It's So Easy To Make Your Own Fog Machine Juice For Halloween—here's How

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Eerily tilted gravestones sprout from the lawn, skeletal hands reach through the ground from their tombs, and otherworldly pairs of eyes glow from unexpected corners. All that's missing from this spooky graveyard scene (which you can make with Dollar Tree supplies) is some ethereal fog that shifts and flows like spirits awakening from the dead. Fog machines are now affordable enough that most Halloween enthusiasts can add them to their decorating arsenal (like this $39 model from ATDAWN). But when the fog-making liquid costs nearly as much as the machine itself, this spooky enhancement becomes a lot less attainable.

Why spend over $20 per gallon for fog liquid when you can mix up your own concoction for a fraction of the price? With nothing more than distilled water and vegetable glycerin, you can make fear-inducing fog in minutes. What's more, you can tweak the proportions of these two liquids (and add a bit of propylene glycol) to make thicker, low-lying fog. You might even want to put the bucks you'll save on fog liquid toward more Halloween accessories for an over-the-top decorated home this year.

The main ingredient in this DIY fog juice is distilled water, which is also essential for cleaning out the fog machine afterward. Minerals in tap water could clog the narrow tubing, and a run-through with straight distilled water after a fog-making session will help keep the inner workings in tip-top shape. To make your own fog juice, grab 1 gallon of distilled water and 1 quart of vegetable glycerin from the grocery store. (Just keep in mind that vegetable glycerin is often made from palm oil, which is notoriously unsustainable, so if possible, purchase a product made from soy or coconut oils instead.) The basic mixture is 3 parts distilled water to 1 part vegetable glycerin, so to make 1 gallon of fog machine liquid, combine 1 quart of glycerin with 3 quarts of water. You can also adjust the thickness of your fog by adjusting the amount of vegetable glycerin you use. Less glycerin will give you a thinner effect, while more can create low-lying fog.

This mixture is simple and effective, but to really transform your yard for Halloween, buy a bottle of propylene glycol. This stuff is a primary ingredient in lots of store-bought fog machine liquids, and adding this to your distilled water and vegetable glycerin mixture will create a fog that's unbelievably billowy and thick. Instead of a full quart of glycerin, mix ½ quart each of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin with 3 quarts of distilled water. You can also experiment with higher ratios of propylene glycol to glycerin for an unforgettable foggy evening.