Guide by dooiy
Cleaning detergents
Safe money and the environment
Vinegar and bicarb are really great products for cleaning. They are...
Fire Extinguisher
Keep your home and family safe
| Done in | 15 minutes |
|---|---|
| Skill level | easy |
With a few cheap things from your household, you can make a foam fire extinguisher that helps you to put down small, starting fires quickly. If you can’t afford an industrial fire extinguisher, this might be a good hack for you.
What kind of fires can you put down with the fire extinguisher?
Class A fires: Cardboard, wood, plastic, cloth Class B fires: flammable liquids or gases, for example petroleum, propane, gasoline, kerosene
⚠ Caution!
- NEVER use the fire extinguisher for burning oil pots. Use the lid instead
- Do not inhale vinegar. Do not target foam at people.
- Keep away from children. Do not drink.
- Do not throw bottle into fire - this won’t work.
- Making, storing, using at your own risk.
- No guarantee for effectiveness in the case of fire.
What you need
- Plastic Bottle 2 litre cool drink bottle
- Nail use hot nail to burn a neat round hole into the bottle
- Duct Tape use one strip to close the whole again
- Water 750ml
- Vinegar 750ml, white or brown
- Dishwashing Liquid 2 lids
- Thin Plastic Bag e.g. a fruit bag. Make sure it has no holes, use only one side so it is not too thick
- Bicarbonate of Soda (baking soda) 1/4 cup or 75 g
- Funnel [optional] to fill in bicarbonate
Also good to have
- Cutter Knife or scissors [optional] to cut the plastic bag into a sheet. You could even tear the plastic bag to get a thin flat sheet.
- A heat source to heat the nail for melting a hole into the bottle, e.g. a stove, fire or lighter
How you make it
Make a hole in the cool drink bottle
Heat the top of a nail to burn a hole into the upper part of your bottle. To avoid burning yourself, put the nail onto a stick or a cork. You can also use pliers for this.
Cover the hole with tape
Cover the hole in the bottle with a strip of water-resistant duct tape. Make sure that the bottle is dry and that the tape sticks tightly. If the tape is loose, the life time of the fire extinguisher is shorter.
Label the bottle
Make a note on the bottle when the extinguisher was made. Label the bottle with today’s date.
Put water into the bottle
Put 750 ml of clean water into the bottle. That works best if you use a funnel.
from dooiy
You have to mix the vinegar and water always in a 1:1 ratio. If you don’t use a 2 litre bottle, adapt the amount of liquids. Also important: Keep the liquid level well below the covered hole
Put vinegar into the bottle
Put the same amount of vinegar into the bottle (750 ml).
Put dishwashing liquid into bottle
Put 2 bottle lids of dishwashing liquid into the bottle.
Prepare plastic bag
Cut the plastic bag at the seams into 2 sheets. Be careful not to cut holes into the sheets.
Create a bag by placing one of the plastic sheets in the center of the bottle, then gently push the sheet into the bottle to a depth of about the length of your index finger. Be cautious not to tear the plastic sheet.
Make sure you use only one sheet and it is thin, otherwise it will be more difficult to get the bag out, when you need to use the fire extinguisher.
Put bicarbonate of soda into the plastic bag
Put 1/4 cup (~75g) bicarbonate of soda into this bag. You can use a funnel and stuff it carefully with a pen or stick. Make sure that the bicarbonate of soda does not get wet.
Close the bottle
Pull the bag up as high as you can without the bicarbonate falling out again. Make sure that the bag with the bicarbonate does not hang down into the vinegar.
Close the bottle with the lid tightly.
Prepare lash and remove rest of plastic bag
Remove the overhanging parts of the plastic bag. Leave one part of the plastic bag on one side as a lash.
Renew your fire extinguisher regularly
You should renew your fire extinguisher regularly to make sure that it is working. We recommend to make a new one every 6 months.
Do not throw the old fire extinguisher away. You can still use the liquid in the bottle as household cleaning detergent. You can use the bicarbonate of soda to clean water containers.
How you use it
Remove the tape and put your finger on the hole in the bottle
Open the bottle
Hold the lash of the plastic bag and let the bicarbonate of soda fall into bottle
Pull the plastic bag out of the bottle
Quickly close the bottle again and shake it
⚠ Be careful: a lot of pressure develops. Target the hole towards the fire
Remove your finger from the hole
Put down the fire with the foam that comes out of your fire extinguisher
Always aim at the bottom of the fire.
Tips and Tricks
The fire extinguisher is cheaper if you make more than one, because you can buy vinegar and bicarbonate of soda in bulk. Ask your neighbours and make fire extinguishers together. If everyone has a fire extinguisher at home, it is also safer for you. If there is more than one fire extinguisher, use them simultaneously to put down the fire and not one after the other.
Valuable resources
Please also learn how to prevent fires and how to respond to a fire outbreak. These are just a few recommendations based on brochures of the Western Cape Government. It’s not a comprehensive list. You can find in-depth information on fire prevention here
Credits
The fire extinguisher was developed by Desania Govender and Yandisa Sojola. Design improvements and instruction by dooiy.
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What is dooiy?
On dooiy you find fun and easy hacks that make life easier. Just follow our simple step-by-step guides and create something for your home or community with little materials and tools. Want to start a business? dooiy might be the perfect starting point for you.
from dooiy
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