Incredible DIY: This YouTuber Made Infrared Cooling Paint from Grocery Store Items

Love DIY and up for a chemistry challenge? Put away 30 minutes of your time for a fascinating video showing some extreme science and upcycling.

Did you know you can make infrared cooling paint from simple grocery store items? You can, and you definitely should if you watch this video.

YouTuber Nighthawkinlight is one of the best science Youtubers out there and his latest experiment really deserves more views, since it could actually help you cut down on your power bill.

How infrared cooling paint works, via Nighthawk’s videos (Patreon here).

“In this video we explore new methods of making cutting edge radiative sky cooling paint with common grocery and hardware store items. This paint when properly applied can allow for clean, electricity free air conditioning to several degrees below ambient air temperature in direct sunlight,” is the tagline of this video. The best part? You probably have most of the ingredients right in your kitchen, so if you love experiments, do watch it.

Using washing soda, citric acid and calcium chloride, a common desiccant, you could make those high-tech cooling panels that remain cooler than the ambient temperature, even in direct sunlight.

What’s infrared cooling paint? I’ll tell you all about it below because it’s really something that needs to be in your home if you live anywhere where temperatures get high in summer.

In short, an infrared cooling paint is a paint that does not absorb heat and remains cool in the sun. The paint works by reflecting the sun’s infrared rays. It contains microscopic “mirrors” that reflect those rays, which means the paint itself will absorb less heat.

Also read: 8 DIY Tricks Every Photographer Needs To Know

A type of thermal paint, also known as insulating paint, infrared cooling paint is a paint that stays cool in the sun but can burn a hole in your pocket, since it’s not available for cheap.

In a rapidly warming climate, infrared paint will become a necessity. Thanks to this video, you too could get started to get cheap infrared paint to use on your home, greenhouse or other applications. Since Nighthawkinlight is now working on a way to turn this material into an actual paint, by the time he uploads a new video you can probably put together the materials in this one.

I myself plan on painting my tool shed and the dog houses ASAP. Hopefully, my partner won’t mind me repurposing the blender for this.

Also read: Researchers Present A Gel Capable of Getting Huge Amounts of Water Out Of Thin Air – And It’s An Easy DIY Recipe