D.I.Y Cotton swabs dipped in wax become instant campfire starters!
Not long ago my friend KP gave me a baggie filled with cotton pads coated with wax that resembled wafers. KP makes and uses them for fire starter or tinder. I had to try them out and was very impressed with the simplicity and effectiveness of these wafers. The wafers can be used in whole, broken in half or quarters depending on the quality of kindling and how dry it is, the larger the piece the longer the burn time and better for damp kindling.
Materials needed: a used candle, tweezers or other device for picking up small objects, cotton cosmetic pads sold in grocery or drugstores, they’re sold in packs of 50-100 and a pan that you don’t mind melting
wax in.
Place the candle in the pan over low heat until you get about 1/8 to 1/4-inch of melted wax.
Place cotton pads in the pad to and allow each to absorb the wax, this only takes 2-3 seconds.
With tweezers or other devise remove the pads from the pot and place on a sheet of wax paper to dry. Use caution when removing the pads they are hot.
When the wafers have cooled to room temperature package in a small zip bag and you’re ready to go.
Before lighting make a small tear and expose the cotton fibers.
I wanted to test this batch for burn time, I did five burns for an average.
Wind- 8-10-mph, Air temp 43°F, Humidity 87%
Full wafer- 4.25-min, 1/2 wafer- 3.0-min, 1/4 wafer- 1.75-min
I weighed 20-wafers for an average weight of 4-grams. Yes, there are lighter options available, but for the price, effectiveness and long burn time IMO it’s hard to beat these DIY fire starter wafers.
KP- thanks for sharing these fantastic fire starter wafers with me and now others.
