Alternatives to kindling

[Sea Dog]

A couple teaspoons of sugar always peps up a lazy fire.

Oh-oh! Next thing will be Squirrels with type 2 diabetes.

[bizzard]

As a kid my mum taught me to roll newspaper up and make paper sticks... those work well for me.

When I was a kid all the newspapers were cut up posterior size and hung on a string in the toilet. When they got damp the newsprint would transfer to our bums, reading back to front. If we wanted to re-read it we had to use a mirror to reverse it before we washed it off.

[Athy]

...and they say romance is dead!

When we moved into this house, 10 years ago, while unpacking we found a forgotten three-prong (or whatever) candlestick. We decided that it would be agreeable to put it on our dining table and dine by candlelight, and we have done so ever since. We do cheat and have an electric lamp nearby, mind.

A couple teaspoons of sugar always peps up a lazy fire.

Blimey, that takes me back umpty-tumpty years - my parents used to do that (in the days when sugar was very cheap, I guess). Dad's method of reviving the fire in the morning (it was an all-night burner) was to place a sheet of newspaper over the fireplace aperture, which made the fire draw better. He had to remember to remove it when it started to go brown, though.

[tree monkey]

When we moved into this house, 10 years ago, while unpacking we found a forgotten three-prong (or whatever) candlestick. We decided that it would be agreeable to put it on our dining table and dine by candlelight, and we have done so ever since. We do cheat and have an electric lamp nearby, mind.

 

Blimey, that takes me back umpty-tumpty years - my parents used to do that (in the days when sugar was very cheap, I guess). Dad's method of reviving the fire in the morning (it was an all-night burner) was to place a sheet of newspaper over the fireplace aperture, which made the fire draw better. He had to remember to remove it when it started to go brown, though.

If you timed it right the sheet of paper would get drawn up the chimney in flame, which would shoot glowing bers from the pot on the roof.

I got caught by mum and dad as they came home from a night out because they were being showered by said embers

[bizzard]

Sugar is also good for case hardening steel. Salt will put the fire out.

[Neil2]

If you're talking about smokeless then all this talk of paper sticks and sugar is a waste of time.

 

To boost your supply of kindling all you need is a bag for life and a dog. Within minutes of setting off on a dog walk I have filled a bag with fallen twigs, bits of driftwood etc it goes into a steel box next to the fire where it dries out if necessary. I suppose you don't really need a dog but it seems to work better with one for some reason.

 

Waiting in a lock queue is also another opportunity, for some reason there always seems to be bits of spare wood around locks.

 

Or, every housing estate in the land has plenty of skips full of old window frames and last years kitchen.

 

 

[Victor Vectis]

...and they say romance is dead!

Or he hasn't paid his 'lekky bill.

 

[Athy]

If you're talking about smokeless then all this talk of paper sticks and sugar is a waste of time.

 

To boost your supply of kindling all you need is a bag for life and a dog. Within minutes of setting off on a dog walk I have filled a bag with fallen twigs, bits of driftwood etc it goes into a steel box next to the fire where it dries out if necessary. I suppose you don't really need a dog but it seems to work better with one for some reason.

 

Waiting in a lock queue is also another opportunity, for some reason there always seems to be bits of spare wood around locks.

 

Or, every housing estate in the land has plenty of skips full of old window frames and last years kitchen.

 

 

Good clue, and I suspect that lots of us do this sort of scavenging already.

But beware of those old window frames and bits of kitchen: the latter may not be wood at all, and the latter may be MDF, which in my experience is most reluctant to do anything more than smoulder.

Or he hasn't paid his 'lekky bill.

 

Who's a cheeky boy then?

[john6767]

Is it just me that uses barbecue lighter fluid, which seems to be gell stuff these days. Put the coal on, squirt some fluid/gell on, light a match and throw it into the fire and off you go.

Edited October 27, 2016 by john6767

[tree monkey]

Is it just me that uses barbecue lighter fluid, which seems to be gell stuff these days. Put the coal on, squirt some fluid/gell on, light a match and throw it into the fire and off you go.

No but I did share a box of out of date(?) Alcohol hand gel and that worked in a similar way

[nbfiresprite]

Aldi will have 48 pack firelighters for a very reasonable price in the next two weeks - around 79 or 89p last time out.

Poundland have 96pack firelighters (Non smelly type) for a quid.

[Ally]

We soak kitchen roll in discardable cooking fat, tightly balled, then wrapped up in nappy bags, tied and the end cut off, so you have a small ball of hardened fat covered kitchen roll, from seared off mince etc, through the year, and use those as fire lighters. Work a treat, cheap, long lasting.

[Maffi]

I always start my fire with Zip lighters.

 

There are, however, lots of trees at Billing.

[Tom Richmond]

Keep toilet roll tubes, stuff them with flammable rubbish (inc tea bags, tissues, matchsticks...) When blowing out candles, particularly night lights, pour molten wax in the top...

 

I also gather windfall sticks, and swear by egg boxes. My fire is also never out between mid Oct and March.

[pearley]

dried T-bags are very good as a substitute. Pine cones and tree bark are also good.

Aldi will have 48 pack firelighters for a very reasonable price in the next two weeks - around 79 or 89p last time out.

And they have large bags of kindling on sale now at £1.99

[blackrose]

We don't live aboard, but we do do a couple of months or so at a time. I tend to light the fire on day one and don't need to light it again before we leave. For that reason, even the dearest firelighters and a rip off net of kindling lasts practically forever and works out pretty cheap. Do people's fires keep going out? Oh, hang on, are we wood burning?

No, I knew someone would come back with that. I work during the day and keeping my big 9kW stove in during the day makes no economic sense at all.

[Sea Dog]

No, I knew someone would come back with that. I work during the day and keeping my big 9kW stove in during the day makes no economic sense at all.

Oh, in that case I get it! Helluva big old boat stove that is though, BR.

[blackrose]

I use oil* soaked rag *and* kindling.

 

Maybe alcohol/meths would do it? It works for barbecues...

Otherwise, yes, firelighters.

 

You manage to light smokeless coal just with firefighters and no kindling? As I said, I've tried several times without success.

As a kid my mum taught me to roll newspaper up and make paper sticks... those work well for me.

I refuse to believe you can light smokeless coal with bits of rolled up paper unless they're soaked in diesel or something else. I think some people have misunderstood the point of this thread. I wasn't asking how to light a fire.

Poundland have 96pack firelighters (Non smelly type) for a quid.

Sometimes I lose the will to live...

Oh, in that case I get it! Helluva big old boat stove that is though, BR.

Helluva big boat.

[ditchcrawler]

And you wonder why householders dont want boats moored over winter near their houses with all this crap going on the fire

[Catnip King]

You manage to light smokeless coal just with firefighters and no kindling? As I said, I've tried several times without success.

 

I refuse to believe you can light smokeless coal with bits of rolled up paper unless they're soaked in diesel or something else. I think some people have misunderstood the point of this thread. I wasn't asking how to light a fire.

 

Sometimes I lose the will to live...

 

Helluva big boat.

Well I light with them just fine. I use smokeless

[Athy]

I wasn't asking how to light a fire.

 

.

The thread title "alternatives to kindling" suggests that that was exactly what you were doing.

[blackrose]

Well I light with them just fine. I use smokeless

 

Ok, well if you can do it can you explain exactly how as it would really solve my problem. The thing is that at my old mooring I used to pick up big dustbin sized bags of off-cuts from a timber yard on my way to work for £1 each so I never ran out of kindling. Now I really can't get used to paying £2.99 for these poxy small bags. I work every day and the last thing I want to do is go out searching for twigs at evenings and weekends. I've got too much other stuff to do. Perhaps I just need to use less kindling and make it last longer so I don't keep running out, but if smokeless coal can really be lit with bits of rolled up paper I'm all ears...

The thread title "alternatives to kindling" suggests that that was exactly what you were doing.

 

I don't think so, but if that's what you think then perhaps you could suggest a better title so that I know what I'm doing for future reference?

 

However, do you usually read the thread title in isolation without reading the original post? If so you're bound to misunderstand the subject. The title is just a headline which doesn't necessarily describe the topic fully. Try reading the first sentence of the original post.

Edited October 30, 2016 by blackrose

[Athy]

 

 

 

Not at all. Do you usually read the thread title in isolation without reading the original post? If so you're bound to misunderstand the subject. The title is just a headline which doesn't necessarily describe the topic fully. Try reading the first sentence of the original post.

I did. It confirmed that I was right.

If your thread title doesn't describe the topic, then use a thread title which does..

[blackrose]

I did. It confirmed that I was right.

If your thread title doesn't describe the topic, then use a thread title which does..

 

It confirms nothing of the sort - since my original post was understood by the majority of respondents it actually confirms you're wrong.

 

I asked for alternatives to kindling in the title and for ways of lighting a fire without using kindling in the first sentence - NOT just how to light a fire per se.

 

What part of that didn't you understand? Anyway, I hope it's clear to you now.

Edited October 30, 2016 by blackrose

[Arthur Brown]

Used cooking fat, soaked into paper, sawdust etc. Whatever you have as waste oils or fats into waste adsorbant.