When I heard about fire and ice coexisting together in the form of the Thaw made by Mathmos and sold by ThinkGeek, I was very curious as to what really goes on inside the shiny silver casing of the Thaw. Up until now, I never heard of putting fire and ice together in any form. I though to myself that the fire will most certainly melt the ice right away. Well, turns out that I am wrong in thinking that, as a search of the Internet turns up lots of details of people making ice candles and they appear to work well and look very nice too. What is a ice candle? Its a block of ice made with a hollowed out center so that a candle can be placed in there and the ice used as a light shade. The ice typically will melt slowly and the imperfections in the ice will allow for a unique light shade.
The Mathmos Thaw is a do it yourself ice candle kit. The whole kit is self contained with simple parts that work well.
The specifications of the Thaw are:
- Light: tea light (included)
- Size: 4.75″ x 4.5″ diameter (12cm x 11.5cm)
- Weight: 1 lbs (.45kg)There is a silicon mold, a polished stainless steel outer body, a plastic ice cover ring, and a stainless steel central platform grill and one standard tea candle.
The silicon mold is used to freeze water into the ice light shade. To prep the Thaw for use, the central platform, and the tea candle is set aside. The ice cover ring is pulled off the silicon mold. Water is poured into the mold to a fill line in the mold.
The ice cover ring is then place upside down with its round ring like handle facing upward and pressed into place at the fill line. Then the silicone mold with the outer body is placed in the freezer for 8 hours. After the water freezes in the mold. We’re set for the fun to begin!
Separating the silicone mold from the outer body and then pushing the center of the mold part way into the block of ice and rolling the outside of the mold to help free the block of ice. This took only a tiny bit of effort, as the ice did not stick to the silicone.
There should be no worry of the silicone mold breaking or tearing as it is thick and appears strong and will stand up to repeated freezings. The ice cover ring also is easily removed from the block.
The mold at this point is in a inside out form and needs to be pulled back into its original shape, easy to do as it is soft. Now the Thaw can be reassembled. The mold is placed back into the outer body. The ice ring is placed upside down into the mold with the pull/handle facing downward. The stainless steel central platform grill is placed on top of the mold and the tea candle is placed on the raised center of the grill.
The candle is lit and the block of ice is placed on top of the grill and candle to act as a efficient light shade.
As the ice slowly melts, the water will drip through the grill and down into the mold. Depending on surrounding temperature, the ice shade will last for up to three to four hours.
Those expecting to watch the ice melt will be disappointed as it melts very, very slowly (I admit that I was expecting to watch ice melt). What the Thaw offers is a unique way of getting candle light and it sure delivers in that aspect. I was happy with how easy it was to make the ice light shade. Fans of candles will sure love the Thaw, as will fans of ice.
The Mathmos Thaw is available from ThinkGeek.
MSRP: $ 49.99
What I Like: Ease of making the ice shade
What Needs Improvement: Nothing
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