# cleaning a fiberglass lamp wick **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 25, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697 "2018-12-25T21:01:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/1 "2018-12-25T21:01:39Z")
So I have a decorative lamp with a fiberglass wick. Worked fine at first, but now it’s all clogged up with carbon and won’t soak up oil anymore. My google-fu failed on what I’d thought would be an obvious subject. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/2 "2018-12-25T21:38:19Z")
You need a new wick. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/3 "2018-12-25T22:05:16Z")
Trim off the carbon glotted part. Continue to do so as needed until its to short to use. Then, as was said, buy a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/4 "2018-12-26T08:09:32Z")
Blow-torch should clean it up. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/5 "2018-12-27T20:09:36Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Blow-torch should clean it up. Probably also fuse the glass. My vote for new wick! ([Piranha solution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_solution) might do the trick; but that’s nasty stuff. Also, most likely more expensive to cook up!) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/6 "2018-12-27T20:17:52Z")
BTW what is good about a fiberglass wick versus a cotton or Kevlar wick? ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/7 "2018-12-27T23:04:03Z")
Well, in theory, fiberglass wouldn’t disintegrate from heat, so you wouldn’t have to trim the wick. Unfortunately, as the OP has learned from practice, soot will still pile up… [Asbestos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos) might be a better choice of material, and would resist the blowtorch treatment. Is it still legal to get in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2018, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/8 "2018-12-28T01:36:39Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Probably also fuse the glass. My vote for new wick! > > ([Piranha solution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_solution) might do the trick; but that’s nasty stuff. Also, most likely more expensive to cook up!) Reading about that, and about related compounds such as [Caro’s Acid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peroxymonosulfuric_acid), in which the words “corrosive”, “explosive”, “strong oxidizing agent”, “highly unstable”, “dangerous”, “violent reaction”, “aggressive”, etc. repeatedly appear makes me suppose that the cliche of the chemist occasionally blowing up his laboratory are based on these. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/9 "2018-12-29T19:47:50Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Reading about that, and about related compounds such as [Caro’s Acid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peroxymonosulfuric_acid), in which the words “corrosive”, “explosive”, “strong oxidizing agent”, “highly unstable”, “dangerous”, “violent reaction”, “aggressive”, etc. repeatedly appear makes me suppose that the cliche of the chemist occasionally blowing up his laboratory are based on these. Heh. I remember from my college years when I searched the litterature for a means to develop the TLC of a particular kind of substance, and happened upon a recipe involving conc. sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate, with the disclaimer (in italics; although in very small letters!) “_Caution! Manganese heptoxide_!” To this day, I haven’t the slightest idea as how, exactly, to exert caution (and the book didn’d give any hint!); but I hastily decided to try other means…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleaning-a-fiberglass-lamp-wick/826697/10 "2018-12-29T23:01:43Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Heh. I remember from my college years when I searched the litterature for a means to develop the TLC of a particular kind of substance, and happened upon a recipe involving conc. sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate, with the disclaimer (in italics; although in very small letters!) “_Caution! Manganese heptoxide_!” > > To this day, I haven’t the slightest idea as how, exactly, to exert caution (and the book didn’d give any hint!); but I hastily decided to try other means…🙂 According to Wikipedia, it’s an unwanted byproduct of reacting sulfuric acid with potassium permanganate. Key words are “decomposes”, “explosively” “ozone”, and “spontaneously ignite”.