Homemade fire starter

[JollyRogers]

Cotton balls with vaseline here... I keep a film cannister stuffed with about 8 of these cotton balls in it. These light very well with just a spark, even when wet.

I have recently been experimenting with the round, cotton make-up remover pads soaked in wax. They burn for quite awhile but not very well. They blow out easily. It may be because of the type of wax or it may be because I completely soaked them in soy wax and then let them dry so there isn't enough "dry" cotton to get the fire started.

I may heat them up again and add either cotton from cotton balls or dryer lint to get them to catch easier.

I also keep a 9 volt battery and 1 or 2 small steel wool pads for a firestarter in a pinch.

[Sophia]

So, there is a good use for dryer lint? I never thought of it, but I guess the hair and fibers are pretty flammable. Hmmm, interesting.

[oldsarge]

Originally Posted by Sophia

So, there is a good use for dryer lint? I never thought of it, but I guess the hair and fibers are pretty flammable. Hmmm, interesting.

Oh yes! The stuff fluffs up real nice and catches super quick with a "Blast Match" fire starter. Just make sure that you have all you kindling in order to build your fire. Once this stuff lights it doesn't last too long.

[Hannah]

It is good to see we are all ingenuitive. I am a big fan of re purposing something marked for the garbage into something that is more useful.

[ChadTower]

Yeah, dryer lint is excellent if you build your materials around it well. Goes up fast, strong, and smells pretty too. It doesn't spoil and it weighs nothing. The one drawback, as oldsarge said, is that it burns fast so be ready with your teepee/log cabin.

It's super easy to keep a plastic freezer bag full of the stuff in your gear. The bag obviously has multiple uses too. It's win-win.