Turning cotton balls into cotton candy

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Published 2021-09-03
For a couple years now, I've been wanting to turn cotton balls into edible (and literal) cotton candy. It took me a while to figure out how to do it, but I finally did it!

This is kind of a follow-up to my previous project, where I turned toilet paper into drinkable alcohol (moonshine). In that one, I used an enzyme called cellulase, but that didn't seem to work here. So, instead, I used concentrated sulfuric acid.

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Nile talks about lab safety:    • Chemistry is dangerous.  

Music in credits (Walker by SORRYSINES): soundcloud.com/sorrysines/walker

All Comments (21)
  • @IncredibleMD
    "And hopefully won't poison me." So, anyway, I added 75% pure sulfuric acid.
  • @JoeyKlu
    I would have assumed the Canadian Customs department would be familiar with him by now.
  • @Ultrazucced
    you can always see the switch from chemist to cook and where his abilities and skill set swaps from genius to 7 year old figuring out how a toaster works love this guy
  • @brianknow9142
    This dude had got to be on the watch list. Canada is like, why are you buying powder? Dude is a genius in chemistry.
  • @ryanchia8764
    3yr old: Is cotton candy made from cotton? The parent: No it's not. NileRed: You are not going to believe this.
  • @samueljele
    "Based on almost nothing, I've decided" is a phrase I'm going to use in my next lab report
  • @hagendietze9881
    As a German, this is a very interesting and linguistically easy-to-understand channel. keep it up :)
  • @superspies32
    About the color of the glucose, its actually the original color you saw from Sugar crane extraction. In factory they use SO2 gas or H3PO4 and centrifuge to clear the color
  • @memelordmarcus
    "The Canadian Government kept seizing packages and holding them for months." He's definitely on a watch list, if he wasn't already.
  • With no knowledge of chemistry, this makes me feel like a medieval peasant witnessing alchemy.
  • @jeweledstone
    Dude, you are like a literal modern day alchemist. I wouldn’t be surprised if you somehow turned lead into gold!
  • @xsalixartz59
    This channel actually somewhat boosts my self-esteem, because there are a few things that I’m able to understand from prior knowledge /gen
  • @peekaloo12
    The fact that NileRed is more confident with sulfuric acid than he is with just a regular cotton candy maker is cracking me up
  • @justintr4888
    I love how every step is explained in the tone of someone trying to explain the long chain of events that led to the backyard shed burning down.
  • @jesusruiz6733
    These are the best videos to watch, especially before going to bed
  • @silly_goofs
    i would really love to just THINK like Nile for one day. does every object i look at just make me wonder "hmm yeah i could probably turn that into food"
  • @ryanawol77
    While it is fantastic that you're trying to be more independent with your monetization, I think it's also OK for you to continue getting sponsorships. This is due to your "long-form" content relative to the typical ~10minute Youtubers out there. These youtubers would spend 2-4 minutes talking about a product they may or may not use/like, then proceed to give us 6-8 minutes of content including the intro and outro. So because of your channel's long-form videos, it is very appropriate for you to have it sponsored by a company or 2, given that it wouldn't eat up a bunch of meaningful video length.
  • Someone once told me that NileRed talks like he's about to end every sentence with "but then something went wrong" and now I can't unhear it
  • @ravenlunityc1271
    Listen nile! I make cotton candy for a living and my business started from buying one of these little machines for my kids, i was so hoping you would use an industrial machine because these little toys ones suck in comparison! Your cotton candy would have looked exactly the same as it did here had you used table sugar, hard candies etc! Maybe revisit using your caramelized glucose in a better machine in the future i feel you would have greater success with getting that perfect fluffy thin webbing. Still a super cool video to see tho keep it up man!
  • @user-ui5iv3bk1c
    Now I feel like he could make A LITERAL SHIRT into cotton candy instead of just cotton balls-