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So, you want to know what to burn, eh? A good question, since most combustible fuels are very dangerous. Firstly, don't use petrol or gasolene. They're not designed to burn in a way that's suitable for fire performance. They also contain many toxic additives.
Firstly, note that the information on this page is based mostly on personal experience. Secondly, if not handled correctly, these substances are dangerous. Thirdly, these substances are toxic.
I've found these fuels to be suitable for fire performance:
Kerosene is a common fuel for burning in lamps and heaters. It has a characteristic odour and blue colour, which are added by manufacturers in order to make it easy to identify.
Kerosene's main advantage is availability and cost, since it's cheap, and is available at service stations and supermarkets. Kerosene's main disadvantage is that is tends to produces dark smoke when burnt, and also produces a particular odour when burnt.
Low-odour Kerosene is (I think) designed for indoor heating solutions, where you don't want too much smoke and smell. Unfortuntely, it's about twice the price of ordinary Kerosene, and can be harder to get hold of than ordinary Kerosene.
Lamp oil is typically used for indoor lamps, as its name suggests. It's relatively pure, and has negligible odour, which is what makes it suitable for indoor lamp usage. This property means it's ideal for performances where you don't want the characteristic odour associated with Kerosene.
Lamp oil does tend to be expensive, though. I've not bought any myself, but a friend of mine assures me it's much more expensive than Kerosene.
Citronella, in liquid form suitable for burning torches, is about 99% lamp oil, 1% citronella oil. It's reasonably priced, readily available, and may also keep mosquitoes and other annoying insects away. :-)
Firewater is actually manufactured specifically with fire performers in mind. It's virtually odour-free, and is similar in behaviour to lamp oil and Kerosene. It can be obtained in Melbourne from Juggle Art. They ship to most parts of Australia, but unfortunately shipping is almost as much as the product, since it's a "dangerous good" for the purposes of shipping (it is highly flammable, after all :-) ).
Pegasol is my fuel of choice. It's clean-burning, with no colour or odour, minimal smoke, and is affordable. It's more expensive than low-odour Kerosene, but cheaper than Firewater. The only problem is that you can usually only obtain it in 200 litre drums. :-) If you live in Perth, contact me, as I can get it in 20 litre drums.
From my experience, Pegasol and lamp oil are actually the same substance, except that Pegasol may be more pure.
update: 2001.12.23 I've found some more information on Pegasol. Firstly, it doesn't stain aluminium (look for the comment about metal rolling companies, and note that Shellsol T and Pegasol are equivalent but from different companies). Pegasol is also used as a solvent in food plants (look for the comment related to Shellsol T). This site's page on solvent equivalents shows that Pegasol 3440 (the variant of Pegasol that I use) and Shellsol T are essentially the same product, but from different manufacturers (Mobil Oils and Shell, respectively). Interesting... Apparently these solvents are also equivalent to BP's Solvent 11.
update: 2002.04.26 Apparently, Mobil are no longer producing Pegasol. I've heard this from the distributor in Perth, from whom I obtained their last remaining stock in time for the full moon tomorrow. I'll be investigating alternatives, and possibly obtaining any remaining stock from elsewhere, since Pegasol is much better than Kerosene, and only slightly more expensive...
I'm glad you asked. The fact is, no combustible fuel is non-toxic. This means that you are placing yourself at risk of poisoning if you breathe fire. Not to mention the obvious risks of burning your face, or even mouth, nose, or lungs. That means that there is no safe fuel for firebreathing. However, if you ask me, I'll tell you what I use, and why.
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All text Copyright © 2000-2002 by M² (Msquared).
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by Shayne O'Neill.