Buy Mathmos (Lava Lamps)

Member Name: DCSellman

Product:	Lava Lamps
Date:	05/12/08 (248 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good build quality, last a long-time

Disadvantages: Lava lamps are tacky!!

Lava lamps can, somewhat suprisingly, be quite hit and miss.

The main factors that determine whether or not a Lava-lamp will work well and look good for a longtime are;

The wax. If this is to cheap it will lose its consistancy with the constant heating and cooling and eventually it will stop working altogether. It can also turn the liquid cloudy.

The build quality. A cheap one will more than likely have the following problem;

Poor wiring causing the lava-lamp to overheat quickly. A sign of this will be lots of blown bulbs. Cheap ones will also get tarnished very quickly.

Also, never by one that can plug directly into the wall. These can short in the socket and have been known to cause fires.

My recommendation to anyone looking to by a lava-lamp, whether it plugs directly into the wall or has a lead, would be spend a bit of extra money abd buy a Mathmos. Mathmos make some really good quality lamps, with some pretty funky designs.

This isn't just opinion either. I used to work in a shop where they sold cheap lamps and mathmos. We sold more cheap ones, with loads of returns, whilst I never saw mathmos come back.

Summary: If you want a tacky lamp, buy mathmos