How to Replace a Zippo Wick

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Last Updated: February 6, 2020

So you prepared to pull and trim the wick on your Zippo only to have the last bit of wick come through the hole and out of the lighter. Following is a description of the steps that you will probably have to perform many times throughout the lifetime of your Zippo.

Steps

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Remove the insert from the body or shell of the Zippo (by gripping the bottom of the lighter and on either side of the chimney and pulling apart) as if you were going to re-fuel it.
Unscrew the flint spring found on the bottom of the insert, but be careful because since it is spring-loaded it might fall out of your hand when it is unscrewed. If the flint spring screw is too tight to unscrew by hand, use a small flat screwdriver to loosen it first. You can also use the top lid of your lighter to do this as well.^{[1]
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Tip out the flint from the bottom of the insert into the empty shell of the Zippo for safekeeping. If it does not fall right out, give it a gentle tap and it should fall right out.
Remove the felt pad and any spare flints (if you keep spares between the felt and the cotton wadding) and set those too in the Zippo shell. Set the Zippo shell aside.
You'll notice that it is not all one big wad of cotton but many small overlapping wads. As you set them aside, lay them in more or less the same order or configuration as they were inside the insert. (this will be helpful later).^{[2]
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Pull it through so that there is only as much wick in the chimney as will reach the top of the chimney.^{[3]
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Using your pliers, tweezers, or little finger, bend the wick within the insert so that it won't fall out through the hole as you work.^{[4]
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The pieces each should have some shape that you can fit together like a puzzle.^{[5]
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You should run out of length of wick before you run out of cotton.^{[6]
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Replace the flint. Insert and screw the flint spring until it won't turn any more. There is no need to screw too tightly as long as it does screw in all the way so that the lighter will close properly.

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Tips

In step 6, you can leave a length of wick to stick out past the top of the chimney to use it as a handle while you bend and interweave the wick with the cotton.

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Wrap some fishing wire tightly around your wick & trim off the excess wire. It makes threading the wick through the hole a lot easier and keeps your wick from fraying too much.

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Warnings

Wait after refueling and don't turn it on right away when fuel or residues can be around the zippo.

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Keep components and parts away from open flame until the lighter is fully re-assembled.

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Do not replace the wick near an open flame.

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Do not smoke while replacing the wick! The cotton packing material could still be soaked with lighter fuel!

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Things You'll Need

Replacement Zippo Wick.
Tweezers or Needle-nose pliers.
Small flat screwdriver. (Not likely to need)
instead of a flathead you can use the thin edge of your Zippo lid from the case, it fits in there nicely
Zippo lighter