If you keep your fireworks after the sell-by date, will they go off? | Notes and Queries

If you keep your fireworks after the sell-by date, will they go off?

Jeremy Whiteley, Oxford, UK

• YES quite certainly! The ability of black powder ( which largely fills fireworks ) to be long lasting is well known. It is not unknown for antique firearms and ammunition to be fired accidentally after being found loaded after 200 years or more. As an art & antique restorer, I warn about this possibility in my guide to handling antiques, "First Aid for Art & Antiques". If you are ever in a position of finding a weapon, great great grandad's old flintlock for example, that you suspect or consider could still be loaded, please lock it away securely without attempting to play with it, and seek expert advice - ie, that of a professional gunmaker who will be able to safely remove the charge, and not the bloke ( probably only ever seen wearing camouflage) down the road who claims to 'know' all about guns! A gunsmith will visit and give you serious advice on the legalities of the matter too. A gun loaded 100 years ago can still kill or maim you, so take no chances! Old fireworks will last a long, long, time if stored correctly ~ the sell by date means very little in this context. However it is possible that subject to movement and vibration, the contents of a firework may be disturbed and settle out into their various granule sizes, in which case the firework may be unreliable and not work in the intended way, proving dangerous. Having said this, a few years ago I found a lot of fireworks which we had packed away in the 60s and forgotten ~ they worked fine and, even better, the left over empty boxes etc, sold very well on ebay, bought need I say, by firework anoraks! Use common sense, if you have had these fireworks undisturbed in a cupboard for a couple of years, there should be no problem if you handle them safely in a sensible way, wearing gloves and lighting them at arms length using a long taper stick, and then retiring a good few yards immediately. If you wish to dispose of them, soak them in a bucket of water overnight and then bury them around a foot deep in the garden. This will not be a problem ecologically as the major components of the contents are commonly and naturally found substances and the cases are largely cardboard and clay, there is very little powder in most fireworks. If in doubt, 'don't' is the watchword, I am not recommending or suggesting that you should actually let these off! Incidentally, the "Sell By Date" on SOME foodstuffs is also meaningless, tin cans in good condition have been opened and the food eaten, many decades after they were sold, the contents still in excellent condition ( the original idea of canning was to preserve food for very long periods ) ~ but don't try this at home unless you are me. Hope this helps.

  Ken, Ashford england