h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I always find the best impromptu firelighter is a bit of oily rag...
(Any kind of oil will do: cooking oil, engine oil whatever.)

But I like the suggestion of these fire-starters too. I'm sure they'd work a treat (although obviously you need to make them first, whereas an oily rag can be quicker - if messier!)

Yes, I make up 100-150 of the firestarters to keep on hand to light the fire during the winter (we heat the house primarily with wood).

My mother-in-law tells me they used to keep corn cobs soaking in kerosene, and use one of those to light the woodfires, but that's kinda messy and drippy for one thing, and then getting that stuff all over your hands all the time - yuk.

So obviously, the oily rag would definitely work.

Why not pour melted wax over dried corncobs?

Other than the fact that it would be very messy and waste quite a bit of wax... Never mind...

Messy, messy!

The thing about the firestarters is that you only need enough wax to make the wood shavings/sawdust darken. That's enough to make it burn for 10-15 minutes, and hold the bits of sawdust together when it cools and hardens. They don't have to be soaked with wax or anything.

Melting the wax is what takes the longest when making them (and is the most expensive part of the firestarters too), so the less I have to melt, the sooner I can be done making them. The sooner I'm done making them and able to get on with my life, the better.