Okay, I did an experiment tonight.

I tried to start a fire with a cotton ball, Vaseline, and an empty Zippo lighter.

I couldn't do it, but I learned some stuff.

-I was under the impression that since Vaseline is supposedly flammable, that it would be easy enough to light with just the sparks from the empty Zippo. Vaseline IS flammable, but I couldn't light the cotton ball with just the sparks. I had to use a match.

-I ended up just lighting the Vaseline covered cotton ball with a match. The flame caught and it burned tall and strong. Out of curiosity I took a dry cotton ball and held it to the burning Vaseline one. It IMMEDIATELY burst into flame, so fast that it actually burned me. I set them down next to each other.

-The dry cotton ball caught on fire immediately and was totally burned out in approx 15-20 secs.

-The Vaseline covered cotton ball made a very strong, tall (about 2-3") flame that lasted for what I estimate was nearly two minutes.

-Since the dry cotton ball caught on fire so easily, I figured I'd try to light a third one with just the sparks from the lighter. I couldn't do it.

Summary: Vaseline burns long and strong. A GREAT way to start a fire would be to use a Vaseline soaked cotton ball, as it acts like the wick of a candle, burning off the oil (Vaseline) instead of the cotton of the wick. Dry cotton balls catch fast but also burn fast, and low.


If I end up doing another experiment, I'll post about it. I was going to take a video of the burn times of each cotton ball, but who wants to watch a cotton ball burn for two minutes? Maybe I'll make a short one.