Make Your Own Firestarters
Cold weather is approaching (or, if you’re up north, your cold weather is already upon you!). Here’s a way to help save you money while keeping your family warm: Make your own fire starters! My husband and I have always bought bricks of fire starters, which run about $5 for a pack of 5 or 6 starters. You can make dozens of your own starers by repurposing a few items you probably already have around your home.
You’ll need:
Cardboard egg cartons (NOT the Styrofoam kind!)
If you don’t have cardboard egg cartons, use small PAPER bathroom sized Dixie cups (not the plastic ones)
Dryer lint
All of the little unusable nubs of candles that are too small to burn
If you don’t have any candle remnants, you can use Gulf wax (parafin wax).
Clean wide-mouth glass jar or large metal can
Sauce pan
Water
- Gather up enough dryer lint to fill up your cups.
- Fill cups with lint.
- Put a few cups of water into a sauce pan that is large enough to accomodate your clean glass jar or metal can.
- Place the jar or can in the pan of water.
- Put all the chunks of wax (candle bits or chunks of parafin) into the jar or can (fill it up about half way).
- Put the sauce pan on the stove at a medium-high heat. Stir frequently until it’s liquified.
- Turn off the stove.
- Carefully remove the jar or can from the hot water (use oven mitts!), and pour the liquid wax into each of the cups. Pack it down tight, making sure that the lint and wax are compacted, filling the cup entirely.
- Allow to cool.
- Cut the cups apart, separating them from one another. Keep your new starters in a nice basket or box near your fireplace, to use next time you start a fire.
- To use, simply stack your wood as you normally do, placing one or two of the fire starters at the base of the stack. Use a fireplace match or lighter to ignite the starters (light the cardboard part, and the rest will catch fire).
Enjoy your fire! 