Hi there! I was searching for lava lamp recipes that don’t require tetrachloroethylene, because I’m a bit worried about the toxicity (especially when experimenting in a kitchen where I also cook food). I couldn’t find many alternative recipes, but this seems to be one! I was wondering, did you use anything to color the dimethicone? And is the liquid just water + surfactant? Thanks a lot!
The density of the silicone oil I used is significantly lower than water, so I had to lower the density of the carrier liquid. For that I added ethanol, so the final ratio ended up at about 60% water 40% ethanol. Thinking about it, a bottle of Vodka _might_ work as a basis for the carrier liquid too. As surfactant I used pure SLES, but I would guess dish soap should work fine too. For coloring I used a solvent-based (!) candle dye www.kerzenkiste.de/Liquid-Wax-Color-50-ml . Pigment-based dyes don't work. I should mention that the flow of this lamp kinda sucks, and I don't know about its longterm stability either. But if you just want to have fun experimenting, it should be fine. Good luck, if you try it I'd very much appreciate a short update here.
I have only worked with propylene glycol so far. The lamp takes maybe 2-3h to reach full flow, the timer is 8h in the video because I had been making small changes to the lamp and used the timer to keep track of when exactly I did which changes, just to not get myself confused.
@@Makstuff The surface tension of propylene glycol (~35) is very close to paraffin wax (~30), you could use ethylene glycol (~45) , the reason they use water it because it has a very high surface tension (~70) , surface tension is a measurement of the affinity a liquid molecule has for itself, if there's a high surface tension difference the two liquids won't mix, if you add bipolar surfactants an emulsion will form (micelles) hence you will see cloudiness in the lamp.
@@rollingmaster7708 Not sure what you are saying. Various surfactants are a standard ingredient in every single one of my 15 prototypes (and also in every online source I've found), and you will find that without it the lamp completely refuses to flow. The buoyancy forces in the lamp are so small that for a proper flow I need to LOWER the surface tension by a lot, not INCREASE it. Anyway, the only prototypes where I had issues with clouding were the benzyl alcohol lamps, but given that benzyl alcohol is partially soluble in water this was to be somewhat expected. If anything, I'd be interested in ethylene glycol for the higher VISCOSITY which I imagine could make for some interesting flow.
@@Makstuff thanks that's awesome 👍 I have working lava lamp which I love, but the purple water is now orange (I think from exposure to the sun from the window) so I'll have to open it up , add marker ink , or remake it completely eventually. Subscribed 💜
That’s great! I’d love to see a how to video.
Hi there! I was searching for lava lamp recipes that don’t require tetrachloroethylene, because I’m a bit worried about the toxicity (especially when experimenting in a kitchen where I also cook food).
I couldn’t find many alternative recipes, but this seems to be one! I was wondering, did you use anything to color the dimethicone? And is the liquid just water + surfactant?
Thanks a lot!
The density of the silicone oil I used is significantly lower than water, so I had to lower the density of the carrier liquid. For that I added ethanol, so the final ratio ended up at about 60% water 40% ethanol. Thinking about it, a bottle of Vodka _might_ work as a basis for the carrier liquid too. As surfactant I used pure SLES, but I would guess dish soap should work fine too. For coloring I used a solvent-based (!) candle dye www.kerzenkiste.de/Liquid-Wax-Color-50-ml . Pigment-based dyes don't work.
I should mention that the flow of this lamp kinda sucks, and I don't know about its longterm stability either. But if you just want to have fun experimenting, it should be fine.
Good luck, if you try it I'd very much appreciate a short update here.
Have you tried using only polyethylene glycol, the 400MW PEG is pretty fluid. Did the silicone and wax lamp take 8 hours to warm up?
I have only worked with propylene glycol so far. The lamp takes maybe 2-3h to reach full flow, the timer is 8h in the video because I had been making small changes to the lamp and used the timer to keep track of when exactly I did which changes, just to not get myself confused.
@@Makstuff Cool, do you have a video of the propylene glycol lamp?
@@Makstuff The surface tension of propylene glycol (~35) is very close to paraffin wax (~30), you could use ethylene glycol (~45) , the reason they use water it because it has a very high surface tension (~70) , surface tension is a measurement of the affinity a liquid molecule has for itself, if there's a high surface tension difference the two liquids won't mix, if you add bipolar surfactants an emulsion will form (micelles) hence you will see cloudiness in the lamp.
@@rollingmaster7708 Not sure what you are saying. Various surfactants are a standard ingredient in every single one of my 15 prototypes (and also in every online source I've found), and you will find that without it the lamp completely refuses to flow. The buoyancy forces in the lamp are so small that for a proper flow I need to LOWER the surface tension by a lot, not INCREASE it.
Anyway, the only prototypes where I had issues with clouding were the benzyl alcohol lamps, but given that benzyl alcohol is partially soluble in water this was to be somewhat expected.
If anything, I'd be interested in ethylene glycol for the higher VISCOSITY which I imagine could make for some interesting flow.
@@Makstuff 15 prototypes with water or other solvents?
Nice! Will there be a how to video? ❤
Yes, I'll make a detailed guide containing everything you need to know to make working lamps on your first try.
@@Makstuff thanks that's awesome 👍
I have working lava lamp which I love, but the purple water is now orange (I think from exposure to the sun from the window) so I'll have to open it up , add marker ink , or remake it completely eventually.
Subscribed 💜