How to Refill Lava Lamps
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2018
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This is a quick educational video regarding how to replace the water in a Lava Lamp.
This is by far the best video on TH-cam about how to simply refill these lamps. Thanks so much. I see so many people not pay enough attention to the " not more than 2 drops of dish liquid or SURF" and dump a whole big bunch in there and ruin their lamps. It breaks the wax up way too much. Please pay attention to that part.
This video was very helpful. I had an old lava lamp that was cloudy and the wax was stuck at both the top and bottom. I emptied out all the old water. Then I boiled some water in a pot and set the glass bottle in it to melt any stuck wax. Once all the wax was melted I poured it into another container so I could clean out the bottle. Once the bottle was clean I put the wax back in the bottle using the same boiling water technique. I let the wax solidify then filled the bottle with distilled water leaving about 2 inches at the top as instructed. I added 1 teaspoon of epsom salt to the bottle and turned on the lamp for 2 hours. I then started to make my epsom salt solution. One thing the video does not mention is how much of the salt you actually use. I was quite surprised that I used almost 2/3 of the 16oz bag of epsom salt in one tall kitchen glass. Also I did not wait an hour in-between adding the mixture to the bottle. I added one strawful about every 10 minutes and had success. I used 3 drops of detergent to achieve the ball size and frequency.
Glad it worked out for you! Refilling liquid didn’t work for me coz my wax was cycled too many times and lost its properties so I had to replace both wax and liquid. I bet you would be very disappointed after doing all that and realizing your wax is wack after all.
what does the mixture you add to the epsom salt consist of?
I just picked up 8 of these for $5.00 and a few have lost water, this is going to help so much in restoring these!!!!
Good find!
heyyy. did you get yours restored ? did this video worked for you ? thx
Second time i've come to this video in my life, thank you for helping me keep my Original Lava Lamp alive!
Thanks so much for the very clear instructions. My 25 year old lamp was getting so foggy it was hard to tell what colour the lava was supposed to be - and now I've got it back to as-new condition!
Hey, 9 months later, how has it held up?
@Brian Musgrove, is your lamp still going?
Hey one year later is it still foggy
I want to thank you for helping me with my lava lamp. I made some changes it was clear wax I used a wax dye to change the color of the wax worked beautifully. This lava lamp is about 17 years old. I just took my time with it and it turned out beautiful thank you very much ✌️
This is the best of the four videos I have watched. It’s specific about amounts and process. Thank you!!
Finally, someone explaining in detail, many thanks just what I needed,,cheers M England.
Best video of all and I watched quite a few. Very easy instructions to follow with great visual examples. I now don’t have to buy a new one Thank you for posting this.
Third time was the charm. I’m sure the first 2 were operator error. My kids gave me this lamp in 1997 so I was rally hoping to get it working and I did with your instructions. Thank so much!
Absolutely great tutorial on Lava Lamp repair.
Just picked up a lava lamp today from a yard sale after not having one for about 20 years. I may have to go ahead And do all of this and bring it back to life!
Thank you! The explanation was reasonably paced, clear and easy to follow. Good job!
thank you
Thanks, Ordered a lamp from amazon and it arrived looking so cloudy I couldn't even see the blobs floating. This helped me replace the water repairing my new lamp!
Thank-you! This video was extremely helpful. I’ve been lucky as my three lava lamps have not lost any liquid over 6 years and the wax has stayed the same colour. It was just the liquid that has faded to almost clear, so the last bit about the food dye was really useful. Thank-you for making this video.
Thanks for the video. I may have to watch it a few times before I start.
No problem :-)
Probably the best lava lamp video made. Thanks for the useful info.
Thanks!!! I just found my Lava Lamps from 30 years ago and was wondering if they can be restored to their former Glory!
Did you ever have any luck? I have one from 1972, and it didn't work right; the wax doesn't flow. Did you happen to try this process on yours? Thanks
My was isnt moving sits at the bottom on small piece sits at the top how can u make the was move again
Chocolate I have one from like 2009 all you have to do is leave it plugged in for like 4-8 hours
@@jaydavidson4592 I did. And it worked.
@@jaydavidson4592 My lamp sat in a box for several months and I'm now having a hard time with it. I'm thinking about replacing everything, including the parafin wax
My lava lamp is 14 years old and I think it time I do this... thank you for this helpful video
This process worked great for me. I replaced the liquid and used the old wax in the Century 100 Starlight lava lamp that my grandmother received as a gift around 1965-1967. The old liquid smelled like kerosene and was so cloudy that you couldn't see the wax.
Very easy to follow step by step instructions and tips! Thank you 😁👍
I had to restart the process about 20 times cause I didn't listen and kept trying to rush. Please listen to this guy if you try this don't be like me lmao. it works if you do it right
I found that using glycerin works better for me vs. the epsom salt and is easier to mix. I also feel that the salt may corrode the metal spring especially if it sits inactive for a length of time. I discovered that some of the "Magma lamp brand" lamps only needed water and a couple drops of dish detergent to control surface tension.
What process do you follow when using glycerin and in what proportions
do you know how to make one of these homemade ??? would totally love to make my own and add stuff
Same measurements?
@@livingforChrist i used the same measurements i hoping it works
@@niakue-493 please let me know how it goes. Thank you!!
best guide to refill a lva lamp i found tnx a lot (:
Glad I found your vid. It's the best one out there! Gonna try it tomorrow. Thanks much!
John Berthoty did it work ?
@@aaronnicolaus1400 Yes it did! took a little effort to get the balance of salt vs distilled, but definitely works.
Thank you :-)
Hi is this the same process for the old 70s lamps ? Grate vid thank you.
You are awesome I really appreciate you being so cool with lava lamp information.
I've replaced the master fluid in my Lava-Simplex Aristocrat at least 5 times before I got it to how I wanted it. This also works for adding fluid to lamps with low fluid.
I have a glitter Mathmos lava lamp that had leaked fluid through the screw top, after being knocked over a couple of times...there was about 2/3 of the liquid left in the lamp. Honestly, I was too impatient to wait to go out to buy Epsom salt and to distill some water, so I just took a punt and used tap water, coarse sea salt and blue Fairy Liquid as a surfactant (my lava lamp already happened to be in blue!). I poured in the tap water bit by bit, added a little salt bit by bit, and added 2-3 drops of the Fairy Liquid. I gave it a gentle slosh around and turned on the lamp. At first, it was quite cloudy or a little bubbly so I just turned it off and went to sleep. When I woke up the next morning and turned it on, it immediately started working beautifully - no bubbles, no cloudiness and the glitter is rising in exactly the same way as it did when I bought it new. I didn’t measure anything when I first put the ingredients in but just added everything little by little and it worked out perfectly! I hope this is of some use to anyone else trying to rejuvenate an old Mathmos lamp!
WOW thanks for this I've been wondering how I could re do my lava globe. See it got knocked over and ever since then its closing and the wax doesn't flow the same its all blobby and flows to the top. I do have one question HOW do you reseal the cap ? I read somewhere that you could tighten it back up by using a hose clap.
Very informative. Would love to see a video of the process... thanks
Worked like a charm
I found my 30 yr old red 17 inch lava lamp the other day it was 4 inches low on water so I added tap water and table salt a little at at time( because the wax stayed at the bottom and would not move ) and it's working better than new .
Why not distilled?
Firstly your tutorial very well executed. Would like your guidance as my lava lamp is low on liquid. Glass vessel measures 11 and a quarter inch from bottom to top. Space needing liquid approx 1 inch. from bottom of screw on cap. Lamp works well except that a large amount of wax sits at top and does not move .Can I just add distilled water, or is some form of mixture needed? Your feedback appreciated!! Thank you.
What tool do you use to remove and install the cap?
right and put it back on
A beer bottling capping tool
I have a lamp from the 90’s that lost about half its contents. I added to the original contents instead of starting from scratch. It did work but it required a lot of dish soap to get the blobs to break up into the normal smaller pieces - probably due to the other chemicals that are in the original solution. As a result the liquid is quite cloudy - would you recommend pouring it all out and starting over? The movement of the lava is really good now but it just doesn’t look right because of the cloudy liquid.
I did it for my 17inch lava lamp and it worked perfectly! Now imma be doing this to a used grande I got for about $50. Wish me luck!
heyyy did it worked for your grande ? thx !
@@shinzo222 It did but I had bought a used one that was dying already. Me doing this just delayed the inevitable. I'm stuck with clear slugs that run up the wall no matter what right now. I'm moving soon so I plan to buy a goo kit to fix it afterwards. Goo kits come with surfficant, wax and dye. You just need to get the distilled water
@@josephngo8389 Oh so it did not work properly ? Goo kits are not in stock for long time, So thats why i want to try this. Mine is pretty slugish too, but i guess anythng will be better than it is right now.
@@shinzo222 it didn't work for mine because of the condition of the one I had. It depends on what sort of problems you have
I have never had a lava lamp, but this video was absolutely fascinating to learn what is required to make it work.
What is the normal operating temperature?
Yup! Just found another one recently. And they typically run about 60c.
Great Video! Thanks for the info. Just got a Lavalamp fot Christmas and it's cloudy. Should I send it back under the warranty or try to fix it myself? Is there a trick for replacing the wax?
Hey! I would try warranty first, especially if it's a name-brand. If not, try the old trick of leaving it on for 6-8 hours a day for a few days.
Very helpful video thank you 🙏🏻 😊
It was interesting and informative, thanks.
Very informative dude. Thumbs up
I heard that there is such a thing called bad/lazy wax and if that happens im suppose to return the lamp to the manufacturer but my lamp was a gift. It wont heat properly and stay as one blob from the bottom of the lamp to the top. If it ever separates it doesnt turn into multiple blobs but instead just does 1 blob at a time. Can the method of this video fix that issue?
Also when doing this method does the top part of the lamp cover need to be on or off the lamp?
Exceptionally helpful! I bought a large lava lamp from the thrift store today with rich blue wax, looked kinda odd but the size of it was awesome so I snagged it. When I got home and untaped it (the thrift store had half a roll of tape on it to keep it from breaking i guess lol) I noticed that the cap had several dings in the top and one side was pushed in. I'm wondering if I could ask some advice on how I could proceed to troubleshoot or fix it?
Might be a bit late, but a small ball bearing on the inside of the cap/hat and gently roll and push/apply pressure to the ball(with your finger) where the dents are and they should 'roll' out🙏🙂🤙
Edit: The caps are usually only made of aluminium so you can essentially just push bigger dents out with your thubs/fingers, the 'roller ball'(ball bearing) technique works best for the dents that are smaller or hard to reach and push out
I'm mind blown 😳
This was awesome 👌
Would dishwasher clear rinse aid be a good substitute for the washing up liquid?
Hey thanks for the video, so when you have a cup of distilled water how much Epsom salt do you put into the cup and stir?
Haha watch the vid again.. till the water gets cloudy and no more will dissolve
You sound like a professional.
Awesome video, thank you for posting it! I have an issue with my lamp where at the bottom it forms water bubbles within the wax that floats upwards. This bubbly wax is not a good look. Does the wax need replacing, or would changing out the water as you have instructed do the trick? Do you have a video on how to replace the sealing cap? All of mine are like a bottle top.
Is there a way to tell if you've added too much salt solution? My daughter has one of those giant off brand lamps. I figured I would need to double the teaspoons at each hour interval. I did see the wax "wave" each hour as i dropped the teaspoons in, but that's all it does. It does not rise in one big clump as in your video. I've been adding solution for over 8 hours. Do I keep on going or dump it all out and try again? I too never got my mix of epsom salt to look quite like yours.
Followed the video and thanks for posting. Any ideas on what I'm missing as after my distilled water and 1 tsp epson salt i get 2 blobs. 1 on top and 1 on bottom. Never get a single blob floating in middle, etc. The lamp pretty much does the same thing. Warms up and the blobs divide 1 to top and stays other to bottom.
You needed to add 1 or 2 drops of dish soap
If anyone does this, DO NOT use Dawn Platinum dish liquid. It degrades the wax and eats it apart. I had one that the wax was seperated and totally fried. I've never seen any video of wax that acted and looked like this particular lamp I had. I was kinda just playing around with different things to try and fix it (doubtful) and I used this dawn liquid. It's good for cleaning out old lava out of your bottle, but dont use it in your lava lamp. It will destroy it!
What size lava lamp were the measurements meant to work with? I have the really big one (the grande) and it shipped to me so cloudy you can’t even see through it. I’m sure I’ll have to scale up the measurements but don’t know by how much.
Any tips for taking the lid off?
Great but wish you had mentioned about taking off the bottle cap and replacing it.
Did you figure anything out on this? I wonder if you just use a bottle cap opener but then how to put it back on tightly is the problem
Trying it tomorrow thank you
You're welcome!
Thanks for the video! So I have an old lava lamp from the 70's. Bought a bulb for it and fired it up, the wax will not flow correctly. Does this process help to restore 'old wax'?
Update; so I just learned that the wax is bad. It is cloudy/muddy-looking and breaks apart ununiformly. Good wax will be smooth and solid looking. What I will do is simply empty a new lamp into the old one after I clean it out
What kind of wax do you need to buy?...I want to make my own from scratch
Perfect! I have an old rocket shaped lava lamp that needs an inch or so of refilling.
did it work? my lava lamp needs an inch of refilling
Also, I have several lamps, they were all exposed to freezing temperatures, so they no longer operate, they just melt and sit at the bottom. If I'm following your instructions, the wax is salvageable? One of my lamps is the Enchantress planter style, the screw off gold cap has a sticker with the year 1977 on it, the globe has white wax and a light aqua liquid. Is the liquid and wax different from more modern versions? Can the wax be saved, and can I use your recipe for fluid replacement on this vintage wax?
Thank you, very informative! Any tips on repairing a lamp that has wax sitting at the bottom and wax floating at the top but no action between the two?
Oidium45 yes - that’s what this video is about, just do it!
Hi Spats Bear. Any thoughts on how to get air bubbles out of the wax? I have two lamps and both have the same problem. Not sure if it's just the way they are or whether it was caused from rough handling on delivery. Any tips would be most appreciated. Thanks.
It's actually me :-) And there will always be a bubble or two here and there, but if it's really bad, I'd suggest putting your lamp on a timer.. 8 hours on, 16 hours off, and let it be for a few days, it should work the air out.
@@HarleyBadger Thanks for the reply. I carried on using the lamps for another week, but, the problem just got worse and worse. I ended up boxing them back up and returning to amazon for a refund. They were really terrible. I've had many lamps over the years but I've never seen any quite like them. They were just awful quality. There was also other issues with them as well as the bubbles. Never buy a lava lamp made by 'The original lava lamp company', they suck! Thanks anyway. I appreciate your time.
@@gazb0075 Good deal then :-) ..yeah, I had a couple that were just lost causes, I donated them to Goodwill... thought maybe some kid would like them.
Is this only for refilling?? ... Also do you happen to know what the wax is made out of the one that stays at the bottom this is great Ive always wanted to create my own shade and have it long lasting like the originals any advice would greatly appreciated.
Yep, this is intended for refilling from scratch. The wax formulation differs depending on the actual manufacturer ("Lava Lite" is just a name, they are made by many different contractors, mostly in China,) but is generally paraffin or a paraffin blend. I think if you want to make your own (#1 most important is to make absolutely CERTAIN you are using an extremely heat-resistant container, most glassware is NOT,) fill a regular Lava Lite and make sure it works properly, then pour the contents into another container while it's hot. Use a hook or bent coat-hanger to extract the spring and place it in the new container if possible, and make sure to shield your hands, it will be extremely hot of course.
Hi ,i was happy to find this video i have a 1974 lava lamp that desperately needed a overhaul , i got all my ingredients ready and started. I started to add the Epsom salt ,1 hour 2 hour 3 hour 4 hour.....come to the 7th or 8th hour and still no movement with the wax. There is little room at the top for anymore salt so i decided to add a drop of the liquid soap. ...nothing , so i add3d another drop still nothing. Should i turn the light on 😂. Lol jk no the light has been on . Any suggestions would be appreciated., i read on another guys thread about his failed attempt to rejuvenate his lamp ,but he wasn't using Epsom salt water nor was it distilled. And he added a lot of soap and it looked bad. Anyway a guy in his comment section said to use distilled water and the stuff you make dry ice with. Come to think of it, the failed attempt he did use Epsom salt,just no distilled water.
So i don't have the dry ice stuff, any help. Should i just start over ,and repeat this process? Thanks in advance 😊
Pss i had already liked and shared this video and mentioned it to the guys on the other video process and your video🥴
What if the wax has been throughly shaken? Will this fix it or does it have to be replaced too?
2 questions. I still have the initial liquid and wax in my lava lamp, but the wax either forms a pilar and stays, or more commonly, just sits at the bottom and does nothing. Would this system work if i just added the salt and dish soap? Also, If I don’t have rosin salts, can you use regular salt! Thx for the awesome video!!!
Mine 2. Mine is still just sitting at the bottom.
So cool! You are a legend!
Once you get the salt balance right, how do you top up the lamp to make sure it's full without disrupting that balance?
Also, thanks for the great video!
Did you figure it out ??? I have tint bubbles forming but nothing to crazy yet.. waiting another hour to add another drop of dish soap
add a bit of both distilled water and then more epsom water(if needed) till you get the desired effect.
Interesting - I didn't know that you could do that.
Yup. Just don't drink it. It tastes terrible.
OMG THE INTRO SOUND!!! Nostalgia inbound... Dr. Dre 2001 !!!
Not sure if it's the exact sound from the album, but it sure made me think of it!
Gaz B 007 THX Logo from almost every movie from the 90’s-early 2000’s
very useful, thank you! Do you know the recipe for the wax?
I think it’s just paraffin wax
So my lamp works fine has plenty of break up, but it likes to crowd the top if the bottle. Seems to be taking too long to come back down. Any pointers on what it needs? More salt mixture or more water?
I have a giant lava lamp that I’ve had for a long time. There is about a half inch air gap at the top between the liquid surface and the cap that’s visible. Could I add just a bit of distilled water to fill it all the way? Or would I need the epsom salt as well?
I dropped my friends lava lamp from 1990 and it broke open I thought it was a jell inside because it felt like jelly and greasy , it was tuff to get off of her wooden floor ,it kept smearing, so I thought there was a gummy slimey solution in it. But I have my own lamp kniw abd it quit bubbling and just add a lump of wax in bottom and a bunch of wax hardened towards the top along the sides , so I thought by shaking it up the hot wax on the bottom would make contact with the cold wax on the sides and melt, but its still not bubbling and now I have particles floating all thru the lamp. So I am going to attempt this in a couple of days ,after getting stuff tommorrow . I am excited because I really loved my lamp, it was calming to watch. Did I do the damage myself because I did leave it in for hrs. at a time, I probably should have turned it off more than what I did...
Thanks for your video I'm going to restor my father's original late 60s lamp (I shook it like a twat) I've ordered the salt and I'll pop down to o'Rileys when it gets here for the water. You have been very helpful that's a lot 😎
You're welcome!
Micheal Barnes that’s what I did...
Yeah vikki all I can say is take your time in the processes lol it's tricky getting the salt balance correct. But worth it my lamp is awesome now I've got red lava and put orange food colouring in the water it looks like real lava. 🔥😜🔥
Yea I can’t do this coz I don’t have distilled water (never knew it existed) coz I live in uk but what’s even the difference lol
Oh I'm from Devon hiii lol well I found the cheapest in halfords it's used to top up car batteries but you can buy it in Tesco to I think. It's not expensive 😁
How do you reseal the cap? They don't seem like they are meant to go back on easily. Thanks.
How are yours so cool looking. Mine is so boring. The wax/lava is stuck at the bottom of the glass. I think I overheated it cause it was on for 24 hrs. Is there anything I can do to fix it??
How do you remove the bottle cap without bending it?
Little bits at s time with a bottle opener.
VERY good video!
Any advice on the wax please?
"Its like growing a plant"... ya I hate waiting a full day or two before I can harvest a dank crop, smoke and trip out on my lava lamp
I got a lava lamp but all the lava wax is stuck in the bottom 😭😭😭😭😭
Hello, do you need to use food coloring, could you use good quality, water soluble dyes?
Thanks, I followed the video and it works well, but noticed that after a few days all the wax floats and accumulates to the top and tends to stay there. Any ideas on what this maybe? As a side note i have an original lava lamp that has to be at least 50 years old.
Harley says add a pinch of epsom salt, or a few drops of dissolved epsom salt. He says good luck!
Where did you get your white wax from?
Will this same procedure work for a grande lamp?
I have one that is 5n or 6 times as big as the normal size ones so how would I know how much of the salt water ect to put in
Cool video ! Very well done!
Peace Out .
Thanks!
I have an old mathmos jet lava lamp that's just started clouding up. Will changing the water cure this?
Can you replace the wax?
Orobably
yeah, there is a kit you can buy
th-cam.com/video/eSlDnEEYSgU/w-d-xo.html
Should you melt the paraffin wax before putting it in the bottle or shave it and put the shavings in then melt it?
THX LOGO SOUND!
Great video thanks
Im about 1/2 way through the process...but now a blob of wax is stuck at the top (the main mass of wax is still at the bottom and flat...meaning hasn't formed the dome yet). With the blob at the top...the epson salt water I add is just staying at the top and not mixing with the majority of the water. So I tried to carefully take it and turn it on it's side so it would move...but it just started making many tiny wax balls so I quit messing with it. I know better than to shake it up. What should I do?
It will somewhat flow . It stays at the top longer.. do I need to keep adding more distilled water to make the flow faster ?
i think he said add another drop of the dish soap.
My only question and concern is how do I replace the cap on my lamp? :( It's a crimped metal cap like what you find on soda bottles.
I have a vintage 1970 Lava Lamp and it was dropped and the cap cracked....and all the liquid poured out. Will this refill technique work for this lamp also? The liquid feels like it has mineral oil in it....my next question where can I find a replacement cap? Its a gold base with a gold screw on cap....
thank you for any help you can give me....
So can I use this tutorial to change the fluid in my lamp? It was supposed to be clear but it came as a weird milky color.
I found a antique lava lamp in my aunts owl house and its a milky color I don't like it so I'm trying to see if this shit is legit
How do you pop the top and put it back on?
How do you get the wax back to clear mine is almost black or dark green
How do you remove the cap from the bottle?
Thanks. I’ve been wondering how to fix my grandparent’s 1978 lava lamp. Stupid rumba vacuum cleaner caught the cord and pulled the lamp off the table, breaking the top and losing all the liquid.