Originally Posted by
rydabent
Why not just use plain old kerosene. There is no way it can hurt metal.
It's not super common now but "white gas" for camping gear works well, e.g., Coleman fuel. Harder to find now that canister stoves and lanterns have taken over the market. Weirdly, the MDS shows different mixes of petroleum distillates depending on country, but in my experience it leaves no residue or "fragrance" like kerosene regardless of brand, plus evaporates quickly.
I suppose the deodorized lamp oils you can buy would be kerosene-adjacent.