If you are ever feeling a little chilly, check out this nifty DIY hand warmer. It’s a fun way to keep your hands warm.

Materials for making a DIY hand warmer

• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Stove pot
• Small container/jar
• 2 ziplock bags. Note: One will be used for the solution and one will be used to store crystals.

What to do (a.k.a. Steps Involved):

• First, add 4 cups of vinegar to the stove pot.
• Slowly add 4 tablespoons of baking soda to the vinegar (you may notice a reaction taking place).
• Boil the mixture on medium heat for 30 minutes – 1 hour.
• When you notice most of the water boiled, and a crusty film appearing, turn off the heat. It will almost look like crystals forming on the walls of the pan.
• Pour the now yellow liquid in a small container for cooling in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Once cooled it should be poured into a ziplock bag.
• When the pot has cooled down, carefully scrape the white crystals off the walls and into another ziplock bag. You want to get just the dry crystals, not the solution.
• Add a small piece of crystal from the ziplock bag and add it to the ziplock bag with the cooling solution.
• This activates the bag and warms up the substance.
• You can now hold on the bag to feel the warmth radiating between your hands.

How to reuse your DIY hand warmer?

• To reuse the bag, toss the bag in boiling water for 1 minute. Once you pull it out, it should be back to its dormant liquid state. Let it cool to room temperature again and you can use it over and over again.

What happened?

When vinegar and baking soda mix, they form a chemical called sodium acetate. That’s your hot ice!

When you dropped the crystals into the solution, that allowed the liquid to crystallize fast! This process of crystallization is an exothermic reaction, which means it releases a lot of heat.

Don’t forget to share this awesome science experiment with your friends and family. 

We can’t wait to see your DIY hand warmers. Email us the pictures at contact@inquibox.com and we would love to feature them on our socials.

Interested in doing different science projects at home? Signup to InquiBox and receive a curated set of activities each month at home. Sign up here.

Extra reading: check out these 11-science experiments to do at home and our blog on 5 wild chemistry science experiments that will blow your mind.