Char cloth

[nic.]

For the last few years I have found that charcloth made from yellow duster to be the best; but the last three packs of ten, al from different shops I have bought have not worked at all. They go black and crispy rather than the flexible slightly grey that I am used to. Anybody know of any branded ones that work?

[mountainm]

Sounds like they are not cotton but man made materials.

[Ogri the trog]

Nic,
My favourite for charcloth is old pairs of jeans - my own if possible, but charity shop bargains if necessary.

I have a pathological aversion to buying new things to turn into char!

ATB

Ogri the trog

[nic.]

Nic,
My favourite for charcloth is old pairs of jeans - my own if possible, but charity shop bargains if necessary.

I have a pathological aversion to buying new things to turn into char!

ATB


Ogri the trog

Hi Pete,

I know it seems a shame but I have never found anything I can recycle that comes close. I tried jeans and it whilst they work the difference was so marked- maybe 1 spark would take every five strikes. With dusters I was getting five sparks every strike. At the moment I am using some lamp wicking rope I bought in Thailand, which is also brilliant but not so easy to replace when it runs out.
Just found the CD of the pictures of that course- send my your address and I'll get it off to you.

Nic

[nic.]

Sounds like they are not cotton but man made materials.

Absolutely, they say cotton on the packet but there is something in there messing it up, not having any luck finding any pure ones.

[mountainm]

Judging on what Mr Fenna sent me in his dragons breath kit Facecloths or towels work really well.

[Mesquite]

Absolutely, they say cotton on the packet but there is something in there messing it up, not having any luck finding any pure ones.

Try going down your local £ shop and getting the toweling tea towels... they take a great spark

[Ogri the trog]

Try going down your local £ shop and getting the toweling tea towels... they take a great spark

Erm Steve, you haven't spent much time around the Mid Wales Desert have you?

It's probably several hours drive to get to a "Pound-Shop"!

ATB

Ogri the trog

[spandit]

For all the hassle of making char cloth, isn't it easier to use cotton wool and Vaseline? I find it bursts into flames from a spark, it's waterproof and so easy to make (or are we talking about sparks from proper flint/steel?)

[mountainm]

you don't even have to do that. Half burnt cotton wool does the trick too.

[Mesquite]

Erm Steve, you haven't spent much time around the Mid Wales Desert have you?

It's probably several hours drive to get to a "Pound-Shop"!

ATB

Ogri the trog

Ahhh... I didn't look at the OP's location

[spandit]

you don't even have to do that. Half burnt cotton wool does the trick too.

Not in the wet, though

[nic.]

I should have been clearer these are for 'proper' flint and steel. They are for the sets that I sell on my website, so I am keen to use the easiest to light char cloth I can. For years I was fine with the dusters but now they don't seem to work. I have tried jeans, moleskin, linen nappy liners, towels, all sorts but nothing comes close to the dusters, except the Thai wick that I have but that won't last long.

Actually there is a pound shop in my nearest town, I bought two different rolls of 10 dusters from them. But as I said to no effect. Still was only a 32mile round trip.

[spandit]

I haven't had much of a play with proper F&S before - would the sparks not work with Vaseline & cotton wool?

[mountainm]

they work with charred cotton wool, not with uncharred - not tried it with vaseline in either configuration.

[HeltorChasca]

My char cloth is made from old, cotton decorators' dust sheets bought from Screwfix. Works better than the stuff I made from jeans.........hc

Edit: Only used for flint & steel. Used at school demos etc. Sure it's ok for fire steels too though haven't tried

[John Fenna]

Erm Steve, you haven't spent much time around the Mid Wales Desert have you?

It's probably several hours drive to get to a "Pound-Shop"!

ATB

Ogri the trog

Bite the bullet and go to Tesco (one on every corner ... awaiting arson come the revolution!) I use their Tea towels... and get great joy in burning a Tescos branded product!

[Firelite]

Mountainm got it right first time - there must be some man-made fibre in the mixture of the cloths you used. if you can find 100% cotton dusters you should be back on track. I checked the net and there are many suppliers. I suppose if it turns out to not be 100% cotton you must have purchased it from a suppliar instead!!

[SimonM]

I buy off cuts of linen from our local fabric shop. They almost give it away when they get to the roll ends...

Simon

[Big Stu 12]

I just used some old cotton hankys, that sat at the back of the draw, all old and grey, clean and washed , they seem to work.

Have you thought about asking a local returant if they use cotton napkins?, then offer to buy the old wornout ones from them?

[nic.]

Thanks for the ideas, I will have another go at some dusters, see if I can find a brand without contaminants in. I spent a lot of time testing different materials a few years back; ended up writing an article in Bushcraft and Survival skills magazine on it. No material I tried came close to 'good' dusters. I could get a spark to catch on most of the materials mentioned but not every time. If you are trying to teach a child and they are struggling to get a spark it is really important that when they get one, that very one will take on the charcloth. Again this relates to traditional flint and steel firelighting, not ferro'.

[DavidBFPO]

Thanks for the ideas, I will have another go at some dusters, see if I can find a brand without contaminants in. I spent a lot of time testing different materials a few years back; ended up writing an article in Bushcraft and Survival skills magazine on it. No material I tried came close to 'good' dusters. I could get a spark to catch on most of the materials mentioned but not every time. If you are trying to teach a child and they are struggling to get a spark it is really important that when they get one, that very one will take on the charcloth. Again this relates to traditional flint and steel firelighting, not ferro'.

----
hello,
I'm presently teaching this skill & used a few old rolled up small bandages as char cloth using flint & steel. I only allow matches/lighter to be used in teaching these techniques once the flint & steel (not ferro) is mastered. I'm running low on pieces of flint.
Regards
David

[indoken]

hi

i used to use char cloth with my scouts but found that the making of the cloth was quite time consuming. i now use cotton cord (from b&q, homebase ect) and soak it in a strong solution of saltpetre for 30mins and then leave to dry overnight.

the cord wont look any different but will take the smallest spark and glow very hot.

this used to be called a slow match and was used for firing cannons ect. burns very hot and very slow, when you have finished, snuff it out and its ready for the next spark.

hope this helps

ken

[tim_n]

OK, stupid question. Where do you get saltpetre from in the UK? Or do you make it with the horsemanure method?

[lannyman8]

Nic,
My favourite for charcloth is old pairs of jeans - my own if possible, but charity shop bargains if necessary.

I have a pathological aversion to buying new things to turn into char!

ATB

Ogri the trog

for me too....

[lannyman8]

OK, stupid question. Where do you get saltpetre from in the UK? Or do you make it with the horsemanure method?

evil bay, its used to cure meats, i just used some for my beef joint...

just looked now, and no uk sellers but its where i got my last batch from...

[tim_n]

seen a few on amazon when I started looking for potassium nitrate. Probably on some sort of list now I've been searching for it!

[2trapper]

My favorite is white undershirt. It makes perfect char cloth in about 20-30 minutes with small amount of embers, catching any minimal sparkle and great in combination with hemp rope.

For Ogri (if possible): I tried jeans but I had some trouble in time requested for making char cloth. In any attempt I tried, the cotton was not blackened at all and, as Nic, it didn't obviously take any sparkle. How much do you spend for jeans?

[TurboGirl]

OK, stupid question. Where do you get saltpetre from in the UK? Or do you make it with the horsemanure method?

I found a local sausage and smoked meat factory, explained I wanted to corn my own salted beef and they gave me a bagful