Can I start a fire with solid paraffin and dryer lint in my wood cast insert?

[PapaDave]

Does anyone know if firestarters made with soy wax (versus paraffin wax) work well? My wife makes soy candles and I have access to 100's of pounds of wax. Sure would be nice if it would work.

Give it a shot. You could set it afire outside as a test.

 

[Prof]

Give it a shot. You could set it afire outside as a test.

I spent some time conducting my own tests to see what materials gave the longest burn time and the best flame. Long story short, cardboard egg cartons and dryer lint won the contest. I can get at least 10 minutes of a 4+ inch flame--more than enough to get things blazing. I didn't have different types of wax to play with, but I'd be curious what type of difference this might make.​

 

[Sprinter]

I spent some time conducting my own tests to see what materials gave the longest burn time and the best flame. Long story short, cardboard egg cartons and dryer lint won the contest. I can get at least 10 minutes of a 4+ inch flame--more than enough to get things blazing. I didn't have different types of wax to play with, but I'd be curious what type of difference this might make.​

Nearly all of the popular commercial products use wax, including Super Cedars (my personal fav). Many diy'ers here successfully use the lint/wax/egg-carton method. I suppose paraffin would be the easiest to get.

 

[Trooper]

I spent some time conducting my own tests to see what materials gave the longest burn time and the best flame. Long story short, cardboard egg cartons and dryer lint won the contest. I can get at least 10 minutes of a 4+ inch flame--more than enough to get things blazing. I didn't have different types of wax to play with, but I'd be curious what type of difference this might make.​

Did you test sawdust with wax in a cardboard egg carton? I hear that's pretty good.

 

[Prof]

Did you test sawdust with wax in a cardboard egg carton? I hear that's pretty good.

Yeah, that was the runner up. I also tested shredded paper, peanut shells, pine needles, and dried knotweed. What can I say, I had some time to kill Realistically, any would have worked. The only down side to lint is that we have a cat, so there is a fair amount of cat hair in our lint. I don't notice a burnt hair smell in the stove, but not so great for an open fire place.

 

[Beer Belly]

I may have missed it,......when you measure moisture with your MM, do it on the face of a fresh split...don't know if it makes a difference, but I check it on all sides of the split, but go by the fresh side for the reading.