The Looftlighter Story

In the late 90’s, Richard Looft, inventor of the Looft Lighter, got angry when the chicken he grilled tasted of lighter fluid. He walked into his garage, found a half broken bread toaster and his grandfather’s old vacuum cleaner. Poured charcoal into the bread toaster, reversed the air flow in the vacuum cleaner, and voilá: The Looft Lighter was born.

After a few years of tinkering about the prototype, Richard quit his then job in 2005 and founded Looft Industries. With the vision of a world without lighter fluid he set out on a mission to make the prototype into a real, consumer product that anyone could use. Now 20 years later, the Looft Lighter is the pinnacle of lighters, using only clean, superheated air to light charcoal, briquettes or wood. The air stream ingenuously also works as a bellow, getting the charcoal ready in no time. No chemicals, no pollution, no waiting. It’s a no-brainer.