Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9FjI2rGL_c

Starlite is one of those things that keeps coming up, and the story is repeated almost without question. An inventor, Maurice Ward, developed what he called a "plastic" that was flame resistant. He usually demonstrated this with a blowtorch, sometimes on an egg.
The material appears to be a white paste that sets. When a flame is applied it chars and expands a bit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlite
Here's a video describing the story:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7yVqY-z3fY
The results of the egg test are at 1:12
People have tried to replicate it, one Keith Lewis said he made some with "things you find in your own home"
Source: https://youtu.be/c4VeYq-IOUo?t=37
0:37
He strongly suggests it involved PVA glue. Luckily I had a bottle full of PVA glue from an old book-binding experiment.
I was thinking about the simplest version you could make, and I decided that PVA glue plus baking soda would give a nice white paste. So I mixed up some of that. While doing that I found it's the ingredients of "slime", a DIY kids fun substance.
PVA Glue is a mixture of PVA and a solvent. When the glue dries it just leaves PVA.
Mixing it with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3 ) creates a spreadable paste. Both substances are white. Baking soda by itself is quite heat resistant.
I also tried it with aluminum oxide. This is grey, and more inert than baking soda.
Here's my current batches. Still wet from the glue, so I will wait until they dry. You can see I gave them a go, but it seems like the solvent in the glue is buring off in the flame, so I need to wait until that evaporates.

Results to come....
Starlite is one of those things that keeps coming up, and the story is repeated almost without question. An inventor, Maurice Ward, developed what he called a "plastic" that was flame resistant. He usually demonstrated this with a blowtorch, sometimes on an egg.
The material appears to be a white paste that sets. When a flame is applied it chars and expands a bit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlite
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7yVqY-z3fY
The results of the egg test are at 1:12
People have tried to replicate it, one Keith Lewis said he made some with "things you find in your own home"
Source: https://youtu.be/c4VeYq-IOUo?t=37
0:37
He strongly suggests it involved PVA glue. Luckily I had a bottle full of PVA glue from an old book-binding experiment.
I was thinking about the simplest version you could make, and I decided that PVA glue plus baking soda would give a nice white paste. So I mixed up some of that. While doing that I found it's the ingredients of "slime", a DIY kids fun substance.
PVA Glue is a mixture of PVA and a solvent. When the glue dries it just leaves PVA.
I also tried it with aluminum oxide. This is grey, and more inert than baking soda.
Here's my current batches. Still wet from the glue, so I will wait until they dry. You can see I gave them a go, but it seems like the solvent in the glue is buring off in the flame, so I need to wait until that evaporates.
Results to come....
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