Anyone have alternative uses for old creosote?

[hankjrfan]

Tough for me to throw anything useful away. We know it burns hotter than regular wood, and for that reason i've amassed several coffee cans of the stuff over the years. Anyone else do this? And do you have a task you accomplish with the stuff?

 

[branchburner]

I just ran a brush through the chimney last week... took the paper bag containing a few quarts of very light flakes and tossed it in the next fire.

 

[razerface]

i throw mine in the ash can. I collect enough stuff already,,,,,,

Does it light easy? Survival fire kit for prepper?

 

[begreen]

I just burn it in the next fire.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

man if you're saving creosote i'd hate to see your house, probably "stuff" stacked everywhere like a hoarder, lol.

 

[BrotherBart]

Put some in each postage paid reply envelope you receive in junk mail and mail it.

You will probably get a visit from the FBI but...

 

[smokedragon]

When I was younger, we would mix 50/50 with turpentine. Mix really well and then put 2 - 3 coatings on any post that would be in contact with the ground. This is how they used to treat old wooden phone/power poles (at least in the south). The newer ones are salt water treated just like the treated lumber you buy.

I throw mine in the ash bucket. If that ash ends up in the woods or on the garden, the creosote goes with it.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

All it is is solidified wood smoke not to be confused with the stuff on telephone poles. Its concentrated BTUs.Burn it in the next fire.

 

[hankjrfan]

Great answers. Yeah, a bit of a hoarder here but i'd like to think of myself as organized approach. I was thinking along the lines of the high temps that it burns at. Even though I never met my Grandpa he was a blacksmith. Got me to thinking...It looks like with creosote, theoretically because of the temps it burns at, you could smelt silver, maybe even copper and maybe get steel hot enough to work with and who knows what all else. But would it really "work".

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Probably the reason it burns at such a high temp is its usually burning in your chimney where its like a rocket with a huge air supply feeding it.
Most likely in your wood stove you would not notice any difference.

 

[firebroad]

Put some in each postage paid reply envelope you receive in junk mail and mail it.

You will probably get a visit from the FBI but...

 

[blacktail]

I just burn it in the next fire.

This.
Why even bother removing it from the stove? Leave it there until the next fire burns it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Grind it up and put it one some of your ornamental bushes or flowers.

 

[peakbagger]

I expect it would make a fine soil ammendment

 

[Woody Stover]

Leave it in the coffee cans, then this summer when you miss burning wood and long for the next heating season to start, brew up a pot of 'Woodburner's Coffee' to relieve the anxiety.

 

[BrotherBart]

Or take a coffee can of it back to the grocery store and tell them the stuff tastes like creosote.

 

[bmblank]

Sell it as an additive to pellets.

 

[bholler]

If anyone finds a use I can give you lots. There are days that we end up with many many gallons buy the end of the cleaning day.

 

[smokeater]

Tough for me to throw anything useful away. We know it burns hotter than regular wood, and for that reason i've amassed several coffee cans of the stuff over the years. Anyone else do this? And do you have a task you accomplish with the stuff?

I really hope your kidding.

 

[BrotherBart]

Ya know. There may be something here. Mix it with highly refined paraffin, compress it and stamp it into discs and have Super Sotes.

 

[GENECOP]

I do a couple of things with it.....add it to concrete for coloring.......and mix it with soaked shredded paper and sawdust for compressed logs....

 

[GeHmTS]

Can it be pelletized? If so, start a new industry with creosote pellets. The stove of course would be made out of clay.

 

[Watchguy]

Never tried it and don't necessarily recommend it but you never know if you might need it someday:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Creosote (disambiguation).
Creosote is the portion of chemical products obtained by the distillation of a tar that remains heavier than water, notably useful for its anti-septic and preservative properties.[1] It is produced in some quantities from the burning of wood and coal in blast furnaces and fireplaces; commonly found inside chimney flues when the wood or coal burns incompletely, producing soot and tarry smoke, and is the compound responsible for the preservation and the flavor of meat in the process of smoking. The name is derived from the Greek kréas (κρέας), meaning "meat", and sōtēr (σωτήρ), meaning "preserver".[2]

The two main types in industrial production are wood-tar creosote and coal-tar creosote. The coal-tar variety, having stronger and more toxic properties, has chiefly been used as a preservative for wood, while the wood-tar variety has been used for meat preservation, wood treatment, and for medicinal purposes as an expectorant, anti-septic, astringent, anaesthetic and laxative, though these have mostly been replaced by newer medicines.

 

[firebroad]

Well you know the old timers used to use it on their dogs for mange. Guess you could mix it with some shampoo and use it on pets with the affliction...

 

[Osage]

Years ago we used to use a product called KRS on our livestock when we castorated calves or dehorned or for any other open wound. It smelled like creosote. After reading some of these responses I am wondering if it contained some.
Think it was banned years ago.
I can believe the use for a laxative, I put some on a cut I had and nearly crapped my pants.