[Hesse2509]

Ok so having never been a Boy Scout I have discovered today after purchasing a new incinerator that I am pants at lighting fires.   

I have a large volume of dry garden wood and weed roots that I want to burn down to add to my compost heap, and to make room for next weeks delivery of horse manure.

I'm thinking of using some sort of accelerant to help get a fire established. Is there anything that I can use that makes the burnt remains safe to compost without contaminating it?

[grendel]

newspaper - small twigs on top, then bigger sticks, until its burning, then feed it slowly so you dont smother it.

[8doubles]

As above but if you have a hatchet or chopper split some of the wood, thin edges catch fire easier than big lumps. A butane blowlamp can be a big help too.

[Yorkie]

I know it's implicit in your question that you won't use either petrol or other similar fluid, but PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS.

[sunshineband]

Making old fashioned fire lighters out of newspaper is helpful..... roll a sheet of paper inot a tube, flatten it and roll the flat strip into a close spiral; tuck the loose end under the edge to make a sort of flat catherine wheel.

A small pile of these, with some loosely scrunched newspaper around to catch alight first, will do the job 

[snowdrops]

I use my weed wand on a small amount of paper & card followed by twigs & bit of wood, & as said before feed slowly with bigger bits until it is well a blaze

[mumofstig]

Buy a box of firelighters, it's what they're made for 

[Kleftiwallah]

Going by Ray Mears, go to Canada and rip some fungi off the trees, dry it, pack it in a leather bag and there you are.      Cheers,    Tony.

[Ice]

Going by Ray Mears, go to Canada and rip some fungi off the trees, dry it, pack it in a leather bag and there you are.      Cheers,    Tony.

Helpful as ever Tony.

[Paul Plots]

Buy a box of firelighters, it's what they're made for 

What a dreadful cheat!!

(I do / did exactly the same on School Camps. Works brilliantly!) 

[Hesse2509]

Will the paraffin in firelighters be safe to have in my compost heap though, or will it have all burnt off by the time I get down to ash?

[hillfooter]

All you need for a fire is dry combustible material - eg loose packed newspaper and kindling wood. oxygen - eg usually air will do in a gentle breeze, and a source of heat at a suitable temperature - eg rubbing two boy scouts together or a match will do.  

Most people who have problems make the mistake of excluding oxygen by not loose packing the kindling.  Newspaper should be rolled into long tubes using 3 sheets thick and loosely knotted in a ring with the ends protruding as a wick.  This ensures there's lots of air around them.

Cheap very flammable firelighters can be made by cutting up waxed fruit drink cartons such as milk or Tropicana orange juice cartons (not foil backed ones).  These are great free firelighters which burn very quickly and hot so don't use indoors or with caution in very small amounts if you do.  It's essential to cut them into strips which you can twist to ensure there's air around them and don't lie flat otherwise no oxygen.
HF

[Yorkie]

Personally I'd avoid chemical firelighters due to chemical residues in the ash if you plan to use the ash in the garden at all.

[mumofstig]

link for 100% natural fire lighters

 

[compostqueen]

I like your fruit drink carton idea  Hillfotter!  I have a row of these on the sink end as the council won't let us put them in the recyc bin. I have to take them to the refuse tip so if they can be used for lighting my lotty fire then fab. I never though of it. Doh 

My husband can't set fire to a tissue without pouring petrol on it first. It's a man thing    Sledgehammer to crack a nut