Maurice Ward's "Starlite"

[cinco]

Basically, fire/heat resistent material.

I have a head full of a lot of what most would call "useless" information, including the following:

1) What Maurice Ward was making when he "discovered" (not invented) Starlite: Hairspray. This tiny bit of information is seldom, if ever, mentioned this late in the game. The only reason I know is because I read of his discovery very early on.

2) The primary ingredient in hairspray is sugar.

3) Sugar has a wide variety of interesting properties at the molecular level.

4) He wouldn't let the substance out of his sight (if tested in liquid form, it would be recognized immediately)

5) And the most "out of left field" thing that I know and what caused these little bits of information to coagulate came when I "burned" the bacon and remembered that some bacon just will not burn. Upon further investigation, I discovere, you guessed it, some sugar or maple syrup cured bacon will not burn.

I did a little experiment with a hairspray recipe, except that I cooked it too long and made it into actual syrup. I thought I'd have to start over but decided to try it anyway. I coated half a wooden chopstick with the "too thick" syrup. While it was wet, I held a Bic lighter under the end and it blackened immediately, as expected. Then I let the chopstick cure a couple of days (still sticky) and held it over the gas flame of the stove. It didn't burn.

As it was so thick and still sticky, it did dry up and come off but it didn't burn, nor did the wood underneath where it had flaked off.

This was just one tiny experiment. As he discovered it accidentally, I'm guessing he used a wooden spoon (common tool used when cooking with wet sugar) that he failed to clean up, after, and that either got into the flame or that he tried to burn off what would have been a rock solid coating.

I did not stir my syrup with the chopstick. Had I, it would have soaked up the sugar water before it turned to syrup. But, even so, it must have wicked some of the sugar and moisture out of the syrup because the wood beneath the flaked off syrup did not burn, either.

I assume he used plain white sugar, which I didn't have. I used organic (semi-brown) sugar.

I just made a tiny bit, with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a splash of water, a few drops of lemon juice and a tiny dab (like the size of a pencil eraser) of coconut oil.

I'm not sure if the oil or lemon juice were necessary, but since bacon is so fat and neither the muscle NOR the fat of sugar cured bacon burns and some hairspray recipes have a small amount of oil in them, I decided to add a tiny bit.

For hairspray, the "syrup" is only cooked until it is thoroughly dissolved and in some (CORRECTION: APPARENTLY I MISSED THAT PART, BECAUSE IT IS COOKED TO SYRUP STAGE), the other ingredients are added after the syrup is taken from the flame. Which, IF he was using a food processor, and poured it directly into the processor to mix in the other ingredients, then the spoon would have had nothing but "sugar water" on it.

He later went on to plasticize it which would have been ABSOLUTELY necessary because the substance could, otherwise, simply rinse off. Which he may not have known, initially, which makes me think he may have tried to burn it off a wooden spoon. Because it would have been rock hard and seemed impossible to get off, to one who isn't familiar with sugar. What is as hard as glass can easily be rinsed away with water and even quicker with hot water.

That was another little useless fact I had - homemade leg wax is made with almost the exact same ingredients, and one YouTuber complained that she'd ruined her counter top because it wouldn't come off and had to be informed that all she needed was water.

Anyway, I'm going to try it again, with just sugar and water and leaving the wooden spoon to cure, after.

Also, eggs would be an excellent test because they are porous. Another little factoid in my head is that some producers coat their eggs with a coating that makes them go bad, quickly, because it seals them so they can't "breathe".

Also, you can make plastic with things you probably have in your kitchen, right now. So plasticizing it will be my NEXT, next experiment.

So, there it is. Open source, people!! Let's nail this sucker down!

[cinco]

Also forgot to mention that most recipes also contain a bit of alcohol, as a preservative.

Here's a video for making hairspray:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FShG3DlFRU

Also, I was wrong. It IS made into a syrup. Or, at least, in this particular recipe. The original video I watched didn't, but I couldn't find that particular video...

[Madeo]

OMG haha,  I saw that "starlite" substance on the News when I was still a teenager.  I didn't think I'd hear about it again now that I am getting old and grumpy....  too funny.   Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 




Madeo

[cinco]

Nobody EVER called my little factoids "knowledge" before! Usually, it's something more like "annoying" or even "enraging". LOL

Thanks!!

[cinco]

Sugar is SUCH a fascinating substance...I wonder where it falls on the resistance scale...or maybe it even makes electricity, who knows? Who would even bother to test it for such properties?