How to Make Fire Logs

Wood furnaces, wood stoves and fireplaces are all used to heat homes. You can make your own fire logs using all those surplus newspapers stacked in your basement or garage. Simple and inexpensive, these fire logs let you recycle and keep warm at the same time.

Things You'll Need

• Newspapers Twine Bucket Broom handle

Instructions

1. Gather the newspapers outside or in your garage, where the floor or ground can get wet.

2. Divide into sections. Put four to six sections together and fold so they are the size of one page. Fold the stacked sections in half and place in piles.

3. Soak the papers. Soaking helps to break down the paper, making it almost like paper mache, which lets it burn longer once dried. Fill a bucket half-way with water and put one newspaper section in. Keep it in the water until completely saturated and then place on the floor. Adding 1 tbsp. detergent to the water helps the paper break down faster.

4. Wrap the wet, folded sections of newspaper tightly around the broom handle. Squeeze out the excess water while rolling, and smooth the ends and edges of the paper. Tie each of the rolled papers with a piece of twine in the middle and on both ends to keep it rolled together until dried. A smaller rod can be used instead of a broom handle.

5. Slide the paper logs off the broom handle and put in a warm area to dry. Stand them on one end at a slight angle so that the inside of the logs will dry, too. It can take a couple of months to dry completely, depending on the climate you live in.

6. Make dry newspaper logs if you don't want to wait for wet paper logs to dry. Evenly divide your newspaper into two piles. Stack one pile of sections together, and fold until the size of 1 page. Now fold in half and roll tightly. Fasten the middle and both ends with twine. Do the same to the other pile of sections. Use when needed.