It’s grill season again!
At least it is at the Blue Corner Home. My husband recently rescued our tiny charcoal grill from its winter hiatus (which mostly involved us tripping over it on the back porch), and we’ve already enjoyed several dinners made in flame-licked glory. But this year, we’re trying something new.
Why should I make my own fire starters?
Last year, we vowed to find an alternative to lighter fluid. The chemical taste is unpleasant, and we aren’t keen on using petroleum-based products so close to our food. We tried store-bought fire starters, but even those contained suspicious binders. It wasn’t the perfect solution.
That’s when I remembered a trick from my time volunteering on a farmstead. My host would stuff dryer lint into cardboard egg cartons, smother it in beeswax, and cut out the individual segments to use as fire starters. It was simple, cheap, and turned waste into something useful.
Why it works
You know those warnings about cleaning your lint trap to avoid fires? This project turns that risk into a tool. Dryer lint is a quick-burn material, which means that it lights, or catches fire easily, and burns quickly. Beeswax acts as a long-burn fuel, hard to light by itself, but once exposed to high enough heat, burns steadily and slowly (like a beeswax candle). Cardboard egg cartons provide a sturdy base, compact and convenient, as well as flammable in itself. Put the three together, you get a starter that is easy to light but slow to burn.
A Note on Materials
Since the goal is to keep petroleum away from our meals, I only collect lint from loads of natural fibers. Burning lint from polyester means burning plastic, which defeats the purpose.
In a similar vein, I prefer beeswax over other paraffin waxes because it is a cleaner burn.
And NEVER use a styrofoam egg carton in the project. They do not burn, they melt, and can serious injuries if touched or inhaled.
These fire starters worked like a charm in North Carolina; now, we’ll see if they hold up to a summer in southwestern Sweden.
DIY Dryer Lint Fire Starters
A quick-start, slow-burning fire starter that you can make from products otherwise bound for the bin!
Ingredients
– Cardboard Egg Carton
– Dryer Lint (enough to fill the egg carton segments)
– Beeswax
Directions
- Melt beeswax in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, simply use a heat-safe bowl over a pot with an inch of boiling water.
- While the wax is melting, stuff the dryer lint into the individual segments of the egg carton.
- After the wax is melted, pour it over the lint and egg carton, making sure to leave some parts of the lint uncovered.
- When the wax has cooled and hardened, cut out the individual segments. Each segment is a separate fire starter.
- To use, place one under coals or stacked tinder. Use a lighter or matches to light the starter.
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