We have discovered, at our home, that fireplaces are wonderful for drafty old 3500+ square foot houses. We have gas heat, but try to use the wood burning fireplace as much as possible. It’s much cheaper, because we have an abundance of trees, and it’s so much warmer than gas heat. The one problem I’ve struggled with, however, are fire starters. I’ve always bought the brick fire starters, that you find at your local “discount” store. This year, I was determined to save the $10 – $20 a box and make my own. After doing an extensive amount of experimenting, I’m sharing my findings so you don’t make the same mistakes I did.

The first “recipe” I found was for dryer lint. Now, in theory, this seems like a good idea. We all hear about houses catching on fire every year from people not cleaning out their dryer lint screen…