Best wood for firestarters

[EricofAZ]

So I have a lot of recycled wax and left over wax and wax that I wish I had not bought and won't use. Best use seems to be firestarters.

I know the wood must to be free of toxins, smoker grade, etc.

Three questions:

1. What is the best wood to use? Anything from the lumber yard? Mesquite? Hickory? Pine? Any woods to avoid?

2. What is the best grind of the wood? Fine sawdust? Course sawdust? Small chips? Medium chips? Chunks that barely fit in a cupcake mold?

3. Any thoughts on FO's? Some of the wax has FO in it and I can heat it up and burn off most of the FO if necessary, or I can add some FO's that I just don't want any more. Favorite FO's for firestarters? FO's to avoid? Cautions?

What are your experiences?

I am guessing that the buyers will use them either for the BBQ pit, or the indoor fireplace so I want to do my best to make something that will work in an indoor fireplace.

Thanks,

Eric

Edited September 16, 2010 by EricofAZ
sprelling

[nursenancy]

I use cedar pet bedding. I bought a huge bag of it on clearance a while ago for 2.00.

[Sharon in KY]

I use potpourri, pine cones, dried fruit slices and the pet bedding. And spice, fruit or any thing winter smelling. The smell is just for smelling while it's setting around. Can't smell it when burning, it burns so fast. I would not use an expensive wood cause it burns really fast and leaves no residue. Using sample scents is a good ideal. Check the gallery I thought I saw some pictures of some.

[mparadise]

I use a mix of pet bedding and wood pellets (fuel for pellet stoves) with a few pieces of leftover wick from trimming jars stuck in them. The pellets help it to burn a little slower to help the fire start if you are using greener wood or damn wood in outdoor fire pits. (Can you tell I have a young adult that forgets to cover the firewood?) I also have noticed that they seem to do better with a wax coated "cup" (paper drinking cups, small condiment cups) than with regular muffin papers because they burn slower so wax doesn't leak out all over the place.

I use whatever wax I have & don't worry about the scent/scent mix. It's a great way to use up "oops" mixes that don't come out quite right.

[doglover]

Pinecones, sawdust, old wax and no scent

[Toni S.]

here too on the pet bedding!

[EricofAZ]

Ok, so scent is only for CT and sales. I like the idea of pet bedding.

I have a shredder at the office, anyone try paper that has been through the shredder?

What makes it burn so fast? Wax never burns fast for me with a wick, but does the wood really consume the wax that much? I guess I better try a few.

Great idea about the wax cups. They would be more expensive than the cupcake paper, but if they reduce residue and dripping, then I think they would be a must for folks using firestarters indoors.

Edited September 17, 2010 by EricofAZ
Sprelling

[EricofAZ]

Everyone here is great.

I bought some pine pet bedding at the pet store. 12 cubic inches was like $3. Two cubic inches made about 100 fire starters. So that is about a half a penny per firestarter.

Costco had these small dixie cups, 600 for $9. So a penny and a half per cup.

I did notice that the scent was gone once a test burn was underway so I won't be adding scent to them.

I have some junk wicks to use, but really, they seem to be fine by just lighting the waxed wood on fire.

About .7 ounces of wax works. That fills the cup about 1/3 of the way. At eleven cents per ounce on average, that comes out to about 8 cents.

So the total cost is like a dime each.

Should be a good money maker and of course, the beauty of this is they are recycled junk wax.

Edited September 18, 2010 by EricofAZ