Lamp oil - kerosene or parrafin

C

Charlie_K

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Jul 16, 2012
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Once again I find myself in need of help from the community, because I'm simply not finding the answers I need on my own.

Would you classify this more as kerosene, or the liquid wax that we call paraffin in the states?



I think it's closer to kerosene than anything else, because it seems to work well not only with the 1/8" round wick



But also the 7/8" flat wick



Is there a particular way to tell the two apart, since so much of the terminology is being used interchangeably?
 
Its all a matter of grades. Lamp oil is also known as liquid paraffin, so you did have that right. And to the best of my understanding is a little more pure, and a little "heavier" than kerosene, but they are close. I honestly don't know that there is any definition for them, apart from what sellers put on the label.
 
gadgetgeek said:
Its all a matter of grades. Lamp oil is also known as liquid paraffin, so you did have that right. And to the best of my understanding is a little more pure, and a little "heavier" than kerosene, but they are close. I honestly don't know that there is any definition for them, apart from what sellers put on the label.
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Yeah that can be a real problem. The only thing I really know for certain is what others have said, about paraffin not working with a 7/8" flat wick, and generally being for the smaller round wicks found in liquid candles.
 
It seems to me that the commercial "lamp oil" burns very similar to kerosene but is cleaner and with less smell. It does cost more than kerosene.
I'd use lamp oil indoors and kerosene outdoors.

I love kerosene lights. Living in the Philmont backcountry camps for seven years, kerosene glass lamps and hurricane lamps, were often the only lighting available. They just used kerosene for everything, no consumer marketed "lamp oil."
 
Bob W said:
It seems to me that the commercial "lamp oil" burns very similar to kerosene but is cleaner and with less smell. It does cost more than kerosene.
I'd use lamp oil indoors and kerosene outdoors.

I love kerosene lights. Living in the Philmont backcountry camps for seven years, kerosene glass lamps and hurricane lamps, were often the only lighting available. They just used kerosene for everything, no consumer marketed "lamp oil."
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You're definitely not alone in loving oil lamps.



My affliction is a bit advanced though. We got caught off guard by the last power outage we had, so it's possible that I might be overcompensating as a result.
 
There could be heavier grades that don't like the flat wick, and lighter ones that do? I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if they were all a little different, depending on who made them (not necessarily the brand, but the factory)
 
I have two bottles different bottles labeled lamp oil. One is clear and has no odor. The other is blue and smells like cinnamon with a very faint kerosene odor. Kerosene smells like......kerosene.
 
UffDa said:
I have two bottles different bottles labeled lamp oil. One is clear and has no odor. The other is blue and smells like cinnamon with a very faint kerosene odor. Kerosene smells like......kerosene.
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Just took a whiff of the oil. It's been a couple of years since my last experience with actual kerosene, but it smells pretty similar to what I remember.
 
What I was told to use was the synthetic fuel used for Kerosene heaters (it's not kero, trust me)... it has very little smell and burns very clean.
 
Might be Medallion Lamp Oil/Kerosene Substitute. Google W.T. Kirkman oil lamps. Great source of info.
 
I think I finally got the answers I've been after. I finally took a really close look at the FAQ section of the Kirkman website, and found Florasense oil is listed as an approved fuel for use in flat wick oil lamps.
 
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