Cardboard as Kindling

Their probably talking about cereal boxes stuffed with newspapers and splitter trash. Not the HD corrugated cardboard you would ship something cross country with.

Since I am not handy with a hatchet like my hubby was I just collect twigs and use them along with rolled up newspaper. If I were to use a hatchet I would soon be a one-handed typist.

Shari

If i'm starting a cold fire...I always use a piece of cardboard.. (about the size of a cereal box)... on top of the paper, then kindling. I use cereal boxes, pizza boxes (work REALLY good ;-P )...and any other cardboard that happens to get in my way.

I dont think it was cardboard as kindling exclusively - it was to assist getting less than desirable kindling going.

[quote author="perplexed" date="1232767829"] " ... I hesitate to burn anything other than wood and firestarters in my insert but I certainly have access to a lot of cardboard so I want to know more before using it.

1 - Does it gunk up the chimney/ss liner? (Safety is my primary concern here.) No.

2- Does it leave a lot of ash in firebox? Nothing that I can see

3 - Is there anything in it (labels and tape removed prior to burning) that adds pollution to the environment?

Use the candy or can goods boxes found at the grocery store. Very small labels & tape, no plastic.

4 - How big of pieces do you burn? (ie. Do you rip it up into small pieces or use bigger chunks of it?)

A "Milk Duds" box is 43" long by 13" wide. So I roll two boxes up into rolls, insert into stove under kindling, along with 1/2 sheet of newspaper, then light the newspaper.

For large boxes use a box cutter & cut the cardboard to your particular application.

I find the best cardboard to use is waxed corrugated boxes. I cut chunks about 3" x 6", a couple or three is enough to get the fire going. At this rate, one box lasts a long time.
It's quite a bit easier to cut with a knife than plain corrugated cardboard. I also think it's not recycleable so a good thing to burn.

cardboard works great use it all the time ,firey hot and instant ,only thing is it can send glowing remnants up the flue so i usually load the cardboard towards rear of stove away from the baffle plate edge to eliminate any drift away embers being sucked up the draft .also it can clog the air passeges on your grate below and may need a poker ran over the air space after they have burned off and leave ash bodies over the holes

Beanscoot said:

I find the best cardboard to use is waxed corrugated boxes...."

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perplexed,

The Jotul website indicates that the C550 Rockland does not have a cat.

However, if your model 550 does then check with other cat owners who have 5 years of burning before using waxed boxes.

Check page # 15 for starting a fire.

http://www.jotul.com/FileArchive/Technical Documentation/Wood inserts (USA)/Jøtul C 550 Rockland/Manual_C550_Rockland_138741_RevB _1108.pdf

Because even if your stove does not have a cat it is cast iron.

Cardboard, used like I described earlier, brings my stove up to @ 500* in 5 minutes or less.

Since your stove is cast iron you might want to check with others who have your model before hand.

Good luck with it.

perplexed said:

On a different thread I read that several people use cardboard as kindling.

So now I am wondering about it as I have never considered using it before.

I hesitate to burn anything other than wood and firestarters in my insert but I certainly have access to a lot of cardboard so I want to know more before using it.

1 - Does it gunk up the chimney/ss liner? (Safety is my primary concern here.)

2- Does it leave a lot of ash in firebox?

3 - Is there anything in it (labels and tape removed prior to burning) that adds pollution to the environment?

4 - How big of pieces do you burn? (ie. Do you rip it up into small pieces or use bigger chunks of it?)

Thanks for the info. in advance. :coolsmile:

Click to expand...

I don't use cardboard exclusively for kindling . . . rather I use it to help catch my kindling on fire for a cold start fire . . . normally I just throw some cedar kindling on to the hot ashes to get the fire going again after a long night.

Typical cold start for me . . . clean up the ash/dead coals. Take the cardboard box and/or piece of corrugated cardboard (after folding it up to give it some ridges like a rippled potato chip) and place in the firebox. Place cedar kindling on top followed by progressively larger pieces of very dry softwood/hardwood. Take one sheet of newspaper, ball it up and insert it next to cardboard . . . and light.

1) No . . . there really shouldn't be any issues with the cardboard gunking up the chimney.

2) It does leave some fly ash in the firebox . . . but again I don't use a lot . . . usually a cereal box (minus the plastic bag), pizza box or corrugated cardboard box. You should bear in mind that one sweep I know says the glossy colored newspaper is pretty bad for masonry chimneys with the clay liners . . . not so much of an issue on the SS chimneys. Even though I have a SS liner and realize that colored cardboard is not the same as colored newspaper I tend to favor the pizza boxes and corrugated cardboard (typically using cut up pieces about the size of a small pizza box or cereal box.)

3) As mentioned I strip off the plastic tape, plastic bags inside, etc. before using the cardboard.

4) Also as mentioned I use pieces the size of a cereal box or pizza box . . . creasing the corrugated cardboard to make it look like a rippled potato chip.)

I think it is a good idea to remove anything that is attached to the cardboard, for instance, plastic tape and labels. Most of these materials are carcinogenic when combusted. When in doubt, I just recycle it instead.

I like using cardboard, it helps the sticks and bark kindling catch.

Corrugated boxes are made of mostly pine fiber and non-toxic cornstarch 'glue'.

It's the printing and tape that have a small chance of having a toxic additive.



Cereal boxes (chipboard / greyboard) ink are mostly soy/ag / water- based inks but may have chemical additives in th ink to speed drying, or the chipboard could bbe treated to speed drying. There's a liner between the food and the container to keep the food from being contaminated. However the liner doesn't mean the cardboard could have a toxicity component, the ink could be completely safe, the FDA liner rule applies regardless. (The FDA rule addreses not just the printing ink, but the possible contamination of the 'box')

I won't burn Christmas wrapping paper , especially if there's even a tiny chance it came from China. If crap gets into food, who knows what's in thier cardboard and ink.
Nor glossy newspaper - even though they're mostly 'safe' ink now, too.