Colorflame.

Another little product review. (yes I’ve been shopping lately…)

Colorflame.

From Halloween buildup 09

Now, long time readers will know, I have had a long history of searching for a viable means of creating green flames for my torches. From shopping, to creating my own formula:

From Halloween buildup '08

So, it’s no surprise when I saw this stuff at the local grocer (of all places), I had to give some a try.

Now, the colorflame comes with a new wick, and 8 oz of fluid.

One immediately notes the short wick…

The instructions state that colorflame will only work with fiberglass wicks, and is best used with a new wick, and not mixing colors.

So, our first test was to put some of the purple colorflame into an empty oil candle in the bedroom. Since the oil candle has a smaller wick, I carefully cut the wick, which was actually a number of smaller wicks woven together, and removed one of the smaller ones, and inserted it into the oil candle.

Allowing to soak, we lit the wick. Well, we attempted to. Allowing to soak much longer than recommended by the instructions, it lit…into a small orange flame…

This is the same trouble I was having with my home brew. The brew would burn (insert color here) just fine, but add a wick, and orange is what you got. From the wicks themselves burning, I assume. Still, perhaps it was contamination from oil used in the candle years ago?

Tried it with the candle’s original wick. Same problem.

Undeterred, we grabbed a full size test.

Brand new Lamplight Farms replacement canister for a tiki torch. No chance of contaminating the fuel.

Results?

From Halloween buildup 09

Well, it’s KINDA green…

It’s actually more green in person, just won’t photo quite right.

From Halloween buildup 09

But, it’s nowhere near the homebrew’s pure, clean, GREEN.

From Halloween buildup '08

Color me unimpressed. (yes, bad puns abound…)

The fuel FEELS thicker than your standard lamp oil, and this may explain the apparent wicking problem. The short wick they provide, and the smaller canisters they SALE make me believe they are aware of the wicking, and have figured the maximum length into their kits.

Still, if you want the colorflame for a short (2 hour) use, it may well be worth the novelty.

For me, Green Fire will await my further refining of the home brew.