Homemade Fire Starters for Fireplaces

A warm, cozy fire is heaven on a cold, winter night.

Kindling for a fireplace can be expensive if you use it often. You can gather your own kindling if you want to spend time in the woods, but this can be time consuming and also may be inconvenient, depending on the weather. Making a homemade fire starter is the best route. Common household items are useful as fire starters, and you will soon have a roaring, crackling fire and a cozy atmosphere.

Things You'll Need

• Cotton balls
• Petroleum jelly
• Old cat food or tuna cans
• Empty toilet paper rolls
• Candle
• Matches

Instructions

1. Coat cotton balls thoroughly with petroleum jelly. Plain cotton balls will only burn for a second or two, but the coated ones will retain the flame for several minutes, according to the Free Camping Recipes website.

2. Collect the dryer lint from your clothes dryer. Put it in plastic bags and place clumps of it underneath your wood pile. It burns quickly, so you may want to tuck it into several different places underneath your logs.

3. Stuff empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls with newspaper or any other waste paper, according to the Love the Outdoors website. Light one end and stick it under your wood.

4. Wash and dry empty cat food or tuna cans. Tightly roll strips of cardboard cut to 1 1/2-inch widths. Hold a lit candle over the cans and fill them halfway with the melted wax. Place the rolled cardboard into the wax and let it dry. This makes an efficient fire starter. Be sure to discard the cans after they have completely cooled.

5. Cut a clean, empty, milk carton into strips to use for kindling. This will also work with empty cereal boxes or any box that has a wax coating.

References

• Free-Camping-Recipes: Homemade Fire Starters
• Love the Outdoors: Camping: Fire Starters