How to make homemade fire starters that'll get your fire crackling immediately. 3 different ways to make fire starters with lint, wax, sawdust, belly button lint ... whatever you have on hand. They'll start with one match and burn for 10 minutes.
Why go to the trouble of making fire starters? I mean, that seems like a pain. You’re probably wondering when exactly would any normal human being ever need a fire starter. I'd like to address this with my comprehensive list of possible scenarios where a person might need to use a fire starter:
- When they want to light something on fire.
I make a few versions of homemade fire starters because apparently I like to light things on fire, and I like to have things burst into flames, with ease. Most of the time I just buy my fire starters at my local dollar store but sometimes I run out and need to make some.
If you want to make some too, press on and make your own DIY fire starters. Here are the 3 types of fire starters you can use as campfire starters or for wood burning fireplaces.
Table of Contents
Fire Starter Squares
Burn time: 4 minutes
Materials
- Paraffin wax or candle stubs
- Sawdust
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment paper
Instructions
- Chop your wax up so it will melt more quickly. Melt it in a double boiler or in everyone's favourite coffee warmer; the microwave.
- I create a makeshift double boiler for melting wax by putting a metal can inside a small pot with water in the bottom of it. Put your wax inside the can and simmer the water on the stove, gently melting the wax without ruining your pot.
2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper, tin foil or plastic wrap and then fill it with sawdust. Pack the sawdust down a bit with the palms of your hands.
3. Drizzle your melted wax over the entire tray.
4. Let it sit until it's hardened and then cut into squares.
They look just like a delicious caramel dessert.
Now is probably a good time to say don’t feed these to your children or leave them out where children will feed themselves with them. It’s not gonna kill ’em or anything, it’d just be embarrassing for you if they said they were the best dessert you’ve ever made.
I go through 7 face cords of wood every year so I also go through a LOT of fire starters. Here's my post on how to stack wood so it's tidy and doesn't fall over.
Egg Carton Campfire Starters
Burn time: 9 minutes.
Materials
- Cardboard egg carton
- Parrafin Wax or candle stubs
- Sawdust, wood chips, cotton balls, dryer lint, belly button lint and/or paper towels
Instructions
- Shove whatever you have on hand in the cups of a cardboard egg carton. Lint, sawdust, wood chips, cotton balls or paper towels.
- Chop your wax up so it will melt more quickly. Melt it in a double boiler or in everyone's favourite coffee warmer; the microwave.
- Place your egg carton onto a baking sheet lined with tin foil or a surface you can easily scrape wax drips off of.
- Pour wax into each egg carton cup, let them harden and then pull them apart into individual cups.
These suckers will light up with one match.
Easy Homemade Fire Starters.
Burn time: 5 minutes
These don't burn as long or as easily, but they DO work and you can whip a couple of them up in only a second.
Materials
- Cardboard egg carton
- Candle stubs
- Dryer lint
Instructions
- Stick a candle stub into the cup of an egg carton.
- Pack dryer lint around the stub.
- Sprinkle chopped up wax on top of the lint. (optional - helps it to burn better)
Homemade Fire starters
Make a bunch of fire starters out of an egg carton, lint and some melted wax. They light easily and burn for almost 10 minutes.
Materials
- Paraffin wax or candle stubs
- Sawdust
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment paper
Tools
- No special tools required.
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or tin foil or plastic wrap).
- Fill the tray with sawdust and press it down with the palms of your hands.
- Melt wax in a double boiler
- Pour melted wax over sawdust distributing it evenly.
- When the wax has hardened, cut into squares.
Notes
To create a make shift double boiler that'll save your pots, place a tin can inside a pot that has 1" of water in the bottom. Fill can with wax then gently heat the pot over low heat until the wax is melted.
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Cindy Marlow
I was having no luck starting the wood stove this morning. Damp air and damp wood were ruining my efforts. I took a bag of cinnamon scented pine cones that have been hanging around for about three years and poured wax all over them. Three of these in the stove got a roaring fire going. Thanks for the timely hint. Next up...gathering some belly button lint from all the family to make egg carton fire starters!
Kasia
Okay, been thinking this for awhile, now I've got to ask. What kind of camera do you use?? How do you make your photos look so incredibly awesome?? I'm really, I've never seen a more beautiful egg carton! Any tips or tricks you can share with us?
LARPkitten
We've been making these at home, with a little twist:
Occasionally, one of us will get a hankering for bacon. Especially bacon sandwiches. Mmmm. And it's really quick and easy to make bacon in the microwave, just by sandwiching the strips between paper towels. Keeps the bacon nice and flat for sammiches. Mmmm. And well, since we have all these grease-soaked paper towels already, we just wad them up and stuff them in the egg cartons! And then when we light up the fire, we get the smell of bacon! Which makes us crave bacon sammiches. Mmmm. Repeat cycle. Neverending firestarters.
Karen
and .... now I want bacon sandwiches for dinner. ~ karen
Chau
Love this stuff. I'll try it as soon as I collect enough lint. Thanks Karen.
Karen
You bet. Don't forget you can use cotton balls or paper towels too. ~ k!
Bri
I started making these a few years ago. I'm pretty hopeless at starting a fire in general, but without these it's truly pathetic. I just keep a pint mason jar by the dryer, when it's full I know I have enough lint to make a batch of firestarters. Because you never know when you might need more! I will say that the ones with cedar chips in them are much prettier than ones with dryer lint.
Brandi
I've been saving candle-stick stubs for years just knowing I'd find a use for them. My husband thought I was crazy. Now I can prove him wrong. Bwa ha ha! Also, this will make a great present for my in-laws who all have fireplaces.
Nancy
I have seen this before but never tried them..I could make some for our outdoor fire pit as I have extra wax here I was going to make another candle with and there is always plenty of dryer lint..just not the fancy red variety...
Jane
Do you know how to make 'spills' of newspaper to light fires? They look a bit like long matches. They are rolled tightly with a triangular bit folded on the end to light well; and look quite nice. My mother used to make them, but I, unfortunately, did not learn..
Judy Murray
I'm a Brownie leader and we still teach this to the girls for camp. Girls love a fire on a cold night and don't forget smores.
alison
I want red dryer lint! How the heck???
Nathalie
I went on my first solo camping trip last year and made these, they worked great! You can also fold the tips over and tie them with embroidery floss/twine and dip them in the wax to make them water proof.
Bless you, you have red belly button lint :P
Kristen S
My Mom does this, but with Tim Hortons cup trays. She says they are bigger and burn longer. (size and longevity do matter)
mimiindublin
Yay! A use for dryer lint; I've been putting it (reluctantly) in the compost bin, this is much better.
I wondered about the chimney too, so glad to hear that, must dash and phone the chinmey sweep now, cos it's been well over a year since it was cleaned and I don't want my egg-carton-firelighters blamed!
Leslie Zuroski
Cool! Now I know what to do with my candle nubbins! (I've made new candles with them before but not very well.)
Karen
This is when I completely hate my gas burning fireplace.. I wanna make egg-carton fire starters too... :( I feel like the kid in the playground who never got picked for a team.. Hey?? but I do have an out door fire pit... I guess I can make them!! Yay...
Rose
Gotta tell you, that red belly button lint. . . . maybe you should see someone for that. =)
Now all I need is a house with a fireplace. Then let the firestarter making begin!!!!
jennifer
Awwww! you tried them! i was wondering! i'm so thrilled to have turned you on to something! and FINALLY! a fabulous tutorial on them! yours is the best! PERFECT! my husband suggested using bacon fat in place of the wax since he saw that i had stored up a jar in my fridge. well i made a couple for fun (mostly just to shut him up) and HOT DAMN! they work too! a rather expensive wax alternative though! say hi to the pancreas! HAHA! you my day for sure :)
Laura Bee
mmm..bacon fat, your house must smell marvelous. Is there nothing bacon cannot do?!
Sarah
We love making these, but we use yarn,thread and fabric scraps as we are overrun with those.
Lisa
if you add some epsom salts, when it burns you get funky blue and green colors.
and if you add some essential oil like eucalyptus, it smells nice too.
John
I did not know about the epson salts! I will add next time. I just made a bunch yesterday.
Julee
These are great! Another use for dryer lint is in compost. It counts as one of the "browns" to mix with the "greens". I'm not sure if belly button lint qualifies though.