Vaseline is a mixture of paraffin and petroleum jelly. The latter is a byproduct in the petroleum industry. Is vaseline flammable, and if so, can it spontaneously ignite/combust? - Marc (age 40) Melbourne, Australia
A:
Yes it can, but it has a relatively high combustion temperature. It is very unlikely that it will spontaneously combust because it is not very volatile and its oxidation rate is very slow.