If you're a fire spinner and are interested in the basics of spinning fire safely, check out this video I did in my Flow Arts 101 series on the basics of fire dancing safety: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_8mf7pjcykM.html
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Great Video! I've been using Iso for a while now and find it really helpful in mixes to reduce flamesize, heat and smoke. It also vapourates not as quickly as white gas! I have the impression it's more agressive than white gas or lampoil, so be careful on spills. Especially be careful with your eyes and painted surfaces!!!
I've got a friend that does fire contact juggling, the fuel used for that is iso. It's a less impressive, cooler flame. If you added some sodium in the form of table salt you could probably get a better orange flame. But end of the day for poi white gas, kero, or some blend of those two is going to give the best performance in terms of flame size, appearance, and duration. I can see the applications for indoor spinning with iso though, although white gas still burns pretty cleanly for indoor performance.
Okay, so, first 99% iso is available and has burn characteristics much closer to white gas. Second, synthetic wicks like kevlar hate any hydrophilic fuel like iso. cotton based hybrid wicks were specifically designed for use with iso and support more robust flames. www.bearclawmanufacturing.com/5-2/about/design/hybrid-wicks/
I went to Thailand last month and could not find Paraffin never mind gas. Tried Isopropyl and got tiny blue flames that lasted about 30 seconds. Must Have been low quality stuff but the only English on the label was "rubbing alcohol". When i got to the islands the other fire dancers at the bars had "Paraffin" but it was the worst smelling liquid in the world. No idea what it really was, it smelled like motor oil and chemicals. Tin was in Thai too but it burned the same as paraffin. Some of the dancers spun with Petrol! I tried it and it wasn't so bad but I wont do it again lol.
Almost certainly the Iso that you used over there was a lower percentage--maybe 70% and probably had some impurities as well. Finding fire spinning fuels outside of the United States and Europe can be an incredibly difficult proposition. My latest travels to Mexico did yield something interesting, though: I discovered they use White Gas down there as paint thinner and it can be acquired at any paint store and many hardware stores. This may be true elsewhere in the world as well.
I was in Mexico and there was NO white gas anywhere. The fire performers I met down there used petrol and it made my props REEK for months. My whole suitcase flying home smelled like gasoline. I definitely don't recommend it!
You would think, but it seems like the density of both are close enough to each other that they mix fairly readily. The fuel mixture seemed fairly consistent.