Water Proofing matches & Nobel Prize in Chemistry

AI Thread Summary
Wooden stemmed matches can be made permanently waterproof by soaking them in turpentine for two to three minutes. After soaking, they should be dried overnight on newspaper. Treated matches have been tested by submerging them in water, and they ignite effectively without any sudden flaring or melting wax, similar to regular matches. There is curiosity about the longevity of this waterproofing effect, prompting suggestions for further experiments to determine how long the matches remain functional after exposure to water.
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Made a neat little discovery.

If you put wooden stemmed matches into a cup of turpentine and leave them to soak for about two or three minutes they become permanently waterproof.

After I take them out of their turpentine bath I lay them out to dry ovenight on a sheet of newspaper.

As an experiment I have thrown a handful of such treated matches into buckets of water, left them there for a few minutes, wiped off the excess water and found that they ignite perfectly.

Great thing is their is no sudden flaring or running hot wax to burn fingers. The matches burn like regular matches even after having being soaked in water.


Do you think I will get a Nobel prize for this great advance in Chemistry ?...:wink:

Aquafire
 
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That's pretty cool, and I'm sure Nobel prize worthy. Have you tried doing any experiments to see how long the waterproofing lasts? It would be really interesting to see how long these matches can last in water and still be functional.
 
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