Dry ice – or frozen carbon dioxide – can be used to create smoky effects that are ideal for Hallowe’en parties, for other events or for on-stage effects in musical performances or plays.
You can buy dry ice, but it’s also quite easy to make at home if you have the necessary items – and if you want to try, here are 19 plans for DIY dry ice that will teach you how to do it.
Table of Contents
1. DIY Dry Ice
Although, as this blogger writes, it’s probably simpler and cheaper to just buy dry ice, it’s easy enough to make it yourself, and it can be fun to do so too. If you want to try, this plan gives you all the info you need to do it, allowing you to make dry ice using a CO2 fire extinguisher.
2. Homemade Dry Ice
The guy in this video – the “Crazy Russian Hacker” – is hilarious to watch, but what he demonstrates is undeniably pretty cool too.
In his video, you learn a super easy method for making dry ice at home, which you can then place in warm water to create smoke, just as he demonstrates in his video.
3. How to Make Dry Ice
In this tutorial from WikiHow, you can learn how to make dry ice using a similar method to the one used by the Crazy Russian Hacker in #2.
It gives you detailed instructions for doing it, along with plenty of illustrations, and it also includes a section for all the things you can use dry ice for once you’ve created it, making this a plan that’s well worth a look.
4. How to Make Dry Ice at Home Video Tutorial
There are quite a few tutorials online for making dry ice using a fire extinguisher, and here’s another good one.
In it, the YouTuber demonstrates everything you need to do, allowing you to produce dry ice yourself.
The video is short and to the point, but there are a few interesting extra details about dry ice below the video for those who want to learn more.
5. How to Make Easy Dry Ice
As long as you have access to a CO2 tank of some kind, dry ice is easy to make, and this blog post will tell you how to do it.
You’ll also find further details about the science behind what dry ice is, making this plan an informative and educational read.
6. Making Dry Ice with a Fire Extinguisher
This YouTuber’s channel is all about the weird and wonderful science experiments he conducts, and in this video, he shows us how to make dry ice from a fire extinguisher.
If you enjoy this one, check out his other videos too because some of the stuff he does is amazing!
7. Can We Make ‘Dry Ice’ At Home?
For those more interested in the science part of dry ice, this is the article you’re looking for.
In it, you’ll find a detailed yet easy-to-understand explanation that tells you everything you wanted to know.
And then, of course, it goes on to describe how to make some dry ice yourself, allowing you to put your new scientific knowledge into practice.
8. DIY Halloween Party Decoration Ideas – Dry Ice Tutorial
There are lots of videos available that show you how to make dry ice – but what do you do with it when you have it?
One answer is that it makes an excellent spooky prop for Hallowe’en parties, and if you need ideas for how to do it, this video is sure to inspire you.
9. How to Make Dry Ice Tutorial
The reason dry ice is so cool (no pun intended!) is because of a special property it has – at rooms temperature, it doesn’t melt, it evaporates.
This is what causes the characteristic smoke effect, and this post explains the details.
It also goes on to tell you how to make some, so if you want to experiment with dry ice, this article has all the info you need.
10. How to Make Your Own Dry Ice
As this YouTubing scientist tells us, he believes science should be fun.
There are loads of amazing things you can do with science, and one of them is making dry ice – and he shows us a simple way of doing it in this video.
If you like this, check out some of the other videos on the channel too for more similar crazy science experiments.
11. Homemade Dry Ice Tutorial
In this video for making dry ice from a CO2 fire extinguisher, this YouTuber gives us lots of suggestions for the kind of thing you can do with the dry ice once you have it.
There’s something in there about making fizzy fruit, and he also uses it to make bacon and egg ice cream. In short, he tries a few surprising experiments – so check it out the video to see how it’s all done.
12. Create a Comet with Dry Ice
Here’s a great post and video from none other than NASA, teaching us about comets and showing us how to make one at home using dry ice.
This is a great plan to use if you want to teach kids about science because it’s the kind of fun experiment that should fire their imaginations.
13. Make Dry Ice at Home
In this video, we’re given the basics of how to make and use dry ice.
It also tells us a bit about the science behind it and some of the commercial uses of the substance.
It’s an informative video, and we especially enjoyed the section about using dry ice with food. Give it a watch to see if you agree.
14. How to Make Your Dry Ice at Home
Here’s a simple tutorial for making dry ice from the Instructables site. If you don’t know it, this site contains guides and DIY plans for doing almost anything you can imagine.
The tutorials are always well-written and easy to follow, and this one is another worthy addition to the collection.
15. DIY Dry Ice Bubble Bowl Activity
So we’ve seen plenty of videos for making dry ice, but beyond popping it in a glass of water and making spooky smoke, what’s it actually good for?
If this is a question you’re wondering about, this is a video you need to watch because it will have you doing a double-take.
In it, you learn how to make a dry ice smoke bubble – and without doubt, this is one of the coolest dry ice experiments we’ve come across.
16. Making Dry Ice from Fermented Honey
This is probably the most unusual way of making dry ice on the whole internet – because, in this video, this YouTuber shows us how he made it using fermented honey.
It’s perhaps not the most practical way to do it, but if you’re into weird applications of science, you’ll love this video – so make sure you give it a watch!
17. Making Dry Ice
In this post, you’ll learn how to obtain dry ice either by making it yourself from a CO2 canister or by buying it.
There is also some useful information about storing it (in a thermos flask, for example) and for using it, so for anyone interested in dry ice, this site is worth a look.
18. Using Dry Ice for Drink Effects
Here’s another blog post with loads of great ideas for how to use dry ice to create spooky Hallowe’en effects.
For example, you can put it into drinks to make them smoke or you can use it to decorate a table of Hallowe’en treats with items that emit an eerie fog.
There are some useful safety tips too, so if you’re planning to use dry ice for a children’s party, you’d do well to read this tutorial first.
19. How to Make Dry Ice Fog
Here’s another plan for what to do with your dry ice once you have it rather than for making it in the first place.
However, there are plenty of other tutorials about for how to obtain dry ice, so this one is worth checking out to find out the correct way to handle it as well as finding out how to get the best effects.
We love the look of those creepy Jack-o-lanterns at the top too, and with this post, you can learn how to make something similar.
Easy to make and fun to use
As you can see, it’s relatively easy to make dry ice, and most of the methods we’ve seen obtain it from a CO2 fire extinguisher. Then, once you have your dry ice, you can use it to create spooky effects or to try a range of other weird and wonderful science experiments.
We’ve enjoyed collecting these plans for you, so we hope you’ve enjoyed watching and reading them too – and above all, we hope you’ve learned everything you wanted to know about how to make DIY dry ice as well as what to do with it when you have some.