{"id":1179,"date":"2021-05-01T05:21:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-01T05:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paintball4all.com\/?p=1179"},"modified":"2021-05-01T05:45:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-01T05:45:14","slug":"what-are-paintballs-made-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paintball4all.com\/what-are-paintballs-made-of\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Paintballs Made Of?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’ve probably wondered, “what are paintballs made of?” and you’re not alone! Paintballs are made from a mixture of ingredients, including water, gelatin, polyethylene glycol (PEG), mineral oils, and iodine food coloring.<\/span><\/p>\n

The outer shell is usually made of a gelatin-based substance. What’s more interesting is that the inside contains water-based dye – which means that they’re solid on the outside but liquid inside!<\/span><\/p>\n

Overview Of Paintball History<\/span><\/h2>\n

Charles Nelson invented the original hand-powered paintball gun in the mid-1960s as an efficient way for forestry engineers to mark trees that needed to be cut down (this historical reason is why a paintball gun is often referred to as a paintball marker.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sport of paintball was invented in the early 1980s in New Hampshire. It emerged from a disagreement between two friends about whether a city-slicker would have the instincts to survive in the wilds. One of them chanced upon an advert for paintball markers, the first game of paintball<\/a> took place, and the rest is history!<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn’t until the late 1980s\/early 1990s that paintball became a widespread sport, with realistic gear and paintball<\/a> guns for playing war games.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Is In Paintballs?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The ingredients for the paint are mineral oils, food coloring, calcium, and ethylene glycol. The gelatin bubble is like an encasing from a pill or vitamin that contains these active materials.<\/span><\/p>\n

What’s more interesting is that the inside contains water-based dye – which means that they’re solid on the outside but liquid on the inside!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Outer Shell<\/span><\/h2>\n

The outer shell is typically made from gelatin material, cellulose acetate, or another type of plastic. The best paintballs<\/a> have an outer shell both tough enough to survive being fired from a gun and soft enough to break on impact, without being so tough that it causes injury.<\/span><\/p>\n

The gelatin shell will often contain a dye so it can be seen more easily on the battlefield. Different colors may be used depending on the company or preference – usually yellow, orange, or red.<\/span><\/p>\n

What’s On The Inside?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The paintball has a water-based, liquid dye inside it. The ball is filled with food-grade, non-toxic ingredients. One of those ingredients is water-soluble polyethylene glycol. It also contains dye that comes from food items.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Are Paintballs Made?<\/span><\/h2>\n

To create the hollow outer shell, water is poured into a heated mixing bowl. A combination of ingredients are added. Then finally, the critical ingredient: shaped gelatin (the same thing used in kids’ lollies).<\/span><\/p>\n

Dye is added to the casing (similar to food coloring). This giant soup is melted, mixed, and filtered. Depending on the intended use, more or less thickener may be used (winter-grade paintballs have stronger shells than standard, so they are less likely to disintegrate inside the barrel of your marker). The complete list of ingredients is treated as a trade secret – no manufacturer will tell you exactly what they use.<\/span><\/p>\n

The gel and fill meet their maker in the feed room, where vats of gelatinous goop are fed into a machine that looks like it’s straight out of Willy Wonka (it’s actually similar to the machines used by pharmaceutical companies to make bath beads and capsules).<\/span><\/p>\n

The machine first spreads out the gel onto a cool drum, creating a continuous thin sheet of gelatin. The cooling part of this process then cures it to where it can be molded into the hollow casing of each ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

The machine presses the gel ribbon into a die with half-circle pockets, forming one half of a ball shell. The machine does this in three steps: it aligns both halves, injects the fill, then seals both halves together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The newly-made balls are soft, and if they aren’t dried out completely, they’ll often lose their shape. The first step is to heat the paintball in a tumble dryer; then the balls go on a drying rack to make sure there’s very little moisture left.<\/span><\/p>\n

How To Clean and Store Paintballs<\/span><\/h2>\n

The best way to look after your unused paintballs is to store them in a cool, dry place. Paintballs can typically be stored for several months at room temperature without degrading too much before use. Refrigeration will slow down this process significantly so that there isn’t any spoilage.<\/span><\/p>\n

A paintball that is not stored correctly will be susceptible to damage and can become unusable quickly. Paintballs are sensitive to temperature, humidity, and sunlight; the most common reason for a damaged paintball round is improper storage.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s essential for players to keep their unused paintballs from coming into contact with chemicals such as gasoline or solvents because this will significantly reduce the lifespan of the ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can You Eat Paintballs??<\/span><\/h2>\n

Paintballs are not toxic, but they are not meant to be eaten. Paintballs are not meant for human consumption and should only be handled by players who understand the risks involved with paintballing.<\/span><\/p>\n

They are edible, but they taste disagreeable, to say the least – check out this video for a tasting experiment!<\/span><\/p>\n

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https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qYbSrdm9Q00<\/a>