Making char cloth

When you want to make a fire using a flint and fire striker, you need a char cloth. Char cloths are pretty easy to make yourself. A good alternative for a char cloth is a wax fire starter, or wax cloth. 

Making char cloth

What do you need?

-100% natural plant fiber cloth

-scissors

-small tin

-nail

-hammer

-heat source

How to make char cloth:

Step 1:

Using the nail and hammer, punch a hole in the lid and the bottom of the tin. 

Step 2:

Cut your cloth in pieces. The pieces need to fit in the tin without needing to be folded. 

Make sure the cloth is made from 100% natural, plant based fiber. Cotton canvas is very suitable for this, but other cottons or linen will also work. 

Step 3:

Place the cloth in the tin and close it. Don’t pack the cloth pieces too tight, just gently place them on top of eachother. 

Step 4:

Place the closed tin on your heat source. Red hot coals in a fire pit work really well, but any heat source can work. A wood or camping stove can work just fine, but they do burn hotter than an open fire pit, so you need to keep a close eye on the process to not actually burn the cloth. 

Step 5:

Watch the smoke coming out of the tin. Once the tin releases no more smoke, flip it over. Wait for the tin to stop releasing smoke from this side as well. 

Step 6:

Take the tin from the heat source and let it cool. Don’t rush to open it, the cloth can still catch fire if it’s exposed to oxygen too quickly.

Once the tin is properly cooled, you can open it to take out and inspect the cloth.

Perfectly made char cloth is fully black, still somewhat soft and not brittle. If the cloth isn’t fully black, you can just cook it again. If the cloth is too brittle and falls apart, the cloth was overcooked and isn’t usable. The cloth will shrink a bit during the cooking process so your char cloth will be smaller than the pieces you placed in the tin.

Making wax fire starters

What do you need?

-100% natural plant fiber cloth

-scissors

-bees wax or candle wax flakes

-heat resistant canister

-water

-pan

-stove

-aluminum foil

How to make wax fire starters?

Step 1:

Place the wax in the heat resistant canister. You could, for example, use an empty (and clean) food can or a thick glass food bowl. Fill the pan with enough water that it can transfer the heat to the canister, but make sure the water won’t get in the canister with the wax.

Place the pan on the stove and wait for the wax to melt.

Step 2:

While waiting for the wax to melt, cut the cloth in smaller pieces. Make sure the cloth is made from 100% natural, plant based fiber. Cotton canvas is very suitable for this, but other cottons or linen will also work.

You can also use cotton makeup pads. 

Step 3:

When the wax is fully melted, dip the cloth pieces in the wax, covering them as much as possible with wax. Be careful you don’t dip your fingers in the wax, as this can cause burns. You can always use a tool like tweezers to hold the cloth, to be safe. 

Step 4:

Place the waxed pieces of cloth on some aluminum foil to cool and dry. Wax generally cools quickly, so this won’t take too long. 

You can find our bees wax here.