Anyone else hate newspaper to start fire?

Nothing gets a draft going in a cold flue as fast as crumpled up newspaper set ablaze.

If we didn’t have such an abundance of flyers and cardboard I’d probably be more willing to try something else, but it just doesn’t make sense to throw something that is free and works away, then spending money buying something to replace it. And it's not just the purchasing of the firestarter that bothers me, but I'd need to buy more recycle bags to stuff all the extra cardboard and newspaper in, and if I'm going to take the time to crush and tear up cardboard boxes to fit in those flimsy little blue bags I'd just as soon throw it in the stove and burn it.
Some may call that being cheap, I just call it being thrifty.

Oldhippie said:

Can you say more about "top down" fire starting?

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I've got SuperCedars but I find that paper and Pine are mighty fine. Top-down is the cleanest way to cold-start a fire (I'm experimenting with starting reloads top-down also.) With top-down, the flame is above the wood that is starting to ignite, so that smoke is burned as it rises into the flame. I stack a few bigger splits in the back of the box, then put medium splits bottom front and smaller splits on top of that. Then I lay on two or three newspaper knots and top them with a few pieces of Pine kindling, 1/2"-3/4". Light the paper, open the air, and watch in amazement as the fire builds. The small splits in front get hot and clean the glass nicely.

Carbon_Liberator said:

If we didn’t have such an abundance of flyers and cardboard I’d probably be more willing to try something else, but it just doesn’t make sense to throw something that is free and works away, then spending money buying something to replace it.

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Nothing against Thomas and his Super Cedars but that is exactly my take on it. Not to mention the fuel and material wasted to ship the SCs to my place while the newspapers are already here. Plus, I have now optimized my starting method (bottom-up!) to get a roaring fire going within 5 to 10 min max and that sometimes even with subpar wood. The only reason I am still thinking about getting some Super Cedars is my wife who just does not want to watch me lighting the stove and therefore has often troubles to get things going.

hearthstoneheat said:

I've gotten so frustrated using newspaper to start fires. It seems that it doesn't light like it used to in the past (maybe it's just me), and it's a big waste of time. Then you have the big ash left that seems to block the fire if/when it does get going. I guess I've been too spoiled using Super Cedars. Anyone else share my frustration?

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Generally, I don't fool around with newspaper or buy fire starters.

I lay a handfull of twigs over three dry pine cones (I keep a trash barrel of each in the garage with spares under the deck out back). This technique works fine in my Jotul insert, gets rid of yard debris, and is dirt cheap.

Wood burning is a fairly marginal way to save a buck, so keeping costs down is important.

"The only reason I am still thinking about getting some Super Cedars is my wife who just does not want to watch me lighting the stove and therefore has often troubles to get things going."
That's exactly why I bought a box, but she does not use them either, they do work well though just dont need them.

Hey I have nothing against Thomas and his Super Cedars either, in fact I think those sorts of firestarters work GREAT! Especially for outdoor fires when camping and what not. A lot more compact and easy to carry then paper and cardboard, and a lot less effected by dampness in wet weather. But that's just not something I have to worry about in the house.

On the subject of Thomas and his Super Cedars, I have actually looked for them in stores out West here and never found them, but there are plenty of similar generic products on the shelves. That's probably why you don't see them out here, that and the cost of shipping a product from afar to compete with products manufactured locally.
I'll promise Thomas this though, if he makes the effort to get his Super Cedars in the stores out West here, I'll buy some when I see them. Is it a deal?

Sometimes I use existing coals, sometimes SuperCedars and sometimes newspaper; always burning from the bottom-up. All work extremely well and I have no real preference. Using existing coals seems to be the cleanest, SuperCedars should be second in cleanliness. Intuitively, newspaper should be the "dirtiest". I happen to use whatever tickles my fancy at the time. No one of the fire starters seems to reduce the number of times I must shovel out ashes. ;-)

hearthstoneheat said:

I've gotten so frustrated using newspaper to start fires. It seems that it doesn't light like it used to in the past (maybe it's just me), and it's a big waste of time. Then you have the big ash left that seems to block the fire if/when it does get going. I guess I've been too spoiled using Super Cedars. Anyone else share my frustration?

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It depends on what newspaper you use. I swear by the Wall Street Journal. Two or three newspaper knots & a couple of fatwood sticks; works every time. No other kindling required.

I use the prospectus my wife's 401k sends. It's like newspaper, but thinner and harder. It burns pretty clean. It doesn't say anything anyway.

HotCoals said:

Cat guys start a fire once,maybe twice a year..just sayin'.

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+1 on that.

As for the moisture content in newspapers, you'll find that they burn better if you stack them in a single row outside on pallets and allow the wind and sun to 'season' them for at least a year (longer if they are liberal rags and you need to get the crap dried out) :-S 2-3 years will be needed if you have papers from Oakland, Oakmont, Oakdale ... well you get the idea. %-P

I always use newspaper and small pieces of cardboard beneath a few pieces of kindling - things that I always have laying around. I have yet to have a misfire this year and I've been making a fire a day since the end of October.

Dry wood is definitely the difference maker no matter how you start a fire.

I've found that tearing a half dozen or so pages out of a phone book work better than newspaper...ah.. paper.
I use the phone book pages, then a little bit of cardboard (I always seem to have some on hand. Shipping boxes, empty case beer boxes, etc.), some sticks/small dead-fall out of the yard that I pre-breakup to size, and a few dry splits of wood on the sides holding it all together. Works every time. And I am not cheap, just frugal.

I'm a cardboard kind of guy....not the big box stuff, but the cereal box stuff, you know, au gratin potato boxes, wheaties, cake mix boxes.....

I love my newspaper too, but like to mix 'em, newspaper then rolled cereal boxes, then kindling, then some splits, and whoooooosh!

One of my customers gave me an almost full box of Duraflame logs. I cut off ~ 2" slice and then quarter the slice. Gives a nice 2" x 2" chunk that lasts quite a while. If there is charcoal left in the stove, I'll pile that around the starter. If not, I'll use kindling.

Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire said:

I find that burning a handfull of bills and some kindling starts a great fire.
It's like sticking it to the man...

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I hope you mean old heating bills and not dead presidents.

oldspark said:

BrotherBart said:

There is a small stack of three year old newspapers under an end table in the family room. They have been there since I received the first Super Cedar sample. I need to remember to throw them away.

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That's funny, I have a box of super cedars I bought because of the reviews on here, they are great but I like my newspaper, I think I have used two of them.

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After using those two newspapers, I'll bet you were very happy to get back to the super cedars.

Gonna have to proof read my posts a little bit better.

Seems as though this has been a topic before, posed a bit differently.
Toilet paper rolls. They work great. Everybody has 'em......uh, I think. :coolsmile:
I use newspaper too. We get the local paper,....it's only weekly and there's only a few pages. What can I say, I live in a small town.
However, my brother's SIL gets at least one paper daily and they save them for him and us.
Whenever we see them, we get a garbage bag full. I think we have enough for about 20 years. :lol:

Only when I run out of corn cobs and junk mail catalogs.

Try the editorial page------usually pretty dry.

Yeah, if I subscribed to the print version of the Hearth.com Ash Can, I'd be all set.

Bub381 said:

Use pinecones myself,work great.

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+1 on that. The sugar pine cones are so big and pitchy you almost don't need wood. We like the Ponderosa cones, 2 cones and 5 seconds with the propane torch and we have fire. No need to buy them, they're all over outside.

WoodpileOCD said:

As for the moisture content in newspapers, you'll find that they burn better if you stack them in a single row outside on pallets and allow the wind and sun to 'season' them for at least a year (longer if they are liberal rags and you need to get the crap dried out) :-S 2-3 years will be needed if you have papers from Oakland, Oakmont, Oakdale ... well you get the idea. %-P

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WoodpileOCD, you and me are going to get along just fine