DIY Octopalm - A How-to Guide

First off:

This is the guide/tutorial NO ONE ASKED FOR 😊, and let me explain.

The original product, as is, is perfect in terms of quality, price, and the tutorial that comes with it (Jim Bodine is the creator, and with Eric Jones, you get almost 2 hours of explanations).

I bought it almost 9 years ago, I've used it quite a bit, and I still have some product left today.

On the other hand, making this product yourself at home is tedious, requiring a lot of time and a ton of patience.

So the obvious question is, why the $&#@ make it yourself if the original product is good, cheap, and saves you a lot of hassle?

Well, it's simple: just for the sake of knowing.

Then everyone can decide if they want to do it or not.

LET ME REPEAT, IN CASE IT WASN'T CLEAR:

At the very least, anyone wanting to do this should buy the original product once to understand how to use it.

And chances are, if you buy the original product, you won't want to make your own anymore 😄. (mostly for convenience).

Alright, I've made my point, let's get to the guide.

A brief history.

Octopalm is basically a sticky paste that lets us attach things to our body, with the unique characteristic of the "pressure" applied.

Initially, if you don't apply a certain amount of pressure where the paste is, it won't activate or stick, and therefore shouldn't bother you while you're doing other things.

In other words, it's a repositionable glue/adhesive to apply on the skin that only works when you apply pressure to it.

Someone might ask, "Zeta mentioned he bought it 9 years ago and it still lasts, how is that possible?"

Very simple: NEVER use the original container for working with it.

Just get a smaller container, transfer a certain amount from the original to the smaller one, and use that until it runs out.

Store the original product, unopened (except to refill the small container) and you'll maintain its quality.

There's not much more to say about the original product.

Let's move on to making a similar product yourself at home.

MATERIALS

Not much, really...

First, rosin, which has many names depending on the country, but it's basically the same thing: conifer resin.

Then, alcohol (the MOST ideal would be isopropyl alcohol, but it's more expensive and not easily accessible everywhere, so regular alcohol will work).

Regular alcohol has impurities and will make the process more tedious (especially during evaporation), but it's the most economical option.

̶T̶H̶E̶R̶E̶ ̶I̶S̶ ̶A̶ ̶T̶H̶I̶R̶D̶ ̶M̶A̶T̶E̶R̶I̶A̶L̶ ̶F̶O̶R̶ ̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶F̶I̶N̶A̶L̶ ̶P̶A̶R̶T̶,̶ ̶A̶B̶O̶U̶T̶ ̶W̶H̶I̶C̶H̶ ̶I̶ ̶W̶I̶L̶L̶ ̶S̶A̶Y̶ ̶N̶O̶T̶H̶I̶N̶G̶ ̶H̶E̶R̶E̶.̶

̶I̶T̶ ̶I̶S̶N̶'̶T̶ ̶S̶T̶R̶I̶C̶T̶L̶Y̶ ̶N̶E̶C̶E̶S̶S̶A̶R̶Y̶ ̶U̶N̶T̶I̶L̶ ̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶E̶N̶D̶ ̶O̶F̶ ̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶P̶R̶O̶C̶E̶S̶S̶,̶ ̶B̶U̶T̶ ̶I̶T̶'̶S̶ ̶A̶N̶ ̶I̶M̶P̶O̶R̶T̶A̶N̶T̶ ̶K̶E̶Y̶.̶

̶A̶F̶T̶E̶R̶ ̶T̶H̶I̶S̶ ̶P̶U̶B̶L̶I̶C̶A̶T̶I̶O̶N̶,̶ ̶I̶'̶L̶L̶ ̶D̶I̶S̶C̶U̶S̶S̶ ̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶D̶E̶T̶A̶I̶L̶S̶ ̶I̶N̶ ̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶M̶A̶G̶I̶C̶ ̶S̶C̶H̶O̶O̶L̶.̶

̶I̶F̶ ̶Y̶O̶U̶'̶R̶E̶ ̶N̶O̶T̶ ̶I̶N̶ ̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶S̶C̶H̶O̶O̶L̶ ̶B̶U̶T̶ ̶A̶R̶E̶ ̶I̶N̶T̶E̶R̶E̶S̶T̶E̶D̶ ̶I̶N̶ ̶K̶N̶O̶W̶I̶N̶G̶,̶ ̶Y̶O̶U̶ ̶S̶I̶M̶P̶L̶Y̶ ̶N̶E̶E̶D̶ ̶T̶O̶ ̶M̶E̶E̶T̶ ̶2̶ ̶R̶E̶Q̶U̶I̶R̶E̶M̶E̶N̶T̶S̶;̶

̶1̶º̶ ̶L̶I̶K̶E̶ ̶T̶H̶I̶S̶ ̶G̶U̶I̶D̶E̶ ̶A̶N̶D̶ ̶2̶º̶ ̶W̶R̶I̶T̶E̶ ̶M̶E̶ ̶A̶ ̶P̶R̶I̶V̶A̶T̶E̶ ̶M̶E̶S̶S̶A̶G̶E̶ ̶A̶N̶D̶ ̶I̶'̶L̶L̶ ̶H̶A̶P̶P̶I̶L̶Y̶ ̶T̶E̶L̶L̶ ̶Y̶O̶U̶ ̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶T̶H̶I̶R̶D̶ ̶S̶E̶C̶R̶E̶T̶ ̶C̶O̶M̶P̶O̶N̶E̶N̶T̶ ̶T̶H̶A̶T̶ ̶M̶A̶K̶E̶S̶ ̶E̶V̶E̶R̶Y̶T̶H̶I̶N̶G̶ ̶W̶O̶R̶K̶ ̶P̶E̶R̶F̶E̶C̶T̶L̶Y̶.̶

The third ingredient is for the final part of the process.

I'll talk about it in a video that I'll add at the end of the post.

Okay, with your materials – alcohol and rosin – you simply need to dissolve the rosin in the alcohol.

For that, you first need to turn the rosin into as fine a powder as possible.

Reusing kitchen spice grinders (in this case, for Himalayan salt) and using it to grind the rosin helps make a very fine powder.

SAFETY NOTE: Fine rosin powder can be VERY HARMFUL if inhaled, so you must be very careful when handling it.

Moving on...

Once you have a certain amount of rosin powder, the next step is to get a container, add the powder to it, and dissolve it in alcohol.

Shake repeatedly until everything is perfectly dissolved and no residue is visible.

And from here, you've got your "elixir."

Now, ironically, we need to remove most of the alcohol through evaporation.

You can use any type of container that's easy to handle; you just need to leave the mixture in it and wait..., and wait..., and wait...

and wait....,

and wait....,

and wait....,

and wait....,

Am I making myself clear???

and wait....,

and wait....,

and wait....,

😅 😅

In this photo, you can see the container on the left is more liquid but is in the process of evaporating and thus getting darker.

The container on the right was already on its third or fourth evaporation, which is why it looks denser, almost half full.

In this photo, we see 3 containers from left to right, from least dense to most dense.

In this photo, we see 6 containers from left to right, from least dense to most dense.

That's right, you fill the container with rosin alcohol, and once almost all the alcohol has evaporated and a dense mass remains, you add alcohol back to the top of the container and wait for it to evaporate again.

This is how you get higher and higher concentrations of your product.

Regarding evaporation:

Empty container:

Container full of our "elixir" the first time:

Container full of our "elixir" the first time (the one on the left) and the same container filled the same way but 24 hours later (the one on the right):

After 24 hours, you can observe how much it has condensed and how thick it has become:

So, just add more "elixir" to the thickened result and wait another 24 hours:

Every 24 hours, in addition to the alcohol evaporation, you'll observe how the concentration of your product progressively increases.

Final note: Remember, there's one more thing to add to make the homemade product very similar to the original.

Because made just like this, even though it's similar, it's still a paste that sticks to everything and is difficult to handle.

̶I̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶f̶o̶r̶m̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶v̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶f̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶(̶̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶d̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶̶)̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶.̶

̶A̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶d̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶p̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶s̶k̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶v̶i̶a̶ ̶m̶e̶s̶s̶a̶g̶e̶.̶

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The third ingredient is this:

https://magigram.com/es/club/cardistry/fanning-powder-o-simplemente-estearato-de-zinc-1106/

Here's the video that explains it.

(remember, my videos are raw, no editing or anything, just as they come out, so please excuse me if I stumble over my words or have a lapse 😅, ask any questions you have)