Glass Bottle Oil Lamp

Make a small decorative oil lamp out of an empty glass bottle with screw-on metal lid. It's cheap, easy, and possibly romantic.

The lamp is filled with half water and half oil (or all oil if you like, but it's not as pretty!), and will burn for several hours depending on its size. The one I made will burn for a good twelve to fourteen hours, perhaps longer (I haven't exhausted it yet). All of the materials I used, I had lying around already.

There are endless variations that can be made. If you ever did the experiment in grade school with food-coloring-dyed liquids that float on each other due to different densities, you can turn this into a beautiful piece of artwork. Glycerine and rubbing alcohol work well. Cork will float between the water and oil.

Step 1 Materials

You will need the following materials:

1 glass or heavy plastic bottle with metal screw-on lid
1 sharp poking implement (I used the pointy end of a metal compass, but anything sharp, like a rusty old nail*, would work just as well)
1 bottle of olive oil
1 piece of 100% cotton scrap (I used a clean old sock with a big hole in it) **It's important that it be all cotton. If there is polyester or anything else in it, it may produce unhealthy fumes when it burns.
1 pair of scissors

*Rusty old nails are dangerous and should never be used for anything.

Comments

[cortwein]

Could you fill the whole bottle up with oil or do you have to have the water?

[zoobr]

if i weave my own wicks, will it matter how tight i weave it, eg if its a tight weave will it slow down the rate witch the oil is soaked up or wont it matter ?

[TraumaComet]

Great Instro! This is green in so many ways that it boggles the mind. Cool.

[burpreynolds]

Could be greener if we were using oil that had to be thrown away anyway.  Like used fry oil, or even used motor oil.  Why waste?

[ilpug]

motor oil is stinky and not nescessarily "green" it would work though, as long as it wasnt that modern chemical kind.

[MEMJIM]

Great info Sappho, Thanks a Bunch. oh yeah, relative to Hycros' question, did ya' flick your Bic on the first date?

[Hycro]

Did you place confidence in a personal relationship like the cap says?

[maullove]

Nice, and I love the Jones soda bottles!

[Berserker242]

What all kinds of things can you burn in one of these or similar DIY jam jar lamps?

Can you burn tiki oil in them or is that too dangerous?
PMZ

[biofueljunke]

try veg and you will never go back

[ecahseb14]

does it matter if i use extra virgin olive oil?

[biofueljunke]

try used oil from a local place i reccomend italian food the oil stays clean and iv also heard japanese food dosent mess up the oil too bad just ask and you will have som free fuel

[wilderness]

Extra virgin olive oil should burfine - but it seems like a bit of a waste. You can get lamp oil, or pomace oil - they're cheaper, and that way you're not wasting something precious.

[Deathcapt]

If you filled it with alcohol as a fuel, it could double as an emergency molotov!

[ret1614]

Ever tried an alcohol based molotov? They tend to not work very well. lol, and throwing this tiny little flame would cause it to blow out. This is much better as a candle. Oh, and alcohol burns with a blue flame, so no light, and vapour burns far better than liquid, so the wick wouldn't be doing it any favours. Leave the alcohol to the stoves

[grue]

alcohol is lighter than water, so it's always a molotov

[manonfire285]

Alcohol is water-soluble...

[wazzup105]

Thank you for the suggestion to use an old sock for a wick. I've got some leftover oil (from the sundried tomatoes) which I am not using and throwing it away seems like such a waste. This is a nice idea to get rid of that old oil in a purdy manner this summer.

[elyador]

hmm, that oil might stunk when you burn it.

The best use for oil from sundried tomato jars is cooking. Cut up some italian sausages and fry them in it.

[wazzup105]

I burned it outside, so it didn't bother me, but just use it for cooking... hmmm... I'll try that. Thanks. Anything but just throwing it away.

(actually I wasn't happy with the way it burned either)

[Franch1z3e]

hey..i was just wondering if you could stagger the levels of oil and water and still have the wick go through all levels? or will this affect the wick, like will only the first level of oil burn and the rest be only for looks?

[soundmotor]

Nice instructable. The only downside to a bottle is that if bumped, it could fall over. I'd like to try this with a wide-base jar or similar.

[tigerboy]

To fill you in on the history of olive oil lamps. They were used with olive oil in them on ships so that if they spilled they wouldn't light the ship on fire.

[allstarn07]

I personaly wouldnt make this because its to easy to knock over and shatter the bottle and start a fire. Good idea though.

[spitrat]

 I've seen this same technique used but the bottle was half filled with pea gravel, sand, pebbles ,or whatever, it stabilizes the base and you don't have to use as much oil.

[junits15]

the oil cant burn unless it is vaporized

[carpespasm]

Expoxying the bottle's base to something wider would be a good safety measure.

[junits15]

I wouldnt use a sock, they have those "strechy strings" in them. y'know the rubber ones. An all cotton hanes shirt would work much better.

[andrewmd]

kinda reminds me of a molotov cocktail o.O wouldnt want it to fall and the glass shatter

[sharlston]

does it make a smell when burning?

=)

[sharlston]

you could dip the wick in oil before putting it in so you dont have to leave it

[Marble of Doom]

I've got the same problem as DeathbyHarlequin: Just made one of these, but I can't get it burning right. I've used a rolled up strip of an old shirt and heavy candle wick, but both burnout immediately. The only way I've been able to keep it going is to drip wax on the wick. Any Ideas?

[carpespasm]

A step he didn't mention that's useful for making a lamp like this without the water is to turn it upside down until the oil drips from the wick. That's the proper way to prime a tiki torch too.

[lilpepsikraker]

Have you guys tried leaving it overnight?

The wick needs to take some time to saturate by itself, you are simply burning the wick or burning wax when you fuel it.
Be patient!

[Marble of Doom]

Thnx, I'll try.

[lilpepsikraker]

Cool. I made one from a 2008 holiday edition Coke bottle. I used soybean oil (it reeks, next time I'm at the store I'll get a bottle of lamp oil) and an unraveled cotton ball. Also, I used filtered water, dunno if that made a difference. I cheaped out and filled it with only 2" of oil, didn't want to waste too much. When it burns, it makes a cool crackling noise because the oil is boiling (again, it's cooking oil). I light it with a butane lighter, as my Zippo will make me spill it; Zippo's have an "always-up" flame. I put a piece of paper above it to catch the soot as it burns. It's taped on my upper part of my desk, with priority mail stickers: just for the hell of it.

[woody558]

Can I use canola oil?

[lilpepsikraker]

Canola oil is your best bet and cheapest oil to get for this project. Olive oil is okay, but the worst is "Vegetable oil". It is actually soybean oil, and it reeks your house up badly.

[DeathbyHarlequin]

does it need to a cotton sock, because i cut up a cotton shirt in a long strip, and put it in the bottle and it seems to not be lasting for any long time at all, and burning the strip right up. I need help asap please

[2k4u]

Would vegetable oil work? And does oil not smoke and smell when it's burning?