Upcycling with Lint and Wax to make Fire Starters

Some of you, who may not have heard the term before, may be asking, “What is upcycling?”  To give you the best definition I plugged the term into my handy Wikipedia bar and voila: “Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.” So basically I’m increasing the value of old stuff that would otherwise be worthless.

Ever wondered if there was a possible use for all that lint that comes out of your dryer? Or all the wax leftover after you've burnt up the wick? Well there is! And here is one possible use: Fire Starters! I have seen people buy those "Fire Starter Logs" where you light the wrapper it's in, which in turn lights the log, which in turn is supposed to help light the rest of the logs you were having difficulty lighting. I have seen these fail frequently and watched people struggle to light the starter log... haha. I haven't gotten to try my lint starter yet, but the women who I made them with said they are far more effective and much easier to bring along to a campground than a bunch of starter logs or fluid. (And you don't need to spend money to make them!!!) 

This project was done at one of my Bible Study groups, where each week we do a study on a story concerning women in the Bible, and follow it up with a related hands-on project. Today we studied the parable of the ten virgins, found in Matthew 25:1-13. I have pasted the parable below (ESV)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

1) “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2) Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3) For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4) but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5) As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6) But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7) Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8) And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9) But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10) And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11) Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, l‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12) But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13) Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

I will do my best to quickly interpret and summarize the parable below. Symbolisms to know: The virgins represent us, the people. The bridegroom is the return of Jesus and the marriage party basically the end of the earth as we know it now. Lamps are found elsewhere in the Bible, for instance: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105 KJV) Therefore we can deduce that the lamps in this parable represent the Word, that is, the Bible. The Word of God doesn't do us much good however if we don't live it. And what gives us life and impetus to serve God much like the oil gives life to the lamp? The Holy Spirit. So in short, have a relationship with the Holy Spirit and do not put it off, because you know not when the coming of the Lord will happen, so you must always be prepared and not be caught without him as the foolish Virgins were. The application of this knowledge separates the foolish from the wise. (There is more to this parable and some good history involved too so I encourage you to look it up of your own volition, however for the purposes of the craft this is all the background info you needed to know.) 

So along the theme of light/fire and being prepared, our leader thought a craft fitting for this parable would be to make fire starters, so we would always be prepared to quickly light a fire. 

The things you will need for this project are the following:

• old melted down candles/spare wax
• lint from your dryer (or someone else's I suppose...)
• an empty egg carton
• an old pot for melting the wax in
• a wooden spoon to stir the melting wax on the stove

Step 1: 

Place the candle/wax bits into the pot on the stove under a low heat. Keep a watchful eye on it and stir frequently. 

Instead of using a knife to try and scrape out the interior of the tea candles, we let them sit in a shallow layer of hot water. After a few minutes they easily popped right out! We then put the wax inserts in the pot on the stove to melt.

Step 2:

While the wax is melting, ball up the lint and stuff it into the holes of the egg carton.

Step 3:

Pour the melted wax over the lint balls.

Gloves are optional. Some people wore them because we had combined all of the lint and they didn't want to handle other people's lint. (Although really, it's all very clean if it's been through both washer and dryer... )

Step 4:

Let the wax/lint balls cool. Once cooled, pop them out and save them to use as your fire starters! Simply place in your fire place or campfire, light them with a match, and watch them ignite the wood surrounding them! If you happen to make these, please comment below and let me know how the process and end result turned out for you. :)

**Note: not recommended for use in barbecue fires, as some wax has been scented and you wouldn't want to cook your food over perfume... :P