by Emily Strobel

Created on: May 18, 2008

Invisible ink is a form of stenography, which is simply the art of writing hidden messages without letting the recipient know that there is, in fact, a message being sent. There is another form that is close to this: cryptography is a message that the recipient must riddle out. However, it is not hidden like stenography. Cryptography includes a code that has to be figured out and then the meaning will reveal itself once the code is broken. Invisible ink is one of many ways to write secret messages for whatever purpose desired.

One easy way to make an invisible ink is to use lemon juice. You can take a toothpick, moisten the tip with the lemon juice, then use the toothpick as a writing utensil and write what you want to on any kind of piece of paper. Then, to reveal the message, you use a hair dryer to dry the juice and the message should come up in a brown color.

That is the easier way to write secretive messages. But another way that you can make invisible ink is to get the following materials:
Corn starch, a hot plate, toothpicks, a pan, iodine solution, water, paper, and a small sponge.

First, set up the hot plate before you begin this procedure. Then, you want to put 1 teaspoon of iodine into 10 teaspoons of water so it's not heavily concentrated.

Now, mix about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 4 teaspoons of water in the pan and stir it up until it's completely smooth. Heat the mixture on the hot plate for a few minutes and stir it with the toothpick.

Then, take the pan off the plate, take a toothpick and dip it into the water-corn starch mixture. Write what you want on the paper. Let it dry completely.

When the message dries, dip the small sponge into the iodine solution and wipe the paper where the message is. But be careful not to get the paper too wet. When you are finished, the message should appear purple.

Now, you can use this method in many ways. It can be used for anti-counterfeiting, marking property, marking for identification purposes, or hand-stamping for readmission into an event or a special occasion. Invisible ink can simply serve to the use of kids having fun writing secret messages to each other. It is used for by many different kinds of people and occupations. Secret agents use it for their secret purposes to be able to solve a crime. It can serve to the purpose of many activities and doings, but we all know it's merely a cool way to be secretive.

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