FeatherSticks · Fire

DIY Fire Starters: Homemade Recipes with Wax, Cotton and Bark

A pad of cotton that burns for minutes and turns damp kindling into a fire.

Quick facts

Time: 15–30 min of work for a batch of 6–12, plus 10–20 min of setting
Difficulty: Easy, but wax needs a water bath and your full attention
Best for: Damp kindling, cold fingers, backup in a fire kit, practice
You need: Cotton, wax or petroleum jelly, a can and pot, baking paper, a sealed tin

1 Pick a base and a recipe

Choose cotton, cardboard with shavings, a pine cone or bark. Plant-based and natural bases come first; plastic and synthetic pads stay out.
2 Melt wax in a water bath

Put wax in a can, stand the can in a pot of hot water on low heat, and never put it over a naked flame. Keep a lid within reach.
3 Dip, pour or work it in

Dip pads and cord with tongs, pour wax over shavings in a carton, or knead petroleum jelly into cotton. Let the excess drain off.
4 Let it set and cut it apart

Leave the pieces on baking paper for about 10–20 minutes until hard, then cut or break them into single-fire portions.
5 Store sealed and labelled

Keep starters in a closed tin or zip bag, labelled, away from food, children, sun and hot cars.
6 Light it under the kindling

Open the fibres, light one corner with a match or a ferro rod spark, and lean thin kindling over it with a gap for air.

Heating wax directly over a flame or in a tin on the stove instead of in a water bath.
Reaching for water when wax burns, instead of putting a lid on it.
Using too much petroleum jelly, which smothers the cotton and makes thick black smoke.
Striking a ferro rod at a compressed, coated starter instead of fraying the fibres first.
Using foam or plastic egg cartons, synthetic cotton pads or treated wood shavings.
Treating the starter as a replacement for dry kindling and wet sticks that will not dry.
Storing starters warm, unsealed or unlabelled next to food or a stove.