How to fill a Zippo (gasoline lighter)

Zippo Lighters have been very popular for decades thanks to their unbeatable lifespan and charm. You can fill them an infinite amount of times, and should your Zippo break for some very unlikely reason, you can let the Zippo company repair your lighter FOR FREE under the lifelong warranty! But how exactly do you fill a Zippo lighter, and can you also fill it with spirit, turpentine, or white spirit? Read it here!

How to fill a Zippo / gasoline lighter

Filling a Zippo is very easy, but you need to know how it works. Save yourself a lot of time and stress, and read below how to fill a Zippo in under a minute!

Step 1: Remove the inside of your lighter from the case. This is very easy: simply open the lid of your Zippo, hold the inner part (the piece of the lighter containing the wick), and pull it up out of the case. You may have to pull harder with a new lighter or with an old Zippo that has been in a cupboard for years. Don't worry, it's virtually impossible to break your lighter by taking it apart (in the way described).

Step 2: Once you take the lighter apart, you can fill the inner part from the bottom. At the bottom of the lighter you see a kind of cushion with a screw in it on the side. Lift this cushion up (on the other side, not where the screw is), and the cotton that holds the lighter fluid will appear.

Step 3: Take your can of Zippo fuel and start filling! Simply spray the fuel into the lighter using the handy nozzle, as shown in the image below.

When is there enough fuel in my Zippo? When is it full? Basically, you can fill your lighter until it starts to drip from the wick; then the cotton is completely saturated. But of course you don't want a leaking lighter, or dirty hands full of lighter fluid every time you fill your lighter. It is therefore a matter of getting used to and trying: after filling your Zippo a few times, you know approximately how much fuel it can hold. It is best to put in as much as possible, but to stop filling just before it starts to drip. Once you get the hang of this, you're a real Zippo pro!

Step 4: Reassemble the Zippo. Fold the cushion back down, put the lighter back in the holder, and you're done! Your Zippo is now ready for use. Easy, right?!

How often should I fill my Zippo?

How often you have to refill your Zippo liquid depends on several factors: how much you use your lighter, whether it leaks, how much fuel you put in your lighter during filling, and of course the model of your Zippo. In addition to the classic Zippo model, you also have smaller models: the “Zippo Slim”, or the women's Zippo, which holds less fuel. It goes without saying that these should be filled more often than a larger, normal Zippo lighter. You should fill a normal Zippo every 2-7 days, depending on how much you use it. A smaller Zippo is usually filled every 1-5 days. The following also applies: after using your Zippo for a while, you will notice how quickly the fuel runs out and when you need to fill it.

Note: we recommend refilling your lighter before it is empty. If you do not do this, the fuse of the lighter will burn out and the fuse will therefore last for much shorter. So if you know that your lighter is empty after 5 days of normal use, we recommend that you refill after 3 or 4 days, to prevent the wick from burning.

Do you want to fill Zippo with (refined) petrol, white spirit or turpentine?

Can you fill a Zippo with refined petrol? Very simple: YES, you can! Gasoline is very similar to regular Zippo fuel, and is a lot cheaper. The lighter will burn fine with it and the taste and smell are almost the same as that of Zippo fluid. However, we recommend that you simply use real Zippo liquid to fill your lighter. This fuel is also very cheap (a bottle costs less than 5 euros), and lasts a very long time. This way you have the best possible fuel for your lighter, not to mention, filling is much easier! A bottle of Zippo fuel has a handy nozzle that you hardly mess with, while a bottle of gasoline is a lot harder to fill your lighter with. So: you can certainly fill your Zippo with white spirit/cleaning petrol, and it works well, but we still recommend using regular Zippo fuel. Genuine Zippo fluid burns very clean, which prevents smoke and wear of the wick - this makes the wick last longer and it is most likely the healthiest option.

Can you also fill a Zippo with white spirit or turpentine? We say NO, and strongly advise against it. White spirit and turpentine have a completely different smell and taste than Zippo petrol, and are actually not suitable as a lighter fuel. If you do not have Zippo fuel in your home, we recommend that you only use (refined) petrol as an emergency solution, but no other substances such as white spirit or spirit. 

Also read:Zippo – replace the flint en Zippo - replacing the wick

New zippo flints and / or wicks are available at Bongify, the # 1 Online Bong Shop in Europe!