colored flames appear. Anthony "TC" Williams. It is to hard to estimate how many containers of final product you may end up with not knowing the true size of the final containers being used. Not Helpful 3 Helpful Will adding chemicals to a fire damage a stainless steel or galvanized metal chimney pipe?

It's possible that the chemical smoke could discolor the piping or other surrounding materials such as an RV siding, building exteriors etc. Not Helpful 4 Helpful If I throw the chemicals, would the fire get bigger and possibly burn my hand? These chemicals do not spontaneously burst into flames or cause the flames to grow. They merely burn along with the organic material already on fire. Not Helpful 16 Helpful You can buy most online, but some you can find in local pharmacies and hardware shops.

Not Helpful 11 Helpful Even if you do make it work, the show won' be as spectacular or as effective. Charcoal won't hold onto the chemical the way wood, bark, or pine cones would. Not Helpful 9 Helpful It depends on the chemical, but it is certainly not recommended that you attempt this until you've done some research into the chemical used and the effects on health and edible safety.

Not Helpful 14 Helpful If I were to melt red crayons together, and not add any chemicals to the wax, would I still get a long lasting red flame? You must add a chemical to wax for the color to change. Just red crayons will not change the color of the flame. Not Helpful 8 Helpful Not Helpful 23 Helpful Powder is a no-go and will be a waste. Try granular - but these chemicals does not burn themselves, they merely burn along with the other material heated.

Not Helpful 10 Helpful If I melt red crayons together and don't add chemicals to the wax, can I get a long-lasting red flame? Red wax will not change the colors of the flames.