12+ Creative Butane Torch Uses in Household

How many uses for butane torch do you know? Two? Tree? We gathered and tested 12+ creative uses for butane torches that you can try right away! Read the safety rules and let’s start.

Safety First

Before you start testing your new butane torch using this guide, you should learn the safety rules to avoid trauma. It’s a very powerful tool, so you should remember the following rules:

1. Study the manual for your specific butane torch before using it.
2. Don’t work outside if it’s too windy. The wind can throw fire at your clothes or burn something else with a spark.
3. Don’t work when there are small kids and pets around.
4. Always disconnect the butane cylinder, when the torch is not in use.
5. Store the torch in a place inaccessible for kids.

1. Remove Labels from Glass Bottles

Trying to take off labels of bottles is always quite messy and annoying. But if you have a butane torch of any size, you can easily scorch the labels off in mere seconds. The fire will burn not only the paper but, more importantly, the glue underneath. Turn on the tool and move the flame gently from size to side. The labels will either burn down immediately or become easier to peel off. Don’t hold the torch at one spot for too long, or you will melt the glass down.

2. Bend Metals

Depending on the size of your torch, you can use it for bending metal pieces of different diameters. For example, a bit of blowtorch lets you easily bend 1”-2” steel rods, while a small torch is very useful for bending slimmer pieces of metal for decorative purposes. Don’t forget to secure the metal workpiece in clamps and use thick pliers or vice grips to avoid burns for sure. Once the job is done, let the metal cool down before removing it from the clamps.

3. Create Plastic Decor

If you have some scrap plastic at home, don’t hurry to throw it away. You can cut the plastic into pieces of different shapes and adhere them to each other with a butane torch. You can create beautiful plastic flowers, suncatchers for your patio, and anything else that comes into your creative mind!

4. Seal Plastic Bags & Wrapping

Sealing and fusing plastic is usually done with a special machine. However, you can save up and carefully seal plastic storage bags and gift wrapping with a torch. You can do it in 2 ways:

1. Heat up a knife and melt the edges of a plastic bag to seal it;
2. Put the bag or wrapping under the beam of hot air to make it shrink around the item inside.

5. Burn Alcohol Ink on Tile

If you are planning a renovation and want to create unique tie-dye tiles, you can create them with alcohol ink and a butane torch. Here’s a quick instruction:

• Put several white tiles on a large piece of tinfoil;
• Drop the ink of several matching colors over the tiles;
• Ignite the ink with the torch;
• Wait until the alcohol stops burning and admire wonderful unwashable designs on your tiles!

6. Make an Instant Hot Glue Gun

If you need to glue up something during a DIY project, but there’s no time to prepare a hot glue gun, you can use your butane torch for melting glue sticks. The torch makes it very easy to control the amount of glue on the workpiece, which lets you work without the mess and avoid overusing the glue.

7. Try Pyrography

If you are good at drawing or want to create some pictures on the wood using stencils, you should try a combo of a scorch marker and a butane torch. Using a scorch marker, you can draw anything on the surface of the wood or use a stencil for complicated drawings. Once the picture is ready, lit up the torch and heat up the surface to develop a picture. You will be surprised that the result is good enough even for making pyro pictures for sale!

8. Shrink Wire Tubing

Shrink tubing for fires is probably the best solution for isolating soldered wires from other elements in a circuit. All you need to do is:

1. Cut the tubing into pieces of the needed length.
2. Slide them over the wire before soldering.
3. Move the tubing over the joints.
4. Heat up the tubing with hot air produced by the tip of the flame without letting the flame touch the wires.
5. Watch the tubing shrink tightly around the wires. Congrats! Now the wires are waterproof again.

9. Loosen Rusty Bolts and Nuts

If you heat up a rusty bolt or nut a little bit with a blowtorch, it will slightly expand. Let the hot bolt cool down to make it contract and break the rusty growth. You might need to repeat it 2-3 times, but the loosening effect is guaranteed no matter how large that rusty bolt is.

10. Start Charcoal Grill or Firepit

Igniting a firepit or a charcoal grill when it’s all damp and cold outside is quite difficult. Fortunately, you have a butane torch and can quickly heat up the charcoal with a steady beam of flame. Prepare a normal mound of charcoal and put kindling all over it as you normally would. Ignite the torch and heat up the coal at the base until it becomes white on the edges and the fire starts. Do it from two sides of the mound and start enjoying the warming fire in less than a minute.

11. Braze Metal Parts Together

Brazing is a simple technique that lets you quickly connect two pieces of metal without a welding machine. All you need is a butane blowtorch and a brazing filler rod. You have to put the rod at the junction between the two pieces of metal and melt it to adhere the pieces to one another. It’s a great way to quickly repair metal constructions and create metal decorative items.

12. Use It While Cooking

Below are several creative ways to use your butane torch for cooking delicious meals in an impressive manner:

• brown meringue on your pies and tarts;
• melt cheese on toasts or pizza;
• melt the sugar to create wonderful caramel decor for desserts;
• glaze baked ham and desserts with melted sugar;
• roast bell peppers and peel charred skin when it cools down;
• peel tomatoes by charring their skin until it cracks;
• ignite strong alcohol shots or caramelize sugar on the rims of cocktail glasses.

Have Fun!

As you can see, there’s a surprising number of uses for your butane torch. Choose a model that provides enough power for your preferred uses, and enjoy applying this tool in a variety of projects. Do you know any uses that are not included in our guide? You’re welcome to tell us about them in the comments!