Wind, moisture, and lack of suitable kindling often make the process of starting a campfire a challenging task. Homemade fire starters using upcycled candle wax are a practical solution you haven’t tried yet. By repurposing old candles, it’s easy to create compact, efficient natural fire starters (and they’re way, way less expensive than store-bought fire starters). The wax in these individual campfire starters provides a sustained burn, igniting even in challenging environments—we’ve been making them for years for ourselves and for our friends. Give it a try—we think it’ll make your outdoor adventures more enjoyable.
Tools and Materials You’ll Need
- Stove
- Old metal saucepan. One you don’t care about.
- Metal spoon
- Candles. The ones you know you (or your partner) are never going to burn.
- Cheese grater
- Small paper cups
- Assorted burnables. Things like shredded paper, shavings from the pencil sharpener, cotton balls, dryer lint (save it every time you clean the lint trap), and natural materials like pinecones, pine needles, wood chips, and sawdust work very well.
- Wooden dowel
1. Fill Paper Cups with Burnables
Each cup should pack to be about half-full (or half-empty). There's no harm in being more generous with the contents. Use what you have. If you don't have paper cups, other containers will work well for this project including:
- paper cupcake liners
- toilet paper tubes
- cardboard egg cartons
2. Grate Candles
You can buy pre-shredded candle wax for projects, but it comes with a price tag. Shredding your own wax with a cheese grater is easy. Make a mental note that you can repurpose the old, half-used paraffin wax candles at garage sales. Slowly form a stash. These candles go a long way.
3. Melt Wax
You’re not going to want to melt wax in your nice saucepans, which is why we recommend picking up an old one at a secondhand shop for pennies. Setting it up as a double boiler is safest for this project, so fill a pot with water and bring it to a simmer. Set your junky saucepan on top of the hot water and melt the grated wax, stirring often with a metal spoon until it is completely fluid.
4. Pour Wax Into Cups
Each cup only needs two to three tablespoons of wax. It will quickly settle into the bottom of each cup, and that’s okay—it will coat the burnable materials as it settles.
5. Compress the Cups
Use the end of a dowel to compress the burnable material and the warm wax. Packing it tightly into the bottom of the cup will ensure a longer burn time.
6. Store the Individual Fire Starters
That's a wrap on your homemade fire starter project! Once the wax has cooled, you can store them for the future at your next outdoor fire or to light your indoor wood-burning fireplace. Keep them in a cool, dry place to prevent them from absorbing any moisture. They're water-resistant, but we wouldn't say that they're waterproof fire starters.
FAQ
Do I need candle wicks?
No. The exterior paper of your homemade fire starter will easily ignite without a wick. Waxed paper cups work very well because they catch the flame from the match quickly and burn long enough to ignite the flammable items inside the cup. Once it's started, it will burn long enough to catch the kindling and other logs.
How long will the homemade fire starters burn?
Anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on the density and size of the fire starter. The wax burns longer than you'd expect, creating enough heat to catch the kindling in your indoor fireplace or start a rager in your outdoor fire pit. We have yet to use a fire starter and not successfully start a great fire. Two thumbs up!
Do fire starters expire?
No—these paper, sawdust, and lint fire starters have an eternal shelf life. Make dozens at a time and have them for weeks, months, or years to come.
Does it matter if the candles are scented?
Nope! The smell of cinnamon or vanilla will be masked by the scent of burning wood. (This is a great way of getting rid of the scents you hate.)
