What's Your Household Like?

I like to visit News of the Weird occasionally to remind myself that sometimes weird is merely weird. However, this item (which I'd seen before) caught my eye (so to speak):

A 17-year-old boy lost sight in both eyes in a "potato gun" accident in Denton, Texas, in April. The "gun" (a length of pipe in which a household explosive is ignited, propelling a potato out the other end, although in this case, it was not a potato but a frog) was being experimented with by several teenagers but failed to fire, and the victim, who had been a mere bystander, stepped up to have a look down the pipe to see what might have gone wrong, just as the gun finally fired.

(emphasis added)

Household explosive? I know I don't keep with all the latest trends, but I don't remember seeing any "household explosives" mentioned in the "Home & Garden" section of the local fishwrap. Is this something new for getting rid of stubborn stains? Mice? Opening jars? Clearing drains?

Nobody tells me anything.