Early humans learned how to start a fire with just what nature had to offer. Today, we can hardly start a fire without a matchbox or lighter.
So, how can you get a blaze going after a storm has passed and all you are left is wet wood? Simple household waste materials can be used to make DIY fire starters and solve this problem.
We recommended that all waste likely to be flammable or emit toxic fumes should be properly disposed of or thrown into a fireplace. Waste materials that will be used as fire starters should be safe to use and normal items that don’t emit toxic fumes.
Simple DIY Fire Starters from Household Waste
Snack Food Fire Starters
Snacking on Doritos, Crunchy Cheetos, and Pringles with some orange juice while watching a movie sounds like fun for anyone, but what is more fun is that they can be used to get a blaze going on a cold day or wet night.
Corn chips, Doritos, Crunchy Cheetos, and Pringles are snacks made with cooking oil which makes a good material to burn.
You get started by making a small pile of tasty snacks. Light it up and watch it burn for a couple of minutes. Using just four Cheetos stacked up in the form of a house can burn for about 8 minutes.
Learn more: 14 Upcycling Sewing Projects for Beginners
Dryer Lint and Cardboard Toilet Paper Fire Starter
A common household laundry equipment holds microfibers that you can use to get a blaze going. Dryer lint and a cardboard toilet paper roll are two materials that would be just fine to start a fire.
Here is what you need to do: After you clean the lint trap in your dryer, collect enough of the fuzzy fibres that you will place inside a cardboard paper roll. This works better when you stuff the fibres inside the cardboard toilet paper from end to end.
Starting a fire that would last for a considerable amount of time requires using at least two or three lint-stuffed toilet paper rolls. Make sure not to stuff the lint too tightly, otherwise it won’t burn due to limited space for oxygen.
Cotton Slimeball
Here is another way to start a blaze with simple household waste materials. You will need cotton balls that will be soaked in hot Vaseline. Make sure the cotton ball is completely soaked in Vaseline.
After the cotton balls are sticky and nicely covered in petroleum jelly, you can throw at least three or four sticky cotton balls into a fireplace. Store sticky cotton balls for later use in plastic bags.
Soaking cotton balls in petroleum jelly makes them flammable and expect burning time to last up to 7 to 8 minutes.
Learn more: Biodegradable Glitters for Candles, Soaps, Cosmetics, Face,
Alcohol Fire Starter
Soaking a cork with rubbing alcohol may seem like a better option for starting a fire but it burns out in a few seconds. Rubbing alcohol is flammable, light easily and burns fast, while a dense cork takes longer to ignite, which makes this method less effective and not too considerable.
However, you can use other easy-to-burn materials like wood shavings or cardboard with rubbing alcohol to get a fire going. You only have to be carrying a bottle of rubbing alcohol around to pour on these materials to keep the blaze going.
Waxed Pinecone Fire Starter
Pinecones can be put to good use to stay warm during a cold night when dry wood is scarce. It would be fun to take all those fallen pinecones to make a natural fire starter.
For a natural fire starter like this, you will need beeswax, wax paper, a double boiler, and fallen pinecones.
Start by melting the beeswax in the top of the double boiler over low heat and this should take about 15 to 20 minutes to melt. Next, dip the pointed end of the conical woody fruit into the melted beeswax.
After that, place the pinecones on a piece of waxed paper to cool. Dipping the pinecones into the wax should be done over and over again to create a thicker coating in beeswax.
To make a customized waxed pinecone fire starter, you can add grated crayons to the melting beeswax or a few drops of essential oil to give the pinecones a unique scent.
Egg Carton Fire Starters
Empty egg cartons that are usually tossed into a dustbin can be transformed into a material for starting fire, and it can burns for a couple of minutes. After using the eggs to make pancakes or your regular scrambled eggs for breakfast, this is how you can go about with this fire starter:
Firstly, get the empty egg carton and also collect candle nubs and broken crayons. Get a tin can and fill it with the candle nubs and crayons.
Next, place the tin can in a pot of water. Heat it over low heat and wait for the wax to melt. While the wax is melting, find combustible materials such as shredded paper, dryer lint, and sawdust to fill each egg compartment with.
After that, pour the melted wax on those combustible materials. Allow the wax to cool and dry before you start breaking each egg compartment. And just like that, you have a dozen DIY fire starters made from simple household waste.
Duct Tape Fire Starters
Not everyone knows that duct tape can burn. Duct tapes are generally used for patching holes, packing boxes, and general sealing. Apart from being used for these purposes, these pressure-sensitive tapes when ignited burn slowly.
Using duct tape works best by wrapping it around crumpled newspapers. We recommend using duct tape to start a fire out door as burning gives out stinky fumes.
Conclusion
Household waste materials can be repurposed as fire starters to get a blaze going in the absence of dry wood. Some of these examples of fire starters require simple supplies to transform materials to burn for a couple of minutes.
You can try out any of the simple steps we included in this guide.