Posted 14 years ago
redneck_girl
(1 item)
This was given to me by a good friend. She told me that it was an oil lamp, and that if you put lamp oil in it the oil beads on the little strings all around the figure inside. It hangs from the ceiling, there is a light bulb in it, and you can hear the pump going...I put lamp oil in it like she said to do, it started bubbling, but it just made our house stink like gasoline lol. Also it didn't bead down the threads like it was supposed to. Anyway, if anyone could give me any sort of tips on any kind of oil that doesn't stink I would GREATLY appreciate it.
I also have another pic. that is better but i cant figure out how to get it on here with this one too lol.
I think the recommendation at the time these came out was to use pharmaceutical grade mineral oil.
As an after thought, you could add a tiny bit of aromatic oil to sweeten things up a little.
you should be able to select 'edit this page' and then add image.
i'll have to try that out yardsaledave, and thank you ls3232.
My mother in-law has a lamp like that. I don't know what kind of oil she had in it but it used to leak a bit, so she never runs it. It just hangs there all nice and pretty. and they sop up the leaky oil off the table underneath every few days. I asked about it once, and My father in-law demonstrated it on for me for about five minutes one time. It was very pretty but the drips got worse and Mom started complaining so he turned it back off and ran for the paper towels. lol
thats funny lsardonell...mine was kinda leaky too. its so pretty and it looks awesome when the light is on, but i have it in a corner in my house and it looks perfect there lol.
I remember my grandmother having a lamp exactly like that when I was younger. It was so pretty when it was running. I don't know what she ever did with it though. I totally forgot about it until I saw this one:)
I remember this as a kid. The oil would travel down the strings in beads it was kinda cool. I can imagine now the mess it makes!
i love it so much, its so beautiful. i was thinking instead of putting oil in it and have it leak all over the place i will figure out how to take the pump out of it and just turn it into a regular lamp. but then i dont want to mess with the value of it if it is worth something.
You might try glycerin.
Here is a link and if you scroll down you can see how it's supposed to work
http://www.simnia.com/rain_lamps/
It's called a rain lamp. You use mineral oil in it.
I believe the lamp needs cleaned inside , all that oil, dust, dirt in the air clogs these lamps up. THEN they don't run properly. If there are plastic plants these too can mis- direct the oil to the table or floor. Just be careful-I took one apart , took the plants out, cleaned them and kept off till later. Emptied all the old oil out, ran a degreaser or dish detergent water through a few times till the ducts at the top opened, then rinsed that solution out . There are ducts down where the plants are too. I think I used regular food oil (?) Hope this helps.