Cotton Ball Fire Starters

Whenever my family goes out camping, it’s always my husband or sons who start the fires and light the stoves.  They like making and playing with fire; I don’t.  They understand how to light the stupid camp stove quickly; I never will.  I can’t even light a lighter 99% of the time.  (Do I just always happen to pick up one that doesn’t work well?  I don’t think so!)  I do feel fortunate to be able to light a match.  However, sometimes it takes more than a match or two to get a fire going, whether we’re dealing with a little rain or dampness or wind.  

It’s important to be able to light a fire in case we’re out sometime and my sons are gone and married (stranger things have happened) and my husband decides to go chat it up with someone while I’m trying to get dinner on.  

I stumbled across the idea for these Vaseline cotton ball fire starters about a year ago and was immediately intrigued.  They were billed as cheap, light-weight, and most importantly, fool-proof.  Was it possible?  Would it be something I could actually light and use to build a fire?  Without causing some kind of explosion?

There are numerous sites online that provide instructions for making these, but only one goes into the science of why petroleum jelly cotton balls work and why they are safe and stable.  He does a really good job of it.  See http://www.ramblinjim.com/articles/using-vaseline-cotton-balls-as-a-fire-starter/.

To make your own fire starters, turn a small Ziploc baggie inside out and scoop out about a tablespoon of any 100% petroleum jelly.  It doesn’t have to be Vaseline to work.  (But I’m going to stick with the term Vaseline.  It’s a lot shorter.)  Now turn the baggie right side out, with the Vaseline inside, and add a handful of large cotton balls.  (Make sure they are 100% cotton—synthetic fibers don’t light well.  And dryer lint, though popular in some crowds, tends to have synthetic fibers in it.)  Mush the cotton balls and Vaseline together.  You want to get as much Vaseline into the cotton balls as possible, without totally saturating them.  You need to have some dry cotton in the middle to be able to light the cotton ball easily.  If you only add a light amount of Vaseline to the cotton balls, they will ignite well, but there won’t be enough fuel in them to burn very long.  If you add too much Vaseline, you’ll have to work harder to find cotton fibers to light with a spark.  (Remember, if you looked at the website indicated above, Vaseline is extremely stable and cannot be lighted with a match.)  Add more cotton balls or Vaseline as needed.  

Before packing these little gems away, you should really try a few out to make sure you’ve done them right and they are going to do their job when you need them.  So pull one ball out and tease out some dry fibers from the middle.  Set it on some foil in a pan and light the cotton fibers.  The fire starters should light with the first match and burn for at least four minutes.  If it worked, then squeeze the air out of the baggie and seal it.  Store the fire starters in your camping gear and emergency kits.  If your fire starters didn’t burn long enough, work in more Vaseline.  If they were difficult to light, store a dry cotton ball or two with your starters so that you can add some cotton fibers to the starters to facilitate ignition.

If you don’t like the idea of using a baggie for your fire starters, you can also use film canisters, pill bottles, or straws that have been heat sealed on both ends.  

Some people suggest using a small piece of foil to make a bowl for the cotton ball.  Air flow can be controlled or the flame can be protected from wind by adjusting the opening of the bowl.  This can increase burn time substantially.  

And here’s a bonus:  If you forgot your lip balm, your Vaseline cotton ball fire starters can also prevent chapped lips.  No other fire starter can make that claim.

22 november 2018