Tips for candles, LED lights, electric, batteries, bulbs and beyond.
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By chuckwagon
#66817
Just thought I'd drop a suggestion from an experiment i tried last year...

My wife LOVES having dry ice in a bowl in our sun room as the trick-or-treaters come up to the main door. I decided to try this out with one of my 'kins, and I got a CRAZY effect!! I used a small metal cereal bowl with warm water, dropped the dry ice chunk in, threw in some purple glow sticks, and VOILA!! I had the most insane looking purple, foggy grim reaper!! It was one of my funkins, and I still have it so I'll try to do the same set up this year and snap some pics to post. The trick to heavy fog with dry ice was to use warm water instead of room temp or cold water... i'm no chemist, so i can't explain why.

Anyone else ever messed with or have any dry ice ideas that i can try out?
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By ghostface
#66820
Really wanna try out Dry ice this year. Sounds like you had a great effect. Would love to see pics when you do it again!
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By chuckwagon
#66835
sloaner wrote:I would like to try that but don't even know where to buy dry ice.
Usually around Halloween, the grocery stores will carry it in a cooler up front around the customer service desk. you have to ask for it specifically because the employees have to get it for you. Insurance thing I guess... Next time you go to the store ask a clerk if they typically carry it around the holiday season. If they don't, they might be able to let you know who does. Here, it is sold by the pound.
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By pagemaster1993
#66842
Just a quick tip in some places you have to be over the age of 18 to buy it. I do not know about my state, but I heard that is the law in California. Why some may ask, because you can use it as an explosive.
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By purple1worm
#66931
I've been wanting to try dry ice for some time but wasn't sure where to get some. I'll try to get some this year.
Since I work in a hospital pharmacy we sometimes get some with deliveries (some meds have to be kept cold for stability). I've already talked to the stock guy if any comes in!
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By matspud
#66981
Wow, you are lucky if you can buy dry ice in the stores over there. Over here you have to get it from specialist companies. Thankfully we often have some at work :D I will have to remember to get some round Halloween.

Won't tell you some of the fun you can have with lab equipment and dry ice :D . Its also great fun with boiling water and dish soap ( washing up liquid in the UK) :D
#67148
chuckwagon - Since you have some experience with dry ice, how long would you say an average sized chunk will be able to create the smoke effect before it all dissipates? Say you dropped a piece that was a few inches wide or whatever, into a bowl of warm water. Do you get fog for a while?

In a party environment, I wonder how often the dry ice pieces would have to be renewed, to keep a constant smoke going. At the very least, I assume it would work great for a taking photos of pumpkins or other props, when you can snap pictures during the height of the smoke.

Here's a good video that shows some of the potential of dry ice for Halloween, with a finale performed in a pumpkin:

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By nosferatu
#67158
I bought a box of dry ice over the Internet. You have to be extremely careful. Obviously, you can't store it so you need to book as close to your intended use date. Its durability depends on the size it is supplied and usage. Those chunks that Steve Spengler used were massive compared to the pellets I was supplied.

I bought some as I was planning and preparing to host a Halloween science party for my daughter in October and thought it advisable to practice that I could actually do the experiments. I could. Sadly, she has had a Mad Science assembly at school, so that is that idea destroyed. However, I am still planning on ordering some anyway for Halloween.

Have you seen Splengler's self carving, exploding pumpkin video? Great stuff.
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By chuckwagon
#67188
Ryan, my set up only lasted about 10 to 20 minutes unfortunately. Obviously the bigger the chunk, and the longer the water stays warm, the better the display... Problem is, you can't put a huge chunk inside the pumpkin because you can't get a big bowl of warm water in with it. As long as you commit to changing the dry ice chunk out every 15 minutes or so, you could maintain a pretty nice looking display I think... I only did the experiment as a test run, and that was the result I got. And don't misunderstand, you CAN use room temperature water and get a smokey effect from the dry ice being droped in, but I just found it to be more extreme with warm water.
User avatar
By staticfurball
#68487
purple1worm wrote:I've been wanting to try dry ice for some time but wasn't sure where to get some. I'll try to get some this year.
Since I work in a hospital pharmacy we sometimes get some with deliveries (some meds have to be kept cold for stability). I've already talked to the stock guy if any comes in!
My dear, dear sister...i just know you wont forget me when you get your hands on that stuff hmmmmmm? xxoo :D
User avatar
By purple1worm
#68509
staticfurball wrote:
purple1worm wrote:I've been wanting to try dry ice for some time but wasn't sure where to get some. I'll try to get some this year.
Since I work in a hospital pharmacy we sometimes get some with deliveries (some meds have to be kept cold for stability). I've already talked to the stock guy if any comes in!
My dear, dear sister...i just know you wont forget me when you get your hands on that stuff hmmmmmm? xxoo :D
No worries,dear sister I'll share! :)
Since our yards are next to each other , it is to both our benefit for our decor!