Can you make snow by mixing salt and sugar with room-temperature water? The answer is so obviously “no” that it’s wild how popular this hoax has become on TikTok.
The hoax was popularized by TikToker @itsavage, a verified account specializing in pranks, comedy videos, and amateur science experiments. Typical videos include him claiming to “heal” a smashed plate by soaking it in milk, or “breathing smoke” after eating ice cubes and lemon slices.
Racking up more than 21 million views since it was posted on Jan. 22, @itsavage’s “instant snow” TikTok shows him mixing two containers of white powder, allegedly salt and sugar. When he pours water onto the mixture, it fluffs up into something vaguely resembling snow.
This inspired a flood of copycat videos in late January and early February, with people either “proving” that you can make snow from salt and sugar—or debunking the @itsavage TikTok as a hoax. Since then the salt/sugar/water recipe has got its own Know Your Meme page, and spread to YouTube.
As many TikTokers and YouTubers have pointed out, @itsavage was probably using a product known as Instant Snow, a just-add-water substance that begins as a white powder. Here’s a TikToker sarcastically revealing a container of Instant Snow after appearing to make “snow” from salt and sugar:
Elsewhere, you’ll find TikTokers demonstrating Instant Snow to a similar effect. It appeared in prank videos long before the salt/sugar hoax took hold, and you sometimes see it being used by slime-making accounts. “Mixing stuff together to make a weird-textured substance” is the main formula for going viral in the slime community, and it’s a popular theme in @itsavage’s other viral videos.
Six weeks after the initial wave of debunks died down, the hoax is back, with the TikTokers @twinstylee posting their own version of this hoax to their 14.2 million followers. So now we’re seeing more instant snow videos, as a new group of TikTokers either prank their followers, or discover that salt and sugar just dissolve in water.
Instant Snow is a perfect hoax for TikTok. It’s simple and camera-friendly. It’s easy to copy and easy to disprove using household products. And while some people do fall for it, much of the hoax’s engagement comes from TikTokers who know it’s fake, reacting in amusement or frustration.
The comments section of @itsavage’s original TikTok is full of people pointing out that he’s not actually using salt and sugar… but they still shared the video in droves.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @itsavage via TikTok comment.
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