But he did reveal some key ingredients. Katzel: Inside of a lava lamp, you've got wax, which is mostly paraffin wax. That's your lava. Jones: Paraffin wax is a common wax made from petroleum.
The pressure lamp was, however, more complicated to light. The paraffin had to go through a control tap and on to a vapourising tube which was pre-heated using methylated spirit in a torch cup ...