I've been using Zip fire starters from Walmart. They really work well. As good as the SuperCedars, but available close to home, no waiting. So, I'm breaking my Zip in half, getting the wiff of kerosene they are made with. Says right on the box "contains kerosene". I decided kerosene is cheap, how many starters can I make with a 5 dollar quart of kerosene? Kerosene does not have explosive vapors, it is slow burning. I used chainsaw noodles, stirred in a quarter of the quart of kerosene(Walmart) until all the noodles looked a bit wet. Stuffed some kerosene soaked noodles into a toilet paper roll. Loaded the insert as I would on hot coals, expecting it to light. Placed the starter between the logs, and lit it. It worked! I had a blazing fire going in minutes. I make them one at a time, in the garage, as needed, from a large old thrift store stock pot containing the mixed noodles. I picked it up for 2 bucks to melt wax in. I do remember kerosene ,paraffin, and diesel fuel are similar. flammable but not explosive, please correct me if I'm wrong! I can't keep coals going all day. It's mid 60's during the day, 30's at night. I do need to restart every night. I'll usually light in the evening, put a few logs on in the morning before work.
Hmm, interesting. I had been looking for a cheap easy fire starter. Growing up we used news paper. Last couple winters, for my outdoor stock tanks, I used a mix of waste oil and gasoline; ratio depending on ambient temp. Only occasionally have embers landing in the neighbors yard... Acceptable outside but too dangerous inside.
I use paper cups with wood noodles and lamp oil. No smoke, no smell, burns a long time. Put them in a Tupperware type container and they will keep that way.
Sounds good, but all that work, and mess? Supercedars are $33 for 36 starters. Break them into quarters, and that is 144 firestarters, all ready to go, no mess, no fuel, no smell, no hassle... That comes out to 23 cents a starter! Hard to beat that!
I use noodles, furnace room floor sweepings and bark in a 5 gallon pail . Mix used fryer oil with a little diesel in same pail . Scoop into a couple layers of newspaper and wad up and under some small splits .
An old timer I know uses scraps of particle board from junk furniture, the kind that is like compressed saw dust. He cuts them up into chunks and tosses them in a bucket of kerosene. They swell up and get saturated and then he just picks one out as he needs it. If there is one intense smell that likes to hang around, linger, and just be generally hard to get rid of its kerosene and gasoline. Due to that fact, and the fact that my wax ones are so easy to make, I just stick with them. Don't know if you seen my thread in the DIY area: http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/fire-starters.9036/
Cause it is soooooooooooo much easier. And if you have a CAT, newspapers with color'd ink, or treated lumber, or glued lumber (particle board, plywood, seams glued) are a big NO NO!
Dont have a cat and never use shiny colored paper or any wood with glue involved, as far as easier I don't think it gets much easier then what I do unless I could have some one else start the fire.
Agreed, pine lumber and newspapers work pretty darn well. I like arranging my splits in the stove, then finding a nice little crook and sticking a little golf ball sized fire starter in there. One match and its done. Newspapers work, but a crumpled up newspaper takes up more room in the stove, you have to get the pine lumber scraps to tuck into the newspaper etc etc. I like being able to just nestle my fire starter right in a little crook among my splits and let it do its thing. Plus I don't have many lumber scraps at the moment, but I have plenty of chainsaw chips and wax.
Lots of good ideas about far starters but I need to be educated I guess as to the need for them. I don't learn unless I ask. Do your stoves not hold coals for any length of time? Or are you completely cleaning the far box out on a daily basis? I can honestly say I have only had to stick a match to paper in old Black Sabbath 2 or 3 times since the first of November. Those were times I let the stove go cold to open the front door to clean glass and do a quick inspection of the inside of the stove and once to do a mid season chimney cleaning. If I leave and inch or two of ash in the box I can hold enough hot coals for up to 12 hours and only have to add some really dry kindling and maybe a few puffs with a small bellows to get going again. I'm not making a judgment call on how anyone lights their stove I am just curious.
I don't use firestarters when I'm burning 24/7 - just kindling and a little air like you do. I only use the firestarters when I'm doing 1 fire a day - my stove can't hold hot coals for 24 hours
I use my firestarters mostly in the SS, when I'm doing infrequent fires. Put some sawdust in an egg carton, throw some old wax candles in a double boiler used just for this, and walk away for a few minutes. When I come back, I just pour the melted wax in the cartons and let 'em cool. Hardest part is walking to the pole barn. My time is only a few minutes, but overall it takes about 10-15 for the whole process. Not exactly what I'd call a lot of work.
It is true and I remember doing that when I was a little boy. Hated it too. I never liked the smell of kerosine. While it is true I can easily start a fire using nothing but newspaper and a couple sticks of kindling, I learned to really like the super cedars. Perhaps the best part of us is that although my wife can run the stove, getting a fire started was, well, we'll say it was not her strong point. After trying the Super Cedars, she can now start a fire without my assistance.
