About Fire Starters

Fire starters are great to have when you would like to get a fire started quickly. You do have a choice of a fire starter: by purchasing one at a store or by making one yourself by using materials outlined in one of the following sections below.

Function

Fire starters are used most often in place of paper and smaller sticks to start a fire on logs. Many types of fire starters are available at stores, which can be safer to use and cleaner to store than paper and sticks. You can also create your own fire starter using items you can find in your house.

Features

Fire starters sold in stores are usually blocks of wood shavings, collected and molded together with a flammable solution. The block is stored in a bag, which also is flammable, to keep the flammable solution from your hands. There are three essential parts to a fire starter: a combustible solution, something solid to light like small sticks or wood shavings and air.

Misconceptions

Fire starters are often able to start a fire even if the wood is wet. It is often recommended that you use a fire starter if trying to light wet wood. If a log is too wet to burn with a fire starter, medium-sized sticks can be burned before working up to the log.

Buying fire starters from the store makes things easier, but you can still create your own fire starters using simple things from around the house.

Considerations

You can make your own fire starters at home with the following: lint from the dryer mixed with candle wax; sawdust and paraffin; pencil shavings and candle wax; pine cones or pine needles; cut-up waxed milk cartons with medium-sized sticks; and paper towels stuffed into a toilet paper or paper towel roll (use this method for outside fires)

You also can go with the traditional newspapers and sticks. Remember to use black and white newspapers as the color ink will emit chemicals.

Potential

If you light a lot of fires, either in your fireplace or out camping, you might save a lot of money making your own fire starters. Fire starters at the store can cost $3.00 or more for each block. Lint and leftover candle wax are cheaper.

You can also get creative. Use festive color candle wax over pretty pine cones. You can collect them in a basket and keep them out and ready to use by the mantel.