How to make colored smoke for a smoke bomb?

Question

i get how to make the smoke bomb with 60:40 mixture of potassium nitrate and suger and a few tablespoons of baking soda but how do i make colored smoke? someone please help

Answer 1

Unfortunately, colored smoke requires a completely different formula from the potassium nitrate/sugar smoke bomb.  You also need organic dyes - not all will work (some will burn or decompose in the bomb), and the ones that do are often expensive.

Colored smoke bombs often use potassium chlorate as the oxidizer, with flour or lactose as the fuel, and baking soda to slow down the burn rate.  Unlike many other fireworks, the goal here is for a slow, relatively cold burn.

One company (in the links) sells colored smoke bomb kits.  They are sort of expensive, and the potassium chlorate must be purchased separately.  I think the easiest and cheapest way would just be to dissect commercial smoke bombs and combine the pellets of composition.

A final note of caution: some old smoke bomb formulae call for realgar or orpiment.  While these formulas use potassium nitrate as the oxidizer, they contain arsenic, and release the highly toxic arsenic trioxide when burned.  These should not be used.