If you decide that making your own powder is too much trouble, you can buy it from science and hobby supply stores or online.
Wear an oven mitt or use a dishtowel to protect your hand from the heat. Always be careful when working with an open flame. Children should have adult supervision.
Repeat these steps to make more soot as many times as you’d like. Scraping soot is very messy. If you want to avoid getting soot on your fingers, wear gloves. Similarly, cover your workspace with a towel to keep it clean.
For example, if you collected a ¼ cup of soot, you would need to add a ¼ cup of corn starch.
Keep the container on a shelf in a low-traffic area. Otherwise, someone may knock the powder over and create a sooty mess.
Avoid trying to lift prints from soft, pliable surfaces. These surfaces require a special fingerprinting chemical. [4] X Research source
Gently blow on the fingerprint to help remove excess powder.
Smooth out any wrinkles in the tape before lifting the print.
You can catalogue one finger or all ten if you’d like. If you record all ten fingers, it will be easier to identify found prints.
Write the fingerprint classification for each family member on their fingerprint card. The different shapes can also lean left or right. [7] X Research source If so, indicate which direction the whirl, loop, or arch leans on the family members fingerprint card.
Store successfully identified fingerprints on the back of their respective fingerprint card. This will make future identifications easier.
