Trying to crack the original formula- why was kerosene used?

[Ant Bee]

In my quest to figure out exactly what the original formula is, one thing I haven't figured out is why they used Kerosene in the mixture.  It seems like it was a very small part of the mixture, something like 7% by volume.

But what was the point?  Did it act as a preservative, or enhance the flow, or help to bind everything together?

Speculations?

[tim]

i added some more wax and some SLS and now it flows amazingly well! easily the coolest lava lamp i own. thanks everyone for your help.

[Allan_Mazek]

     Finished my simplest lava lamp, by using just wax, perc, liquid paraffin and resin die, as it was my main goal. I like to work with mass because it is invariant like volume, and below there's my recipe (in percentages of total mass) for this lamp in the link:

- 46% paraffin wax

- 12% paraffin oil

- 42% perchloroethylene

https://youtube.com/shorts/cGLyL7QA9iQ?feature=share

     It doen't show on this particular video, but one annoying issue I've been facing is the origination of bubles of water inside the lava. They form in the space below the wax contained by the coil ring and rise crazy fast inside the lava. The effect is kinda cool, but as time passes the lava becomes bubbly and a bit foamy, returning to its original state as the lava cools again.

[tim]

nice lamp!

Allan_Mazek said:

     Finished my simplest lava lamp, by using just wax, perc, liquid paraffin and resin die, as it was my main goal. I like to work with mass because it is invariant like volume, and below there's my recipe (in percentages of total mass) for this lamp in the link:

- 46% paraffin wax

- 12% paraffin oil

- 42% perchloroethylene

https://youtube.com/shorts/cGLyL7QA9iQ?feature=share

     It doen't show on this particular video, but one annoying issue I've been facing is the origination of bubles of water inside the lava. They form in the space below the wax contained by the coil ring and rise crazy fast inside the lava. The effect is kinda cool, but as time passes the lava becomes bubbly and a bit foamy, returning to its original state as the lava cools again.