Do you know how to use a fog machine, or have you ever had one? You probably think that this is a very trivial topic but guess what, most car owners don’t know how to take advantage of this tool especially that we are in a pandemic right now.
Fog machine is highly important, others even view it as an essential investment tool to help protect yourself and your love ones from viruses, bacteria and other possible disease-carrying germs.
As car owners, we don’t just want a cleaner car, but a safe one as well, health-wise.
If you want to sanitize your car and keep it virus-free, then read on and I’ll show you how to properly use a fog machine.
What is a Fog Machine?
There are several terms for fog machine such as fog generator or smoke machine. It is a simple device that release dense vapor, fog-like smoke.
This artificial fog is commonly used in entertainment applications as a stage effect. Overtime, simple and affordable fog machines hit the market and became popular for personal use, basically as a disinfectant tool for home and cars.
So how does a common fog machine work?
Fog machines work by using a fluid to create vapor. These devices are called “fluid-based fog generators”.
They work by heating a mixture of water and glycol, which produces vapor. As vapor expands, it is forced out of a nozzle where the warm, moist vapor mixes with the cooler air, hence forming a fog-like smoke.
Is it Safe to Breathe?
As mentioned above, what a fog machine does is it heats up the fluid till it turns to gas form. It then releases the gas into the air where it condenses into tiny drops.
So safety simply depends on the type of ingredients you are using. Most fog machines (those that are commonly used) use active agents such as propylene glycol, triethylene glycol, glycerin or a mixture of these.
Fluids designed for bacterial disinfection include chlorine-dioxide or hydrogen peroxide-based agents. Now you know how to create your own fog fluid, just like how I showed you how to make your own windshield washer fluid.
Basically, these agents are safe to certain degree assuming that you correctly followed the machine’s proper operation. Why?
Because over-heating the fluid will certainly produce unhealthy or even dangerous byproducts. On the contrary, under-heating the fluid will create fog fluid residue. Both scenarios aren’t going to benefit your health.
So there’s some grey line to these possible health hazards. Fog machine manufacturers design a simple and easy to operate devices to keep their users safe.
Commercial fog machines today have built-in timer, which helps tell the user if the machine is hot enough and ready to dispers the liquid. And a timer that automatically shuts the machine off, preventing overheating.
So there’s two important tips here – buy a fog machine from a reputable manufacturer, and know the ingredients of the fog fluid you are using. Check out some of the best fog machines at Amazon.com.
How to Use a Fog Machine?
Considering that you already purchased your fog machine and disinfecting fog fluid, then it is time to turn on your fog machine for the first time!
A conventional vehicle fog machine needs to pre-heat first before you release the vapor. Just plug the machine to your electric outlet, push the turn on switch and let the machine warm itself up. Yep, just like your big daddy diesel engine.
Give it at least 3 minutes, to 5 minutes, or once you see the red button is turned on.
Once the device is ready, open the fluid bottle (usually 60ml minimum) that you purchased and put the suction hose inside.
Place the machine underneath the steering wheel where the nozzle is facing the under vent of the AC.
Start your car’s engine and turn on your AC to full blast. Make sure that the recirculation button is on to make sure that the vapor won’t exit the car.
Set the timer to at least 3 minutes depending on the amount of fluid you have. Take note that setting the timer will also trigger the release of the vapor. Shut the door and wait for the fluid to get empty.
Once the time is up, pull out the machine from the car and turn off the AC. Shut the door and wait for at least 5 minutes to complete the disinfection process.
After that, open all doors, turn the AC again, and let the fog escape from the car. Do this for at least 3 minutes and you are done!
Conclusion
Now you know how to use your fog machine. The good thing about this device is that, you can also use your fog machine inside your house like your living room or just any part of your house.
You can easily disinfect your car from bacteria and potential viruses like Covid-19 with your fog machine.
To get an easy to understand tutorial on this same topic, watch the video below. Take note that the video is in Tagalog but has an English subtitle. Enjoy!
