How to clean and use an old-fashioned kerosene lantern

soot will be caused by running your wick too high by a poorly trimmed wick or a wick trimmed to a point, by not letting your wick absorb enough fuel at light up (a dry wick), by using a contaminated wick that will have poor capillary action (what amounts to a dry wick so change the wick for a new one) or by burning the wrong fuel. When your lamp or lantern makes soot it is also making carbon monoxide so you don't want to let your wick make soot. Flat wick lamps and lanterns are designed to burn kerosene.There are two kinds of kerosene 2-K for outdoor use has the highest containment content and 1-k for indoor use which is a very clean burning and it will make the least soot. These two forms of kerosene are both considered to be combustible and are not considered flammable. Kerosene has a flash point range from 124 degrees F. up to 150 degrees F.. Fuels with a flash point below 100 degrees F. are considered flammable these include lacquer thinner, mentholated spirits, paint thinner, Colman fuel (which is Naphtha), white gas and non/leaded gasolines. Never Ever use any of these fuels in a wick burner of any kind because at the least you can have a runaway uncontrolled burn or at worst an explosion (this is how you make a Molotov Cocktail). I hope this helps.

For those that are unfamiliar with these Lanterns don't ever try to remove the globe and clean it while it is still hot. This should be common sense to most people but you never know. Only use the recommended fuels for these kerosene lanterns. They are called kerosene or oil lanterns and not gasoline lanterns for a reason. Using flammable fuels such as gasoline can cause a very undesirable situation possibly leading to death. If you plan to use a lantern in freezing temperatures light the lantern outside while the lantern is cool and let it warm up in the cold to avoid thermal shock and cracking the globe. If the lantern is used properly you should not have to clean soot from the globe very often. When you first light the lantern you have to let it warm up for it to burn efficiently. As the lantern warms up the flame will grow larger so don't set the flame too high for the warm up. After the lantern is warmed up for about 10 minutes or so you can adjust the wick until black smoke starts coming off the top of the flame and then back it off a little but be aware that in Breezy conditions the lantern can soot more easily so you may want to back the wick down a little bit more. When first lighting the lantern the wick should not be any higher than is necessary to light, this will reduce the amount of sooting upon starting the lantern.

By far the best tutorial on how to clean the lens 🙏

Very helpful. Thank you😊

Thanks for this sir! This is what im looking for! Brief and concise. Good job!

Thanks man! I love my lantern but had know idea how to remove the globe. It was filthy.

Thanks! Found old one in garage and used your instructions.

Super-useful, thanks for the demo!

Thank you so much! I have many OLD lanterns and wanted to get the working again. ❤️

I own one of these lanterns and never thought I'd never be able to actually use it when I need it - but you've given me hope!

Thank you! I found a pristine paraffin one at my vintage store, $8. It just needs a little cleaning and a bit more fuel! I also found a wool hat, real wool, and a nice cast iron pan for my camping kit.

Thanks so much for this tutorial! It really helped me!!!

Thank you for posting this. I was trying to figure out how to remove the globe and I did not know about the spring loaded top. Now I know. This video was exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you so much mine definitely needed cleaning

Good video. Just saved me time and effort. No trial and error. 👍

Thank you so much for this! I have a battery-operated one that looks identical, which someone had made into a Christmas ornament and filled the globe with balls. I only recently discovered that it actually was a battery operated lantern and not JUST an ornament. I wanted to get the balls out of the globe but did not know how to do it. It is identical to the one you are showing except for being battery-operated and not kerosene. Your instructions on removing the globe were wonderful. I now want a real kerosene one!

I tried and tried and tried before I saw this video. Who knew it was so easy. Thanks man!

Very helpful! Thank you!

Excellent video, but I have a suggestion for improvement. To remove the globe, use the lever to lower it completely. Pull up on the ring above the chimney and tilt the globe with cage toward the hinge, which is usually the opposite side from the lever. This allows the globe to tilt out much farther, usually down past horizontal, for easier globe removal and much easier access to the burner dome and wick mechanism for cleaning and wick replacement.

little easier way to remove globe is to hold the big carry handle straight up and with your thumb of the same hand reach down and grab the little chimney ring/handle and pull up.using your hand as leverage pull up globe with thumb.that way the lamp is more stab le