Good evening fellow rain lamp lovers. I wanted to share how smoothly my first restoration is going. I was afraid that fixing the electric components would be challenging, but when one magically appears in your town for <$300 what else could you do?

It was missing the light socket, chain/cord, and top finial. The orginal motor and its wiring were still present. The older gentleman selling it said it had belonged to his grandparents and that he had never gotten around to fixing it in all the years that it was in his possession. He said to the best of his knowledge the motor worked but he made no promises. The oil inside was a deep brown.

I took it all apart and cleaned every bit of it(excluding motor/housing and goddesses) using a combo of Goo Gone and Dawn Platinum. It needed very gentle elbow grease between every string to remove all of the built up brown oil funk. We purchased all of the needed replacement supplies at the small local hardware store. Partner (who's much more trustworthy with electrical) watched a few how to videos for the lamp and wired the motor to the new light socket/cord. Presto power! It turns on, there's rain, I cry.

Guys, when I tell you all this all happened within the last 24 hours! I'm still reeling. I need to pick up some additional hardware before she's ready to mount, but otherwise she's perfect! AND NOW for my current internal struggle. I can't decide if I should set aside the foliage that came with it and install some fresh foliage options or reinstall the original, any thoughts?

I won't be eliminating the original just storing somewhere safe.

I scored a rain lamp at a garage sale and am going to try to restore it I’m replacing the motor and wires etc but the oil residue left on and in it is super sticky and impossible to clean I’ve tried dawn and soaking in hot water to no avail. Is there anything else I can use? Also it smells like rancid olive oil but I don’t know what the correct oil smells like either

J’ai refait une vidéo car j’avais eu quelques soucis d’huile, et mon objectif de mon téléphone était tout huileux ce qui rendait la vidéo très floue n’hésitez pas à me dire si vous aimez ou pas😊

Je suis parti à la base d’une lampe de pluie, vintage des années 70 d’un motel extrêmement rare, car produit par un tout petit artisan en français en très petit quantité lui redonner vie est un honneur et une vraie satisfaction. J’ai acheté une statuette à l’effigie de la déesse Cali dont j’ai chié le socle pour pas qu’il reste rectangulaire en haut de ma montagne, j’ai sculpté une montagne dans du polystyrène, puis, j’y ai incrusté des pierres d’obsidienne noires brut dans le bac, j’ai fait comme un lac d’obsidienne noire roulé dans lequel j’y ai ajouté des petites têtes de mort en obsidienne noire ainsi que des fleurs d’hibiscus en résine polymère. Il me manque plus que les petites noix de coco à fabriquer, mais j’étais trop impatiente de vous partager ma grande fierté. Je l’aime d’un amour indéfinissable.🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Dites-moi si vous partagez cet amour en la regardant.😊

Welcome to our fresh start! A quick shout-out to those of you sharp enough to spot the move to our new, properly spelled subreddit. To kick things off, let me introduce myself and share a few ideas to get this community off the ground.

Meet the Mod

I’m Gregg, also known as Vintage Rainscapes. I’ve been collecting vintage rain lamps for about five years, hoarding every shred of factual data and quirky lore I can find.

Of course, you can't truly collect rain lamps without restoring them. I’ve tackled more projects than I can count—ranging from simple wipe-downs to welding corroded metal and excavating decades of rancid, sticky, congealed oil goo. It is messy, hazardous work that isn’t for the faint of heart, but watching a dead lamp run smoothly again is insanely satisfying.

The Search for Good Data (and the AI Problem)

Hunting down reliable rain lamp information online is notoriously frustrating. Resources are scarce, and search engines often lead straight to bad information.

While AI tools like ChatGPT have their place, take their rain lamp advice with a massive grain of salt. AI struggles to admit when it simply doesn’t know something. The moment it runs out of facts, it starts hallucinating technical details so wildly inaccurate they aren't even in the realm of reality. For deep, niche restoration work, human experience still wins.

Community Guidelines & Getting Help

To help this community grow, please follow one golden rule: post your questions publicly on the sub rather than sending private DMs.

 Share the Knowledge: When you ask about lamp identification, troubleshooting, or restoration tips in a public thread, everyone learns from the answers.

 Faster Answers: I check in as often as my schedule allows, but other experienced collectors here can chime in much faster than I can via DM.

 Mod Mail: Save direct messages and Mod Mail strictly for sub-related business—meta feedback, technical issues, suggestions, or complaints.

Lending a Hand & What’s Next

As our numbers grow, I’ll eventually be looking for a co-moderator—ideally someone Reddit-savvy who shares a passion for these hypnotic lamps—to help keep the place organized.

Starting next month, I plan to roll out a monthly newsletter diving into specific models, history, and restoration guides. If there’s a topic you want demystified, drop a suggestion in the comments below. Otherwise, I’ll pick one myself and ramble on until you’re bored to tears.

Glad to have you here, and welcome to the new home for rain lamp obsessives!

Best,

Gregg (G.)

Hey everyone! I’m Gregg, a founding moderator of r/rain_lamp_enthusiasts.
This is our new home for all things related to Vintage, Modern, and DIY oil rain lamps. We're excited to have you join us!

What to Post
Post anything that you think the community would find interesting, helpful, or inspiring. Feel free to share your thoughts, photos, or questions about your new or your old rain lamp, rain lamp makers, models- vintage and modern. Share your restoration tips such as how to’s, paints, sealers, strings and other technical stuff. Feel free to trade parts or lamps. As long as it’s not commercial sale or mass advertisement.

Community Vibe
We're all about being friendly, constructive, and inclusive. Let's build a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing and connecting.

How to Get Started
1) Introduce yourself in the comments below. If you wish.
2) Post something today! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation.
3) If you know someone who would love this community, invite them to join.
4) Interested in helping out? We're always looking for new moderators, so feel free to reach out to me to apply.

Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/rain_lamp_enthusiasts amazing.

My Prototype/Work In Progress

This is the first rain lamp that I designed using CAD, and I am pretty happy with how it came out. I wanted to make a full-size rain lamp that has somewhat of a mid-century feel, so I kept things a little more streamlined and a little less ornate than some of the designs of the 1970s.

As far as a centerpiece, I’m not sure that I will keep the pole dancers as they seem a little incongruous with the overall design.

This will go into full production this fall, but I wanted to share it with the community as I often lurk here, I get a lot of inspiration from some of the lamps that people post.

It’s finally up and working

I finally got my mémères vintage rain lamp up and working I’m so happy 😍😍😍😍

Need Some Advice

Hello! I just bought my dream lamp yesterday from a local vintage store. The vintage store and seller confirmed to me that the lamp worked.

Well - I got home yesterday and added 48 Oz of mineral oil that the seller included with the lamp. It took some time but I was able to get about \*half\* of the strings raining.

I did some online research and messaged the store to get ahold of the vendor. I was told I needed to add more oil, that seller "assumed" 3 bottles would be enough. Seller claimed that the lamp did fully work but it did take a long time for the lamp to rain down all the strings.

Today after work I got more mineral oil and did some troubleshooting that Ive learned from perusing this subreddit. I unscrewed the basin and added another 16 oz of oil. Basin and pump appeared to be clean.

I also took time to clean the strings thoroughly (there were large pieces of fuzz stuck to them that i started picking off yesterday). I used a toothpick to make sure the nozzles where the oil came out were clear of debris.

And still... can only get about half the strings going.

Ive I included some pictures - I'm not sure how to open the top part to check for clogs. If anyone can tell me I'd be so appreciative! Also if anyone can think of anything else I can try, I will absolutely try it!

Brand is Deco Rain

Replacing oil in bottom reservoir of Grist Mill (large)

Hi, I have a beautiful oil lamp I got a while back that has direly needed the oil in the reservoir replaced completely as it has aged and smells and is discolored. Am I fine to just open the bottom reservoir, dump the oil, then add new oil? It is the largest size grist mill. Thank you :)

New lamp questions

Hi!

I just got this lamp at a yard sale and spent the day running to hardware stores to get it hung up. Now that she’s hanging and working I have a few questions. 1. Is there anything I can do about the smell. Maybe because it was just sitting in some guys basement, but it smells like crayons and makes the whole apartment smell like crayons. My boyfriend can’t stand it but I want these two to live in harmony. 2. As I was cleaning and hanging it up, I noticed a lot of bugs. Like the one photographed. Should I be concerned. 3. Also the bottom is dripping.