Firestarters can make the process of building a fire faster and require less work overall. While the basic principles of fire building still apply, these tools can have a big impact on how easy your ideal fire starts.
These days, there are many options homemade and store-bought options for firestarters. Some are heavily treated with chemicals while others prefer a more natural route. Whatever type of firestarter you choose, the purpose of it remains the same.
After many years of trying a wide range of firestarters, we have landed on wax-coated cotton pads as our go-to choice. They work great in all sorts of conditions, including wet wood. They are easy to use, easy to make, are affordable, and aren’t messy to use.
What You’ll Need
- Cotton pads (make up remover pads)
- Wax
- Double boiler
- Long tweezers or tongs
What You’ll Do
- Using a double boiler, fully melt the wax.
- Once fully melted, drop a cotton pad into the wax and leave it to soak for about 20 seconds.
- Using tweezers or tongs, carefully pull the cotton pad out of the wax and set aside to cool. Remember, melted wax is incrediablly hot. Avoid using your fingers to touch the wax-coated pad until it has cooeld completely.
- Once cooled, repeat the process. Each cotton pad should have two coats of wax.
- Set aside to fully cool. Store in a waterproof container for when you’re ready to use them.
Using Your Homemade Firestarter
Gather your wood and enough kindling to fuel the start of your fire properly. Build your fire how you would typically and add the kindling.
Scrape off a little bit of the wax from a cotton pad. This helps the pad catch fire more quickly. In most cases, you will only need one to get your fire going.
Light the pad and place it in the kindling. The pad will continue to burn well after your kindling is caught. If you built your fire properly, it won’t be long before the larger pieces of wood catch and your fire is off to a good start.