Dryer Lint Fire Starters
Recently I've taken a little bit of flack for a post I wrote a year ago; 13 Ways to Use Dryer Lint. After responding to the commenter, I remembered that I have used lint to line the bottom of the tires I planted potatoes in, but mostly I save my dryer lint to make fire starters. Hat tip to Butterfly Mama where I first saw the idea of making fire starters from dyer lint.
Dryer lint fire starters work wonderfully. Using one or two of them will get dry firewood burning easily and quickly. It is much better than trying to get a fire going with newspaper, and much cheaper than the starter logs you can buy at the store.
The starters are very easy to make, and free, using items that might other wise end up in the trash. All you need is some dryer lint, cardboard egg cartons, and candles (or melts) you are no longer using.
First melt your wax. For this set of fire starters I used an old Christmas candle in a crock. I was able to melt the wax by heating the crock in simmering water. If you are melting melts, tapers or other candles without their own container, simply melt them using a rinsed out food can in simmering water. This candle had a cinnamon scent. The house smelled so good while it was melting! The starters also put off a bit of the scent when they are used.
While your wax it melting, pack as much lint as you can into the spot where the eggs go in the carton. Wax scrapes off the counter pretty easily, but if you prefer, set the carton on some newspaper or an old cookie sheet for any wax that is spilled or soaks through the cardboard. When the wax is melted pour it over the lint soaking the lint thouroughly.Allow the starters to cool until the wax is firm again. When you are ready to start a fire break off one or two sections, arrange a few small logs around and over the starter, and light. Snuggle up to your honey and enjoy the fire!
Dyer lint fire starters work for me. See Works for Me Wednesday for more great ideas and tips.
Labels:
free stuff,
laundry and cleaning,
recycling
11 comments:
I make fire starters without the wax.
I save toilet paper & paper towel rolls and stuff them with the lint.
Less hassle to make and works great, just no cinnamon or fragrance to make the moment. The fragrance would be fun for a special evening! But then again we have a woodstove so we wouldn't smell it for long :)
That is a great thing to do with lint and an important reminder of how flammable it is! Going to make sure my lint trap is clean right now!
I've heard about these before, and meant to try them, but they drifted away out of my mind. Thanks for the reminder! :o)
Suz,
That is a fantastic idea! Seems I always have a shortage of cardboard egg cartons. (I don't buy eggs often as we have our own chickens) But toilet paper rolls are in plentiful supply around here.
Does the wax melt onto the fireplace? Can you use the lint without the wax?
GiBee,
The wax all burns up in the fire. The only thing I'm wondering about making them without wax (as Suz suggested above) is whether they would burn too fast to get the logs going. I think in an egg carton they would but maybe in a tp tube there is enough packed in there to keep it burning slow.
I just wanted to add a warning that you need to make sure you are using only cotton or natural-fiber lint as burning synthetics (polyester, rayon, nylon, etc.) will produce toxic fumes.
In reference to your other post, everyone gets trolls....delete, delete, delete. :)
Great idea. The birds like the lint as well. We use it as mulch, and I noticed that in the spring, the robins have used it in their nests!
We make these fire starters like crazy every fall and winter as wood fires are the main way we heat our house. They work great! Our method is to gather whoever's around and sit at the kitchen table. We spread out newspapers to protect the table, and each of us has some stubs of old candles to work with. We just light the little stubs and hold the candles over the linted egg cartons. It makes for a surprisingly fun and festive evening. When we have guests or extended family over, they have fun making these with us, too. Who'd have thought you could have so much fun with a little dryer lint?!
I use dryer lint for fire starters all the time. It works great. Also you can use sawdust or the wood chips from a chainsaw to make fire starters too. Enjoyed the post and Stumbled too.
Loved the post. I love reusing and had never thought about this. Thanks!
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