Did you miss the 60s? Or do you just miss the 60s? Either way, a lava lamp will get you back there. That's when lava lamps were first created. Actually, no surprise, they were invented in England, at that time the head of the cultural revolution led by the Beatles. Lava lamps started there and took over the world. At one time it seemed that every teenager and college student had at least one lava lamp.
Lava lamps, also called liquid motion lamps, are mesmerizing to watch. Once they are turned on and warm up, the blob inside constantly changes and rotates in never-ending variations, up and down the lamp. That, plus the light and color make for great entertainment.
Lava lamps are the stuff of simple science experiments. Take a compound that makes up the floating blob, a liquid that does not mix with the blob, and a lamp that illuminates and provides enough heat to melt the blob so that it floats in the liquid.
The theory behind the lava lamp is the same as behind oil and water. Two substances that don't mix. The primary difference is that the water is so much denser than the oil, the oil just floats on top of the water. In a good lava lamp, the density of both materials is very similar, so that the blob can take turns rising and falling, thus creating a fascinating shapes.
When it's turned off, just like oil and water, you see one substance sitting on top of the other. The waxy substance is on the bottom. Turn on the lamp and the waxy substance melts, decreasing its density and so it starts to rise or float in the other liquid substance. As it gets further away from the heat source at the bottom of the lamp, it cools down, and therefore gets heavier. It starts to float back down to the bottom, where it once again gets heated up and rises. And so it goes. Cool, but not exactly rocket science.
The hard part of designing a lava lamp is picking the two substances. It can get quite complicated, with one company keeping its ingredients secret from the other, much like Coke and Pepsi.
So, now that you know more than 99% of the world about how lava lamps operate, how can you pick a great one?
That's the easy part. Pick one that looks great – but – and this is an important but - that you won't tire of easily. Pick a color combo that's fun, and that you can live with. Lava lamps come in a seemingly endless variety of color combinations. And then there's that whole 60s leftover category – psychedelic.
It can take anywhere from 20 - 30 minutes on up to a couple of hours for a lava lamp to get going - depending on its size -so its not the kind of lamp you turn on and then off after five minutes.
There is also the issue of size. Although most lava lamps are anywhere between 12 and 18 inches tall, it is possible to get giant lava lamps that are considerably larger, all the way up to six feet or so. And then there is that lava lamp up in Soap Lake, WA that is sixty feet high. Delivery costs are extra.
You can find cool lava lamps for sale all over the net and in stores. You'll usually find cheap battery operated lava lamps but despite a good price, they still work very well and give your room a unique, custom look. Some of the awesome colors you can add to the ambience with include black, purple, orange, pink, red, green and blue. Kids think these things are awesome and even adults can dig them. One of the best and my favorite lamps is the bob marley lava lamp...it rocks!
Although it might seem tempting, one thing you should never do is try to build your own lava lamp. Even though there are a lot of homebrew lava lamp recipes on the internet, most of them rely on highly flammable combinations of ingredients. They could easily blow up in your face or start a fire.