Australia's Science Forum

Well, here's a problem I've never encountered before. There was a year 7 class having trouble lighting matches, for some reason the strike plates on the side of the boxes aren't working. Yes, I have recycled the boxes a few times, but no more than I have in the past. Out of the container of 10 boxes at least 4 were no good. What's happened? I suspect foul play! I feel like I'm going to end up with lots of matches and no boxes.

Any ideas, fellow labbies?

wow never encountered that before, its a new one.

They were Redheads, too. I'd understand if I'd bought cheap ones.

I have, had a chemistry teacher use a scaple to scrape the striker edges for the chemical so he could make touch powder. The boxes looked the same but couldn't light a match

Yep, I reckon Redheads boxes are useless these days, after you've used them a couple of times.

I did find a few boxes that I suspect had got wet - the match head just crumbled at the first attempt.

Re-opening an old thread here.
Does anyone have an alternate for lighting the safety matches without the box??
The strike plates on the boxes are not lasting as long as needed so concerned that I'll end up with a whole bunch of matches and no boxes to light them on.

As far as I'm aware there is no easy (read: safe) way to light a safety match without the box. Safety matches are designed so that they do not ignite on anything except the strike-strip on the box, which contains traces of red phosphorous to ignite the match.

I will say that some of our classes (mostly our Yr 7s who are scared of lighting matches) have switched to refillable wand lighters.

We have now switched to the larger 55mm long Redheads as the smaller ones kept breaking .

Also an interesting thing is how folk lit a match .
There seems to be a few methods .

Some hold the Box firm and pull the match past the striker toward them self .This is the way we were taught as kids so you could quickly cup the match and stop the wind blowing it out ..... but it is considered dangerous nowadays .

Some hold the Box firm and pull the match past the striker away from themselves .This is much safer but we still have safety problems with ignited matches that brake off .

Some hold the Box firm and stab the match at an angle into the striker .This method takes practice and for the most part results in the most broken matches and burning of the striker.

What I encourage now is hold the match firmly and move the Box away pulling the striker past it as you go . Seems to result in less broken matches and longer lasting strikers .

Hey bigmack,

We use the "Samba" brand from Bunnings. They are cheap and seem to be a thicker matchstick than the traditional "Redheads". Probably less in a box because of that. Much more difficult to break.

They also light super easy, using ALL of the methods you described. The striker has a really smooth surface.

I've always used the third method; didn't realise there were so many ways to light a match!

We use the refillable gas BBQ lighters.
No matches thrown down the drain.
NO broken matches left anywhere.
They do not seem to walk out the door like matches seem to.

kimmy wrote: ↑28 May 2021, 09:04 We use the refillable gas BBQ lighters.
No matches thrown down the drain.
NO broken matches left anywhere.
They do not seem to walk out the door like matches seem to.

Do you give out a set of gas lighters or one to the teacher and they go around and light them for the students?