Making your own Invisible Ink

If you are fascinated by the concept of writing with invisible ink it could lead to an interesting science project. After all if you can find the right combination of chemicals you could use anything for making invisible ink. The natural invisible ink that is available freely in most of our homes is the juice of citrus fruits such as lemon and orange.

You can just squeeze the juice and begin writing. Reading what you have written is also simple. Just warm up the paper with an electrical iron slightly and the words will jump out of the page. Its kid stuff really. Now if you are looking for something a bit more complicated which your kid brother will not be able to read by merely heating up the paper, read on.

Here’s what you need to make your own invisible ink. Take 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 4 teaspoons of water and mix them in a small pan. Heat the mixture for a few minutes and stir constantly. Dip a toothpick in the mixture and write out your letter on paper. Let it dry.

Now to read the message you need to make a solution of 1 teaspoon of iodine in 10 teaspoons of water. Use a small sponge to dab the solution on to the secret letter. The writing will appear purple. Just make sure that you don’t use too much of the solution or you may just wipe out the message altogether. Have fun with the science project making many secret messages.