" Firestarters" for woodstoves ?
- Thread starter SinNH
- Start date
There are lots of options for fire starter. Dryer lint works great, as does #0000 steel wool. Also, you can melt a large candle in a crock pot, and half-dip cotton ball in it. Light the "dry" part of the cotton ball, and the waxed part will burn for a long time. Also, cotton balls dipped in petroleum jelly works great. Most of these can be made in bulk ahead of time, and stored.
Magicman
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Fat lighter from Pine stumps and old blowdowns. Only need one stick to get a roaring fire.
I light my stove at least once a day too..... house gets too hot keeping it going some days. I save birch bark from splitting, and all the chaff from the wood splitter/processor. I tear up cardboard boxes, any boxes and paper really, and use that to light the stove too. Saves sending it to be recycled. Propane torch lights carboard better than a match!
Nothing better than fatwood. I'll grab it when I have a chance, but I rarely have any pine, because it's not worth the trouble to pick it up. I burn hardwoods.
Since I split my own wood, I have plenty of spllinters and shards. They make great kindling. I have the little ones pick them up and put them in a galvanized trash can. I always have way more than I need.
One cardboard egg carton full of splinters and shards, one match, and I'm good.
NCL4701
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I guess I’ve gotten lazy over the years. I now use an old sock or rag about that size soaked in diesel and a propane torch.
Kindling optional…
Kindling optional…
build anything out of rough sawn lumber and the thousands of cut off ends will make good fire starter
I've used much of what has been suggested. But, I am guilty of using charcoal starter fluid on a cold start. I douse my material, light it and shut the door quickly and get no fumes. However, using it in a stove that is even mildly warm from an extinguished fire will always give off fumes, so cold stoves only.
jyoutz
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MX6000 HST open station, FEL, 6’ cutter, forks, 8’ rear blade, 7’ cultivator
I always cut about a half cord of pitchy pine rounds to split for kindling. A few pages of crumpled newspaper and some pine kindling is all I ever use.
Go around to places were new houses are being built, they also like to get rid of the cut-offs, split- em up start your fire vola
I've been using these for years in my Quadrafire wood stove
GibbyESS9
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Might not apply to everyone, but we save all our wine corks, soak them in isopropyl alcohol and they work awesome. Maybe two or three per start.
But then again we are wine drinkers. LOL
But then again we are wine drinkers. LOL
For years I have used rolled up news paper ,think about the size of an M80 firecracker, tied with a cotton string , like butchers string, the dipped in to wax of any kind, bees wax works well too. Leave a tail on the string to dip and light. Cheap easy to make, and you can do the same with pine cones. Smash the end of the string and light, I have used these at camp even on very wet wood.
Years ago my wife brought home a cardboard box full of produce. The box was heavy, waxed cardboard. That stuff worked!
But then, back then I didn't know any better than to try to burn 6-12 month "seasoned" wood. I was just getting started.
Now I know the fire starting process starts with dry wood, and in my neck of the woods, that means 2 years under cover. I scoffed at that for years, until I got a good load of properly seasoned wood. Now I know better.
But then, back then I didn't know any better than to try to burn 6-12 month "seasoned" wood. I was just getting started.
Now I know the fire starting process starts with dry wood, and in my neck of the woods, that means 2 years under cover. I scoffed at that for years, until I got a good load of properly seasoned wood. Now I know better.
I have found Oak can still hiss after 2 years. I try to go 3 if I can keep up my supply.
Properly seasoned wood is a game changer. When I started out I bought a cord of "seasoned" from a local guy off craigslist. This wood was not seasoned at all. When I contacted the guy about how his wood was burning and my disatisfaction he told me I should bring the wood up to room temp and then it would burn better. Ever since then I have processed my own which I am luckily enough to be able to do.
Takes a lot of room, though. I only have an acre, so can't afford the space.
I never tried 3 years, so can't say how good it is, but I do know that 2 years is a world of difference from the usual stuff that firewood people sell.
Of course, how long you need to season depends on the local climate. Here in Virginia is a different world from the Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana, etc, which is a different world from the desert mountain areas of the southwest.
But wherever you are, genuinely dry wood is a different world, and most wood-burners only think they know what it is.
mcmxi
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This is interesting. I'll have to try this.
Birch (silver) bark makes an amazing firestarter. There's a lot of resin or oil trapped in the bark. If you find stuff on the ground, the core will often be completely rotted out leaving a tube of bark that is the best firestarter I've ever found.