How to Create a Fire in Your Hand

Last Updated: January 28, 2023 References

Though extreme caution and adult supervision are always required when handling flammable liquids, a few spectacular fire tricks can be down with household supplies and simple techniques. You can impress your friends with circus-worthy tricks, or fool them into thinking you're an Avatar-level fire-bender. See Step 1 for more information.

WARNING: Use extreme caution. Handling flammable liquids without proper protection is not recommended.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using a Butane Lighter

1
Take safety precautions. If you're going to do this trick, you need to take steps to ensure that you won't set the house on fire and burn yourself. Go outside to do this trick, and find a clear area, without any brush around or anything else that's a fire risk. You need to have a bucket of water handy, in case you need to extinguish flames quickly, and you need to have adult supervision.^{[1]
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- If you use gloves, use an old leather glove or lined garden glove that's tight-fitting with a hard palm surface. While wearing bulky flame-retardant gloves is an excellent safety precaution to protect yourself from being burned, cloth gloves in general mostly keep the trick from working at all, and can actually make the trick more dangerous. Bulky flame-resistant gloves will often extinguish the flame before it lights, while a regular glove can absorb the lighter fluid, increasing the possibility that you may light the glove on fire and burn yourself.
2
Ball up one hand, leaving a gap between your pinkie and your palm. Make a fist, but leave enough space to insert the end of the lighter into it comfortably. Your fingers need to be relatively tight, so the butane won't escape when you release it into your palm. Use your thumb to cover up the gap on the top of your fist, where you index finger meets your palm.
- Try to imagine you were holding water in your palm and keeping as much of it as possible from escaping. The trick basically involves filling your fist with butane, then lighting it as you open your hand.
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3
Insert the end of the lighter into your fist. Put the flame-end of the lighter into your hand, far enough to push the butane into the pocket your fist creates. It won't work if you're holding the lighter just at the edge of your palm, you need to really get it in there.
4
Hold the button down for about 5 seconds. To start the trick, hold down the red button on the lighter, releasing the gas. Do not strike the flint by rolling the thumb-roller, but instead just depress the red button.
- Different performers of this trick will hold down the button for longer, or shorter, depending on the gas flow of the lighter, and the size of fireball you want to make. To be on the safe side, it's better to hold it down for around five seconds–long enough to get enough light-able gas, but short enough for the resulting fireball to be relatively brief.
- If you get more comfortable handling the lighter, you could then Try to create a bigger one if you want, holding it down for 10 seconds, or slightly longer. But when you're first starting out, go small. This is a dangerous trick, and you don't want to get in over your head.
5
Remove the lighter from your fist and light it. After you've counted to five, you need to move quickly, so the butane won't evaporate. Hold the lighter about a foot away from your fist, then strike the flint by rolling your thumb over the roller and holding down the gas button again.
- Under no circumstances should you strike the flint while the lighter is still inserted into your fist, having released butane into it. This is extremely dangerous.
6
Bring the flame toward the opening in your fist at your pinkie and open your fist. Quickly bring the lit lighter toward your fist, while simultaneously opening your palm, one finger at a time, starting with the pinkie. Do it quickly. The butane will ignite, burning up quickly, and you'll be able to "control" the fireball by quickly opening your hand to display it.
- The timing takes some practice. You want to "fan" your fingers away from the lighter, raising your pinkie first, then your ring finger, and so on to open your fist. If you open all your fingers at once, the butane may not ignite, while if you don't open your fist at all, you risk burning yourself. Under no circumstances should you leave your fist closed.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using Flammable Hand Sanitizer

1
Be extremely careful. This method describes a somewhat-common party trick and YouTube phenomenon, but is not something that should be attempted without extreme care and adult supervision. It's a good way to really hurt yourself if you don't do it quickly and safely.^{[2]
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2
Buy a flammable variety of hand sanitizer. This version of the trick involves lighting some hand sanitizer and rubbing your hand through it very quickly, then putting it out immediately. To do this trick, you'll need to make sure you get the right kind of alcohol-based sanitizer: look on the label for "ethyl" or "isopropyl" alcohol.^{[3]
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- There will likely be lots of ingredients in some sanitizers, and only one or two in others, but the presence of one or the other of these varieties of alcohol will make the sanitizer flammable, whatever else is included. Increasingly, hand sanitizers are alcohol-free, though, meaning that they won't work for this trick. Make sure you read the label on the hand sanitizer, or the trick might not work.^{[4]
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3
Take the proper safety precautions. The idea of the trick is to spread a small patch of sanitizer on the surface and light it, creating a small layer of blue flame, which you can very quickly run your finger through, putting it out immediately. Using gloves for this trick is best, and it's also important to have a bucket of water on hand, in case you need to put out fire.
- Find a suitable flameproof surface on which to work. You need to go outside to do this trick, preferably on a patch of concrete far away from anything flammable. The flatter, the better. Clear the space of anything flammable–small twigs, sod, bits of paper. You need to be very careful that nothing will catch on fire but the sanitizer.
4
Spread a thin layer of alcohol-based sanitizer on the concrete and ignite it. Squirt a small amount of sanitizer on the concrete and thin it out, evenly, using your finger. Wipe the sanitizer off your finger, to make sure that there's no chance your fingers will light prematurely. Before the alcohol evaporates, use a lighter and ignite the goo. It should glow with a gentle blue flame that might be somewhat difficult to see.
- It's best to do this trick at night, so that you can see the glow better. Make sure you can still see well enough that you what you're doing though. Maybe try it in the evening, when there's soft light and the glow of the flame will be visible.
- Under no circumstances should you cover your hands with sanitizer and then light it. The trick only works because of the speed at which you do it, not because the hand sanitizer is safe. This will burn you severely and would be extremely dangerous. Don't do this.
5
Run one finger quickly through the sanitizer. If you do it quickly, you can scoop up a bit of the sanitizer that's on fire, and it will look momentarily like your fingers are a-flame. As soon as you do this, though, you don't have much time to admire it, because you'll burn yourself if you leave it on for more than a second or two.
- You should feel some heat, or a strange sensation, like hot and cold. Hand sanitizer usually has a cooling feeling, which may trick you into thinking it's hot. Either way, you won't have enough time to really feel anything, because you will only swipe your finger through, look at it for a second, and put the flame out.
6
Put the flame out by snapping your wrist forcefully. The best way to kill the flame is by snuffing it. Blowing on it with a sharp gust can just move around the sanitizer, making it possibly dangerous. It can't be stressed enough: you need to put the flame out as soon as you touch it or you'll burn yourself.
- Keep water close by and dunk your hand in it, if necessary. Do not let the fire burn up all the alcohol, or you risk serious injury.

Community Q&A

Question

Can I do the fire trick without gloves?

Community Answer

You could, but you put yourself at risk of getting minor to severe burns. Safety and precaution go a long way until you are very experienced.
Question

How do I create a fire with perfume?

Community Answer

Spray perfume on a surface. Then light a match and put it where you sprayed the perfume and voilà! Be safe, though -- this should not be done without adult supervision.
Question

Does this really work?

Community Answer

It does, but you need to make sure you have the right tools and read the instructions carefully. Always have adult supervision or someone to be there just in case something goes wrong.

Warnings

Make sure you hold your hand away from you and your friend's body. It wouldn't be so neat if you were to singe your hair.

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Make sure you have a witness when you are first trying this, so they can find help if you accidentally burn yourself.

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Stunts with fire require a lot of personal protective equipment, including fireproof gel and fireproof clothing. If you do not have the money to invest in any of this, then do not try any fire tricks.

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Always be careful when playing with fire. Do not practice near flammable items or little children.

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