WARNINGS and CAUTIONS

• Purity of materials is important, because it affects the safety and performance of the result. Only use food-grade glycols.
• Do not substitute chemicals.
• Just a little change in the name makes a big difference in what chemical you get. Make sure you are using the right stuff.
• Even the "right" chemicals are toxic in large doses and most of them are flammable.
• Keep chemicals out of reach of children, pets, and the feeble-minded.
• If chemicals spill, use appropriate cleanup and disposal techniques. Don't let pets lick up spilled chemicals.
• Don't do stupid things.

• Automotive antifreeze is usually made from Ethylene Glycol. It's pretty toxic stuff, and to make it more dangerous, it tastes sweet. There have been numerous incidents of neighborhood cats and dogs lapping up spilled antifreeze and dying. This is obviously not something you want to use in fog juice.
• Some antifreeze includes Propylene Glycol, which is a lot less toxic, and used in some fog mixes. But antifreeze always includes other ingredients that can not be removed and make it dangerous for fog use. Do not attempt to make fog fluid from any form of antifreeze, even "nonpoisonous" kinds.

Is this a good idea?

The chemicals are hard to get and expensive, some costing $60 or $80 per gallon for a suitable pure grade. If you cut corners, you endanger your patrons, actors, and yourself - and perhaps put on a bad show.

Making your own fog fluid makes you liable for any damages that might occur as a result. One of the reasons that commercial fog juice is expensive is because there is a "chain of liability" back to the manufacturer, whose business is at stake.

Commercial fog juice is unlikely to damage the fogger, and its use may be required to maintain the fogger warranty.

You might be tempted to complain that "this isn't rocket science." And it isn't. But it is more complex than you might guess.

• Minor variations of the fog juice formulation can have a significant effect on the boiling point of the fluid.
• Overheated fog juice can decompose into toxic chemicals. When heated in an open container, this should not heppen - the fluid boils before it decomposes. But a fog machine is a pressurized system. Where the pressure depends on numerous variables: power to the heater, thermostat, heat exchanger temperature, fluid delivery (pump), nozzle, and boiling characteristics of the fluid.
• The fluid is composed of different chemicals, with different boiling points, but you want it all to boil at once. I don't know exactly what's going on here, but suspect it is partially the azotrope game, and partially the steam distillation game.
• It is theoretically possible to damage a fogger with the wrong fluid, and I'm not talking about clogging up the heat exchanger with tropical-scented fog juice. I'm talking split the heat exchanger in half. This might happen if the machine was designed with lower pressures in mind, and you used a fluid that boiled too rapidly, resulting in a high peak pressure. There was a flame war on Halloween-L a few years ago, during which one poster said that he had seen it happen.
• Inexpensive fog machines may also have weak pumps that don't do well with more viscous fluids. Some high-quality commercial fog fluids are so viscous that they must be thinned with distilled water before use in inexpensive foggers.
• Foggers work best when the exact formulation of the juice matches the characteristics of the fogger.
• Juice that doesn't match your fogger might still work - perhaps very well - but won't work as well as a system of machine and fluid designed together.
• I have a sneaky feeling that some of the newer and cheaper fog machines aren't designed as a system. They copy a machine from one company, cutting corners, and copy the fluid of another, watering it down a bit.

What chemicals are used in fog juice?

Where do I get these chemicals?

Check the yellow pages in your phone book for a local supplier.

Formulae

Advice from the web

bigclive

To elaborate, it's a mixture of between 10 to 75% glycol to water depending on how dense the fog is desired. The water tends to be distilled/deionised/demineralised to remove contaminants that could cause furring of the machines heater block, and it is also pretty sterile to reduce the risk of bacteria growing in the solution. Propylene glycol is sometimes used in combination with the triethylene glycol to create different smoke characteristics, but the older glycerol (glycerine) recipe is rarely used since it's high density fog tends to leave quite a sticky residue after prolonged use.

For effects use the older glycerine recipe can be very useful since it allows the easy creation of a fluid that offers anything from a gentle haze to a thick high persistence white out.

For the sake of this article I'll be referring to glycerine as glycerol which is it's chemical name, or glycol which is the generic chemical family that glycerine belongs to.

For club use it's better to buy commercial fluid since it avoids the complications of purifying and sterilising the water, and the triethylene versions are much more venue friendly. However for effect use it is relatively simple to make up glycerine based fluid and adjust it's characteristics to suit your requirements. The glycerine can be bought in bulk from most good bakery suppliers and it is important to use pure glycerine as opposed to the sorbitol based substitute which has the same effect as burning sugar!

I bought a gallon of glycerine from Ingram Brothers in Glasgow (Scotland) for about £12. To make the fog fluid you should get a spotlessly clean plastic container and pour in the required percentage of glycerine before topping up with demineralised water or in the case of Scotland where our tap water is both clean and soft, I just top the bottle up from the tap. The next step is to shake the bottle vigorously, and that's basically it. You now have a customised haze/smoke/fog fluid. To keep track of different densities it might help to put a tiny amount of food colouring in the fluid to colour code it. I use a touch of yellow for a 75% glycol mix, red for a 50% mix, green for a 25% mix and blue for a 10% mix. If you really must, then you can give your fluids snappy names too, like "midnight mist" or "haunted forest".

wfrfire

~infidel

"For fog juice, mix 15% to 35% glycerin to distilled water. Experiment, the less glycerin you use the cheaper and cleaner your fog will be but it will also be lighter and not last as long." You don't have to use distilled water with my fog machine design because there's no heat exchanger to get clogged. You can get small amounts of glycerin at a drug store, or larger amounts from restaurant supply companies.

stagecraft FAQ

Don't try and make your own smoke juice or your own smoke machine. Don't try and use a garden fogger as a smoke gun. Don't use smoke juice in a machine it isn't recommended for. Using the wrong block temperature/fog juice combination can produce irritant, carcinogenic or toxic gasses.

Flavoured smoke juice is available, often at a discount over normal juice. Don't use it. If the cast don't lynch you your crew will. Pina Colada smoke juice is particularly nasty.

hellacoolstuff

Fog juice is very easy to make. You can buy it from various places usually costing about $25 per gallon. You can make your own for about $12. The big secret ingredient is Glycerin, which can be bought at any drug store. Four ounce bottles cast about $3 or in gallons for about $60. Glycerin is completely water soluable. Mix one quart of distilled water to 4 ounces of glycerin. Stir well as the glycerin is very thick. You can experiment with the mixture ratio. The general rule is 15% to 30%. The results depend on the heat of the fogger and the mixture. This is similar to professional fog juices. I have heard that glycerin, if cooked can produce formaldihide, so be sure that the fogger is HOT to vaporize the fluid instantly. The fluid should have somewhat of a sweet smell, if not something is wrong. Check the heat and mixture. If the water biols out and leaves an oily looking substance the iron is too cool, turn the heat up.

I make and use this myself it does work well. Great fog. No offensive smell, does not burn eyes or nose. People with severe asthma should not breath the fog.

haunted.50megs.com

WARNING: THERE HAS BEEN SOME CONCERN ABOUT THE CORRECT MIXTURE OF MATERIALS TO MAKE FOG JUICE. SINCE FOG JUICE IS READILY AVAILABLE, YOU MIGHT CONSIDER PURCHASING IT FROM A REPUTABLE SOURCE INSTEAD OF MAKING YOUR OWN IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE MIXTURE AND CHEMICALS USED.

WARNING: USING HOMEMADE FOG JUICE IN A COMMERCIAL FOG MACHINE COULD VOID THE WARRANTY.

ALSO: COMMERCIAL FOG JUICE IS FAIRLY INEXPENSIVE ($4 - $6 per quart at Fred Meyers and Walmart) NOW AND HAS BEEN REPORTED TO PRODUCE BETTER FOG.

You can make your own fog juice from glycerin, diethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, propylene glycol, or triethylene glycol and distilled water. Glycerin is available at drug stores, supercenters, and home-brew stores. The others are available from chemical supply companies.

You want to use the lowest ratio of glycerin to water that acheives fog for health reasons. Generally, your fog juice will be between 15% to 30% glycerin and 70% to 85% distilled water. A common lean ratio for light fog is 1 part glycerin to 8 parts distilled water. The lean recipe would then be to mix 4 ounces of glycerin in 1 quart of distilled water or 125 ml of glycerin in 1 liter of distilled water. A common rich ratio for heavy fog is 1 part glycerin to 4 parts distilled water. The rich recipe would then be to mix 8 ounces of glycerin in 1 quart of distilled water or 250 ml of glycerin in 1 liter of distilled water. When vaporized, the vapor should have a somewhat sweet smell. If it smells burnt or fowl, then the ratio of glycerin to water is too high or the temperature of the fog machine is too high.

Materials (English Units)
    * 4 ounces Food Grade or other High Purity Glycerin ($4.00 from drug store)
    * 1 quart (32 ounces) Distilled Water ($0.25 from grocery store)
Materials (Metric Units)
    * 125 milliliters Glycerin
    * 1 liter Distilled Water

Instructions

Mix the glycerin into the distilled water. Stir will. Use twice as much glycerin if you desire thick fog, but some experimentation will be necessary. If you use the leaner glycerin recipe, it will be cheaper, and and the fog will be cleaner though the fog will be lighter and not last as long.

Are you sure about the commercial stuff?