Jan on Facebook shared with us a video posted on LittleThings.com for making your own disposable hand warmers.
The formula makes what is known as “Hot Ice,” and the ingredients require only baking soda, vinegar and boiling water The post includes a video from Household Hacker with everything you need to know to create the Hot Ice-based warmers.
The output appears much like the reusable liquid hand warmers we’ve seen where you “flip” a metal disc inside a liquid pouch and it instantly starts to turn more solid and produce heat. The homemade version heats up to 130 degrees. And like the store-bought warmers, once they are fully solid and cooled off, they need to be reheated before they are ready to use again.
Sounds like a great way to save money on warmers, but it is a process boiling down the water, dealing with the smelly vinegar, and reheating the warmer bags for reuse, so there are trade-offs. The hand warmers take about an hour to make (but then there’s the clean up…). For those who prefer making their own heat, we’re glad to pass along the info. Here’s a link to the blog post, and here’s the video.