Caution: Keep Dry Ice away from children (and lazygirlofficial) if they cannot be closely supervised at all times.
It’s almost Halloween time and who doesn’t want that spooky smoke effect to complete an awesome Halloween party? That misty effect could be accomplished by about two things in life- a smoke machine or dry ice. Honestly they both cost about the same, however, dry ice can be placed on the table within a cauldron to add a spooky effect on a dinner table. You can't exactly place a bulky smoke machine in every crevice of your Halloween decorations. Dry ice might be just what you need to cast a sheet of fog in a contained area of your home.
How many pounds of dry ice will you need? Depends. 0.42 pounds or about a half-pound of dry ice will last you about an hour. I'm overestimating how much you'll need here in case you use it in a humid environment (oh hey, Florida) which will speed up the "sublimation" process- a sort of evaporation of dry ice.
Handling & Care
Dry Ice is extremely cold, in fact it is so cold it burns. Dry ice ranges from temperatures 109.3°F to -78.5°C. Yikes! Be sure to wear protective cloth or leather gloves as you should never make direct skin to ice contact. If you don’t have the time or energy to go out and purchase a cloth or a leather glove (Who sells those? A Hustler store near you?), then using an oven mitt or towel will work too. Always try to keep contact brief though, to further prevent injuries. And like I said, do NOT let your minors handle dry ice without at least adult supervision. Even for me, I don’t consider myself “adult” enough to handle this simple endeavor, so I ask another adult my exact same age to supervise me, which is typically my husband whom I rope into doing these things.
Purchase & Storage
After picking up your fresh piece of dry ice from a specific dry ice store (I'm not joking here, dry ice is not sold in every local supermarket), store it in an insulated container that is not airtight. The thicker the insulation the slower it will sort of "evaporate" and the longer it will last for your party. A safe container for dry ice can be a regular Styrofoam cooler or even better, a plastic cooler- you know, the ones you already have so you don't have to go out of your way. If using a plastic cooler, place Styrofoam, newspapers, or cardboard at the bottom and sides of the cooler (possibly wherever the dry ice is touching) to avoid any dry ice damage to the plastic interior of the cooler.
You can even use the gloves to wrap the dry ice with cloth within the cooler. It’s really up to you and how much you love your cooler. Personally? I don’t hold my beach cooler as a prized possession when I can get another one at Walmart for $15.99, but who am I to get between a person and their best beach buddy?
Another thing to note about purchasing dry ice is that sometimes stores will sell you a giant block of ice. It’s like, the "f" am I supposed to do with that, right? Well, once you place the block safely in the cooler- you need to use a chisel now to break off the dry ice into smaller pieces. This is useful if you want to get the most use out of your dry ice block, and place it around different areas of your home where you want the “mist” to show.
You can then carefully place the dry ice on a plastic or metal bowl to use at a dinner table for spooky special effects. However, if you use a glass bowl- it will crack. So avoid fancy dinnerware, guys, and save your mama some drama.
Warning Signs
Always keep dry ice in a ventilated area because dry ice doesn't just evaporate, it sublimates or releases carbon dioxide. When it sublimates, you can die from suffocation of carbon dioxide.
Honestly, if you start to pant and breathe too fast, get a headache or your fingernails or lips start to turn blue and it’s NOT part of your costume- this is definitely NOT GOOD. This is a sign that you have breathed in too much CO2 and not enough oxygen. It’s time to open a window and get some fresh air, and possibly call a doctor- a real one!
Transportation
The warning signs of Dry Ice are also why you should not transport the ice in an enclosed van. Be sure to leave the windows down on that ride home, since we wouldn’t want it to be your last (insert evil Halloween laugh here). Plan to pick up the Dry Ice as close to the time it is needed as possible. If it is transported inside a car or van for more than 15 minutes make sure there is fresh air- this means change your air conditioning settings to cooling down that fresh outside air rather than circulating the same air inside the vehicle.
Ice that Burn Baby Burn
Treatment for Dry Ice burns is the same as treatment for regular "heat" burns. Best thing to do is to go see your doctor, but of course, if you think the burns are minor and not third-degree, then they will heal in time just as any other burn. Apply aloe whenever possible as this natural plant is the best treatment for scars and burns in my personal experience. Antibiotic ointment is always helpful to prevent infection. Afterwards, you can bandage the burn only if the burned skin area needs to be protected.
All done.
Want to store Dry Ice to Use it Later? -Don't
Dry ice will sublimate, and you would need a special ice box to store it for many nights. You can't even store dry ice in a refrigerator freezer. The extremely cold temperature of dry ice will cause your thermostat to turn off the freezer. However, for those power outages Florida loves to have, dry ice is the perfect thing if your refrigerator breaks down.
That's all, folks!
