Hello Fellow Broke Galaxians,
Sometimes it's so hard to start a fire in your wood stove you wonder how forest fires even start. Those of us who heat with wood know the work involved with keeping the cabin warm all winter. Sometimes when you heat with wood, starting a fire and keeping it going can be exhausting. To save time and money, you can make your own fire starters.
Fire Starter Sticks and Fuel
We keep a squirt bottle filled with 90% rubbing alcohol. It comes in handy when starting the wood stove. Squirt a small amount on the newspaper or kindling and light. Although others have used fire starter, I prefer rubbing alcohol.
The secret to a great fire is a lot of dry kindling. Keeping fire starter available can be expensive if you're heating on a full time basis.
Kindling
I have a friend who collects twigs and limbs all year and ties them in small bundles with string or yarn. Then when it's time to start the fire, she grabs her tied twigs and tosses it into her stove.
Garbage
One thing I like to do is to save cardboard boxes and stuff them with junk mail and old newspapers and kindling we've collected throughout the year. This burns fast unless you add some wood strips to the box.
Candle Strands
Dipping a couple of cotton mop head strands into hot wax can act as a large candle. You can use any cotton string twisted together into a big knot and dipped in wax. These can burn for approximately 8 minutes or longer.
Orange Skins
Dry orange skins and use them as a fire starter. Oranges contain flammable oil inside the skin that can be used to start a fire. In addition, they create a citrus scent when burned. To dry orange peels, lay them on a cookie sheet and set them next to your wood burning stove. Store the dry peels in a zip-lock bag until needed.
Cotton Balls and Petroleum Jelly
Find the largest cotton balls you can find and rub Vaseline into the center of each one. When the cotton ball turns into a giant ball of goo, drop it into a zip-lock bag and start another one. Although these are messy, they work great at starting fires.
Fire Nuggets
There are plenty of fire sticks sold in camping section of stores. Most of them are made of paraffin, paper and cotton. Lighting a small nugget made of wood chips and candle wax can produce a 10-15 minute burn that will help keep a fire alive. For most logs, this will give you plenty of time to get the fire roaring without having to repeatedly stuff in more paper and cardboard. This fire starter is easy to make and simple to store.
Making Your Own Fire Nuggets
You should be able to find most items you need at yard sales or second-hand stores. Look for ugly, old used candles that are cheap.
Next, find hamster bedding in the pet section or saw dust in the home improvement sections. You can use cedar chips for dogs, but they are large and cumbersome and will probably need to be put through the blender first. If you have enough dryer lint, this could also be used instead of sawdust.
If you know a wood-worker, ask them for their sawdust. Next, take fiber-based egg cartons and use them to mold the wood chips. The egg carton serves two purposes, first, it will hold the chips in place while pouring hot wax and second, it is flammable. Once finished making the fire starters, use scissors to separate into individual fire starters. Don't use foam egg cartons because they are not environmentally sound.
Next, line a mini cupcake tin with mini cupcake papers so that when you pour in the hot wax, the holders will be secure. Minis fit perfectly in the egg carton. They're easy to find at the grocery store and not expensive.
3—Slowly pour a small amount of wax into each cup. Just enough to act as a base for the sawdust.
4--Layer in some fine-textured sawdust or wood shavings and cover the top with more wax. Let cool, and add repeat if necessary. Store the nuggets in a zip lock bag.
5--Slightly cool the layer of sawdust and wax.
6--Add another layer of wax, followed by another layer of sawdust.
7--Cool the final sawdust/wax cupcake holder.
Light the nugget and let it burn.
There you have it Fellow Broke Galaxians. No need to freeze or exhaust yourself with fire-making this winter/spring.
Go forth and save $$$ my friends.
Peace Peeps,
Broke Girl
Sometimes it's so hard to start a fire in your wood stove you wonder how forest fires even start. Those of us who heat with wood know the work involved with keeping the cabin warm all winter. Sometimes when you heat with wood, starting a fire and keeping it going can be exhausting. To save time and money, you can make your own fire starters.
Fire Starter Sticks and Fuel
We keep a squirt bottle filled with 90% rubbing alcohol. It comes in handy when starting the wood stove. Squirt a small amount on the newspaper or kindling and light. Although others have used fire starter, I prefer rubbing alcohol.
The secret to a great fire is a lot of dry kindling. Keeping fire starter available can be expensive if you're heating on a full time basis.
Kindling
I have a friend who collects twigs and limbs all year and ties them in small bundles with string or yarn. Then when it's time to start the fire, she grabs her tied twigs and tosses it into her stove.
Garbage
One thing I like to do is to save cardboard boxes and stuff them with junk mail and old newspapers and kindling we've collected throughout the year. This burns fast unless you add some wood strips to the box.
Candle Strands
Dipping a couple of cotton mop head strands into hot wax can act as a large candle. You can use any cotton string twisted together into a big knot and dipped in wax. These can burn for approximately 8 minutes or longer.
Orange Skins
Dry orange skins and use them as a fire starter. Oranges contain flammable oil inside the skin that can be used to start a fire. In addition, they create a citrus scent when burned. To dry orange peels, lay them on a cookie sheet and set them next to your wood burning stove. Store the dry peels in a zip-lock bag until needed.
Cotton Balls and Petroleum Jelly
Find the largest cotton balls you can find and rub Vaseline into the center of each one. When the cotton ball turns into a giant ball of goo, drop it into a zip-lock bag and start another one. Although these are messy, they work great at starting fires.
Fire Nuggets
There are plenty of fire sticks sold in camping section of stores. Most of them are made of paraffin, paper and cotton. Lighting a small nugget made of wood chips and candle wax can produce a 10-15 minute burn that will help keep a fire alive. For most logs, this will give you plenty of time to get the fire roaring without having to repeatedly stuff in more paper and cardboard. This fire starter is easy to make and simple to store.
Making Your Own Fire Nuggets
You should be able to find most items you need at yard sales or second-hand stores. Look for ugly, old used candles that are cheap.
Next, find hamster bedding in the pet section or saw dust in the home improvement sections. You can use cedar chips for dogs, but they are large and cumbersome and will probably need to be put through the blender first. If you have enough dryer lint, this could also be used instead of sawdust.
If you know a wood-worker, ask them for their sawdust. Next, take fiber-based egg cartons and use them to mold the wood chips. The egg carton serves two purposes, first, it will hold the chips in place while pouring hot wax and second, it is flammable. Once finished making the fire starters, use scissors to separate into individual fire starters. Don't use foam egg cartons because they are not environmentally sound.
Next, line a mini cupcake tin with mini cupcake papers so that when you pour in the hot wax, the holders will be secure. Minis fit perfectly in the egg carton. They're easy to find at the grocery store and not expensive.
Items Needed
·
Wood Chips, Saw Dust or Dryer Lint
· Old Candles
·
Tin Can and Pot of Water
·
Fiber Based Egg Carton
·
Mini Cupcake Holders and Mini Cupcake Tin
Step by Step
1—Start by melting
the wax in a discarded tin can, set the can in a small pot of water and add
heat. If you have an old pot and you are not worried about ruining with melted
wax, then use it. A double boiler is the
best for melting the wax without causing the wax to burn. Don’t forget wax is
hot and will burn if splashed on your skin. Wax has a low flash
point, and can catch fire if left on the stove unwatched.
2--Place cupcake papers in either a cupcake tin or a fiber-based egg carton.
3—Slowly pour a small amount of wax into each cup. Just enough to act as a base for the sawdust.
4--Layer in some fine-textured sawdust or wood shavings and cover the top with more wax. Let cool, and add repeat if necessary. Store the nuggets in a zip lock bag.
5--Slightly cool the layer of sawdust and wax.
6--Add another layer of wax, followed by another layer of sawdust.
7--Cool the final sawdust/wax cupcake holder.
Light the nugget and let it burn.
There you have it Fellow Broke Galaxians. No need to freeze or exhaust yourself with fire-making this winter/spring.
Go forth and save $$$ my friends.
Peace Peeps,
Broke Girl
