How to Make Camp Fire Starters with Wax Paraffin

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A homemade camp fire starter made with paraffin wax and sawdust will help you light up your campfire without a great deal of effort or frustration. Making a fire starter is not an exact science and the process allows you to recycle some materials that are lying around your home, such as sawdust, shredded paper, dryer lint, empty egg cartons and even old coffee grounds. Experiment with different mixtures and combinations until you perfect your homemade wax paraffin camp fire starters.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Paraffin wax
Large knife
Microwave safe bowl
Sawdust
Cardboard egg carton
Wicks
Scissors

Step 1

Chop approximately one pound of paraffin wax into small chunks with a large knife.

Step 2

Place the wax in a large, microwave safe bowl. Heat the wax on high at 30 second intervals, stirring often, until the wax is melted.

Step 3

Measure approximately two cups of sawdust into the melted wax. Stir the ingredients together and add more sawdust as necessary to create a thick batter. You can also use shredded paper or dryer lint if you do not have sawdust available.

Step 4

Pour the mixture into empty cardboard egg cartons. Each cup in the egg carton will form one campfire starter. You should have enough batter to make about 18 paraffin wax fire starters.

Step 5

Push a wick into each wax and sawdust filled cup and let the wax cool completely.

Step 6

Store the campfire starters in a cool, dry place.

Step 7

Cut one of the cups from the egg carton with scissors when you are ready to use a fire starter. Light the wick and place the entire fire starter, egg carton cup included, into your campfire.

Tips & Warnings

Stir 1/4 to 1/2 cup used, dry coffee grounds into the wax along with the sawdust to create coffee scented camp fire starters.

Article Written By Kittie McCoy

Kittie McCoy has been a freelance writer since 2008. She is also a part-time personal trainer and licensed entertainer in Las Vegas. She enjoys sharing her love of physical fitness and experience in the entertainment industry via her writing.

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