Nitrocellulose is soluble in a mixture of ethanol and ether until nitrogen concentration exceeds 12%. Soluble nitrocellulose, or a solution thereof, is sometimes called collodion. Magicians' flash paper are sheets of paper consisting of pure nitrocellulose, which burn almost instantly with a bright flash, leaving no ash or smoke. A few years later in 1838, another French chemist, Théophile-Jules Pelouze (teacher of Ascanio Sobrero and Alfred Nobel), treated paper and cardboard in the same way. Disastrous fires related to celluloid or "nitrate film" became regular occurrences in the motion picture industry throughout the silent era and for many years after the arrival of sound film. Because of their fluffy and nearly white appearance, nitrocellulose products are often referred to as cottons, e.g. lacquer cotton, celluloid cotton, and gun cotton. After two minutes, the cotton was removed and washed in cold water to set the esterification level and to remove all acid residue. Table tennis balls, guitar picks, and some photographic films have fairly low esterification levels and burn comparatively slowly with some charred residue.

Decades later, storage at low temperatures was discovered as a means of delaying these reactions indefinitely. Related fires in other medical facilities prompted the growing disuse of nitrocellulose stock for X-rays by 1933, nearly two decades before its use was discontinued for motion-picture films in favour of cellulose acetate film, more commonly known as "safety film". Even after film technology changed, archives of older films remained vulnerable; the 1965 MGM vault fire burned many films that were decades old. A training film for projectionists included footage of a controlled ignition of a reel of nitrate film, which continued to burn even when fully submerged in water. Even on the occasions when nitrate stock did not start a devastating blaze, once flames from other sources spread to large nearby film collections, the resulting combustion greatly intensified the fires and substantially increased the scope of their damage. Cinema fires caused by the ignition of nitrocellulose film stock commonly occurred as well. In 1855, the first human-made plastic, nitrocellulose (branded Parkesine, patented in 1862), was created by Alexander Parkes from cellulose treated with nitric acid and a solvent. Nitrocellulose was found to gradually decompose, releasing nitric acid and further catalyzing the decomposition (eventually into a flammable powder).

Unwashed nitrocellulose (sometimes called pyrocellulose) may spontaneously ignite and explode at room temperature, as the evaporation of water results in the concentration of unreacted acid. The method was to immerse one part of fine cotton in 15 parts of an equal blend of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Practicing with one of these marked cue balls is the fastest way to master English. The various markings tell you where to hit the cue to get a specific type of English or sidespin. Unless you plan on practicing swerve, keep the cue stick level when applying English. They use English to position the cue ball for the next shot. Meaning the cue ball can hit cushions but still be considered a foul if it doesn’t contact an object ball. Acetate film manufactured during the era when nitrate films were still in use was marked "Safety" or "Safety Film" along one edge in dark letters.

The use of nitrate film and the looming threat of its fiery potential were certainly not issues limited to the realm of motion pictures or to commercial still photography. Nitrate dominated the market for professional-use 35 mm motion picture film from the industry's origins to the early 1950s. While cellulose acetate-based safety film, notably cellulose diacetate and cellulose acetate propionate, was produced in the gauge for small-scale use in niche applications (such as printing advertisements and other short films to enable them to be sent through the mails without the need for fire safety precautions), the early generations of safety film base had two major disadvantages relative to nitrate: it was much more expensive to manufacture, and considerably less durable in repeated projection. The use of volatile nitrocellulose film for motion pictures led many cinemas to fireproof their projection rooms with wall coverings made of asbestos. Those additions intended to prevent or at least delay the migration of flames beyond the projection areas.

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