How to Make a Smoke Bomb Part 5 of 6

Make Colored Smoke Bombs

This is a purple smoke grenade, used during a military training exercise. The typical colored smoke bomb is like a normal white smoke bomb, with a dye released into the smoke.

U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol)

The recipes for colored smoke bombs require chemicals that may not be readily available unless you have access to a chemistry lab, but it's worth knowing how it's done. Parts or percents are by weight. The ingredients are sifted together and ignited to produce the smoke. White Smoke Recipe

• Potassium nitrate - 4 parts
• Charcoal - 5 parts
• Sulfur - 10 parts
• Wood dust - 3 parts

Red Smoke Recipe

• Potassium chlorate - 15%
• para-nitroaniline red - 65%
• Lactose - 20%

Green Smoke Recipe

• Synthetic indigo - 26%
• Auramine (yellow) - 15%
• Potassium chlorate - 35%
• Lactose - 26%

Reference: The formulations for colored smoke bombs came from Wouter's Practical Pyrotechnics, who cited the recipes as originating from L.P. Edel, "Mengen en Roeren", 2nd edition (1936).
You can also make a smoke bomb with colored flames...