Making Charcloth

Pict,

I agree - there is a trade off. The tighter weave is harder to take a spark and burns slower (due to a lack of oxygen getting in between the fibers) and the muslin take a spark easier and spreads quicker - but burns out faster.

TF
 
I only just skimmed the other posts, so maybe someone has already mentioned my method.... sorry if this is the case.

I've been using an ordinary tin can. The type you might buy beans in. A one-pound can maybe..... about 3 inches in diameter and maybe 4.5 inches tall. But any steel can would do if you can close it up fairly tight.

I don't fill it right up....maybe a one inch layer of cloth torn into squares in the bottom. I then squash the top of the can together by maybe standing on it.... then fold the top half inch or so over with pliers (grabbing both sides of the top with the pliers). I heat it in a fire until the smoke/flame stops shooting out the crack at the squashed top. I take it off the fire with pliers and let it sit until cool before I open it.

Maybe it was just the cloth I had (with its embedded dyes and detergents etc), but I got the impression that if I packed too much cloth in, the charcloth would not be so sensitive to a spark. It seemed to be contaminated by some sort of a 'varnish'.
 
I've just made a TON of it in my fireplace. I used a quart paint can.

Here's a tip, boys and girls. Make sure that hole doesn't get plugged up.....

I heard a ping and was dodging a flying lid!!
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Just out of curiosity, do you have a lot more cheesecloth around than old t-shirts?
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it's just that i don't happen to have any unwanted t-shirts lying around right now, but i did notice in the supermarket that they had cotton cheesecloth that wasn't too expensive.

so no... i don't happen to have more cheesecloth around than old shirts. that would just be weird................ :D
 
Damn, I fear I've been doing it all wrong, or at least less than optimally, this whole time. :o

I read somewhere (Kochanski maybe? I have to go check) that you just cut out strips of vegetable fiber (I used scraps of jeans from thrift stores), light them and let them burn until the flames die down a bit, and then deprive the smoldering strips of oxygen (I stuff it in a jar and cap it). I've found my charred cloth to be brittle and dusty though, and judging by your earlier thread, TF :thumbup:, that isn't ideal. Should the charred cloth be flexible and relatively solid?
 
I ran a lot of tests with different cotton sources when I first got started using flint and steel. I made my charcloth in an unused one-pint paint can with a hole punched in the top with a finishing nail.

Denim, terrycloth, T-shirts, sweatshirts, sliced up spools of cotton sewing thread, Kite string, bed sheets, gun patches, mattress ticking, cheese cloth, gauze, chinos, dress shirts, cotton balls, cotton rolls from the dentist, cotton batting, and raw cotton from the fields were some of my test subjects. Anything that was pure cotton was eligible for the test.

All of it worked. Some worked better than others at catching the spark, others worked better at slow burning. Some was too finicky to deal with as char, such as the string, gauze, and the thread. I finally decided to use cotton batting as I was able to fluff it up a bit, so it caught the sparks most easily having more surface area . Terrycloth also caught the sparks almost as quickly because of the loops and burned slower giving more time if needed to ignite the tinder, but I found that the cotton batting or balls worked well enough for me. As long as the char is pure cotton, and not over-cooked to become brittle, it will work as char cloth. And if your striker is hard enough, and your flint good enough, one strike should get any of your char glowing to start your tinder provided the sparks land on the char.

Stitchawl
 
My char cloth, although brittle, still catches and holds sparks. Does over-burning the cotton fiber result in char cloth that doesn't hold a spark as long or something?
 
rksoon said:
My char cloth, although brittle, still catches and holds sparks. Does over-burning the cotton fiber result in char cloth that doesn't hold a spark as long or something?
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When I overcooked the cotton and the char became brittle, it still took a spark well but it would crumble and fall apart unless I handled it very carefully. This was especially true when I tried to make char from sewing thread, kite string, and gauze, and made working with it difficult. Properly made, char cloth can be handled without problems. I can squeeze my cotton batting charcloth to get more into it's carrying case or fluff it up when I want to use it, but it doesn't crumble and fall apart unless I really abuse it. It takes a spark and holds it well, doesn't burn away too quickly, and for me, is the perfect solution to getting my tinder to ignite. I prefer it over regular cut cloth although I can get more cloth 'pieces' into my container to start more fires due to their compact nature.

Stitchawl
 
Yes, mine are pretty fragile, and all this time I thought that was normal :o Thanks stitchawl. I'm glad to have learned the correct method from you guys. :thumbup:

That review is awesome Joezilla, thanks for the link!
 
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