As above. Currently in Australia and I use Shellite (white gas). Works great, but wondering if it’s cleaner (less soot) to burn unleaded (91 Octane or higher) instead? I usually use the fuel in the bottle to warm the priming tube (so, burn your face off bonfire 
). I have all the international nozzles for the Whisperlite and included nozzles for the Dragonfly. Thanks for any input.
I was always under the impression that white gas burns cleaner than unleaded fuel and is the ideal fuel for those stoves. You can prime with alcohol to reduce soot.
Emlyn said:
I was always under the impression that white gas burns cleaner than unleaded fuel and is the ideal fuel for those stoves. You can prime with alcohol to reduce soot.
Oh that’s smart, I’ll have to try that.
@Hadley
I did that for a while, but with a little practice you can prime with white gas without making a mess.
Tully said:
@Hadley
I did that for a while, but with a little practice you can prime with white gas without making a mess.
I tried it too, not worth bringing the extra rubbing alcohol when I have a whole bottle of white gas right there. These stoves can be primed with little mess, no worries.
Tully said:
@Hadley
I did that for a while, but with a little practice you can prime with white gas without making a mess.
What sort of tips and tricks do you have to prime without the soot?
@Hollis
It’s just practice. Open the valve and let white gas into the trough and light it. It doesn’t take much, you’re just trying to preheat the fuel loop above the burner. As the fuel burns out, if you time it right, you can crack the valve a hair, and the gas coming out of the burner will light and then you can turn it up. I think the secret is that it does not take much fuel to preheat the fuel loop. So you don’t need to fill the trough around the burner. Too much fuel makes it smoky.
I usually use the synthetic stuff sold for 4-stroke small engines. I don’t know if it differs from white gas or if it’s identical. I would not use the petrol used in cars because of the engine-protecting additives they put in it.
@Zola
Where do you purchase that? Autozone?
Not familiar with Australian stores, as I’m pretty much exactly on the other side of the globe, but where I live, it’s sold in big enough supermarkets, many hardware stores, and stores that sell lawnmowers etc. The typical packing size is a 2 or 4 liter plastic canister.
White gas is usually recommended for stoves (not just the Whisperlite) because it is cleaner burning.
Shellite is the cleanest but still will get soot during priming.
White Gas will burn cleaner then unleaded. The unleaded included detergents to keep an internal combustion engine clean that you won’t find in white gas.
Thanks everyone, looks like I’ve been doing it right. Thought I’d check…