This video from NightHawkInLight talks about an interesting fireproof material named Starlite, which was invented by a hairdresser, which should have changed the world, but didn’t… because the inventor was so secretive that he refused to even let samples of Starlite out of his sight, and as far as we know, he told his formula to nobody before he died in 2011.

The video host noticed that Starlite produced a foam in response to flame, which reminded him of some experiments he’d done in the past… so he went to work and came up with a formula that can be made using common household ingredients that you might have in your home right now:

• Baking soda
• Corn starch
• Elmer’s glue

Mix up a batch that’s 90% corn starch and 10% baking soda, then add enough white glue to turn it into a putty. You’re done!

He places a thin layer on a flimsy plastic cup and shows us that a blowtorch flame won’t conduct heat through his newly-made putty.

Afterward, he tells viewers why it works… and explains why it becomes cool enough to touch just seconds after a flame has been removed from it.

Has he re-created Starlite? Nobody knows… but it’s still a really interesting material that’s easy to make, and could be just the thing for insulating a home forge — or even just blocking the heat from a soldering torch during home plumbing repairs, so you don’t set your house on fire.

Or use it along with a camp stove while backpacking, camping, etc. The possibilities, as they say, are astounding.