Is it Fall Already?!?
Am I the only one who feels like we just enter 2021 with all the lockdowns and craziness? Can you believe it’s already October?
It’s time to begin turning our attention to the next season of preparedness. We’re heading into cold dark months. And oh, that makes me so sad! During this next season, one of the things that we should be well-stocked up on are various types of lighting from candles to oil lamps and to flashlights. But what would you do if, before you even got a chance to figure out what you need for this upcoming season, you unexpectedly lost power and couldn’t find your lighting stash?
Well, sometimes the best-laid plans of mice and men go thud. So what do you do when you can’t find a flashlight and you don’t have anything else YET – I’m sure you will soon, right?
You make yourself a simple DIY olive oil lamp!
Safe? Yes, an olive oil lamp is actually one of, if not the, safest lamp that you can have in your house. Olive oil has a fairly high flash point (between 375-450 degrees Fahrenheit) which means that the surface of the oil itself won’t actually burn unless the oil is that hot. When you use an olive oil lamp, if a wick slips or a bit of the wick burns off and falls into the oil it won’t ignite the oil. If you knocked your lamp over, the flame wouldn’t ignite the oil instead it would extinguish the oil. It’s a lighting win-win!
It’s so simple to make! You’ll see the five constituent parts which you probably already have around the house. You’ll need a paper clip, a 1/2″ binder clip, a six 10″ lengths of cotton yarn braided together, a shallow custard cup (or even a 1/2 pint mason jar), and olive oil.
So Let’s Make This Thing!
1.) Tie one end of your six strands of cotton yarn together. Then separate the stands into three sections of two pieces of yarn each. Braid three sections of yarn as far as you can.
2.) Bend your paper clip.
3.) Attach it to your bowl with the binder clip.
4.) Put about 1/2″ of olive oil in the bottom of the bowl.
5.) Lay the entire braid in the oil for 5-10 seconds.
6.) Pick up the non-knotted end of the braid and Insert it through the space between the two loops of the clip and pull it back toward the binder clip to wedge it between the two parts of the paper clip that are close together. I used needle nose pliers to do this.
8.) Light your cotton knitting yarn and enjoy the light!
When I made one of these to take pictures for today’s article, the little bit (about 1/2 inch) that I had above the paperclip burned brightly for two hours. When I finally blew it out, I could see the paper clip was slightly charred, but still functioning properly.
Another Lighting Option
Now if you’d prefer to buy something instead of building it yourself, you can either buy a DIY lamp kit from Lehmans or you can purchase an oil lamp from Amazon. If you go with buying an oil lamp don’t forget extra wicks and oil designed specifically for the lamps.
Need more lighting options for your preparedness stash? Check these out.
So What About You?
Have you ever made an olive oil lamp before? What kinds of lighting options do you keep on hand for emergencies? Are you ready for fall and winter yet? Leave us a comment beneath this post letting us know the answers to one or all of these questions so that we can all be better prepared.
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This post was edited and updated. The original post was published on February 28, 2018.
Good article! I had not thought of paper clips and binder clips before, but that will obviously work. I have three different approaches to emergency lamps. First, I have “Hurricane” lamps and lamp oil, which can be purchased at big box stores. Second, I keep a supply of glass gravy jars with metal lids for use with olive oil. Some jars use standard Hurricane lamp wicks (also available at the big box store). All you need to do is make a cut through the metal lid that is long and wide enough to insert the wick to the bottom of the jar. The lid keeps the olive oil safely inside the jar in case of an accidental tip-over. The third method uses a braided string wick, as in your example. The wick holder is made from a short length of soft metal wire that hangs on the inside lip of the jar.
Bigger (wider) wicks produce more light, but also consume fuel (whether lamp oil or olive oil) more quickly. Because olive oil is less combustible than lamp oil or kerosene, it is safer to use. Having the ability to cap the container with a lid makes it even safer.
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