How to maintain a Zippo lighter for a lifetime of use

Zippo Lighter - Sailor Jerry
Charlie Cooper / Updated: Apr 7th 2020 / Lighters

For many people, Zippo lighters are seen as the Gucci of lighters, the most stylish and the crème del a crème of lighters world. When you buy your first Zippo you feel like you are a cooler cat than Top Cat, flipping open the lid with style to light something up feeling as badass as James Dean and revelling in the essence of the Zippo. Buy a Zippo is a tiny bit of an investment instead of buying your standard 1 buck lighters that don’t have a powerful flame and certainly won’t last a lifetime of use let alone a week. With the Zippo, you feel it can last a lifetime and it most certainly can with just some maintenance on your behalf.

To keep your Zippo for a lifetime you will need to ensure you are taking general care of it and not throwing it around aimlessly. Cleaning it thoroughly and semi-regularly with polish will help it last as well but along with standard care, you will also have to replace parts such as the wick.

The wick is an essential part of a Zippo. The purpose of the wick is to absorb the lighter fuel which in turn produces the flame with capillary attraction, in less fancy terms no wick to absorb the lighter fuel equals no flame. When you first buy a replacement wick it will be pristinely white and clean however over time it will become black from the carbon which will affect its performance. When the performance of the lighter has become weaker it may be time to start the process of trimming the wick or fully replacing the wick.

As well as wick maintenance you will have to replace the flint every couple of months. The flint is there to create a spark to make a flame from the fuel soaked wick.

Maintenance and replacement of both the wick and flint are rather simple and you are able to purchase the parts needed easily online for a reasonable price.

Your Zippo will continue to look after you for a lifetime if you look after it as well. It can and will last you a lifetime.