How To Make Pepper Spray At Home?
Pepper spray is a popular and ancient self defense tool. It was originally used by Chinese to fight enemies by throwing it on their faces. Japanese warriors also used it in the battlefield. It is amusing that a primary defense tool, pepper spray can be prepared at home with a simple formula. This article will discuss how to make pepper spray at home and whether it is a viable option or not?
The main active agent in Pepper spray is OC (Oleoresin Capsicum). The effectiveness of OC depends on its derivative. The source of OC decides how effective the pepper spray is. The scoville heat unit (SHU) rating indicates the effectiveness of pepper spray. A pepper spray with high SHU is regarded better. A standard spray contains 2 million SHU.
The OC in pepper spray is derived from chili pepper like jalapeno, chiletpin or cayenne pepper. The extracted pepper is grounded and mixed in either water or oil. After grounding the pepper, it is put in ethanol which evaporates with time leaving behind oleoresin capsicum which acquires a wax like consistency. Then OC is suspended in water or oil and pressurized to make aerosol in pepper spray. Pepper spray is then packed in canisters with nozzles that can be effectively used to spray the pepper on the enemy’s face.
The industrial production of pepper spray started only after 1980s in US when the postal department started using it as a dog repellent. Before that, pepper sprays were homemade. But the question is how to make pepper spray at home? The way to make pepper spray at home is simple. Decide which chili juice you want to use for making pepper spray – jalapeno, cayenne or chiletpin? Ground the pepper finely to extract pepper juice, mix it in water and shake well. Your pepper spray is ready. You can also use the pepper juice as it is without mixing in water. After this we need to store this mixture in suitable canisters with spray nozzles.
The industrial method of manufacturing pepper spray is definitely on a large scale. High capacity machines are used to ground pepper spray, suspend the particles in water or oil and pack it properly in usable canisters.
Although making pepper spray at home is not a big deal but there are a few challenges involved. Let’s have a look:
- For the pepper spray to be effective the pepper should be very finely grounded so that it is easily soluble with water or oil. Pepper sprays with coarsely ground pepper are not very effective. At home it is a little difficult to attain the fineness as that in industries. They have big and heavy machines to crush the pepper.
- Best pepper sprays are properly mixed with oil or water. When you make the spray at home the ground pepper might not mix well with the base. In that case, the pepper can get settled at the bottom leaving behind the water at the top. So when you use this spray, it will not produce a desired result.
- Even if you are able to make pepper spray at home, the biggest challenge is to store these sprays. You need a suitable canister that comes with a spray nozzle. Industrial sprays come in small sizes that are easy to carry and hide in purses and pockets.
Thus, making pepper spray at home is not impossible but definitely homemade pepper sprays are not as effective as industrial ones. So next time, before you ponder on how to make pepper spray at home, consider buying one from the market. It is an inexpensive product and readily available in market.
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