Char cloth

How would one go about making char cloth?
Is this what would go into a tinder box?

Make sure you fabric is 100% cotton

Cut to fit tin box.

Let it smoke.

Let it burn a little, then flip the box over. When done smoking take it off the fire.

Do not open the box until it has cooled.

Then check to make sure it lights with a spark.


Add it to your fire kit.

Before you do all the work of charring a fabric, first light a small sample & see if it actually burns. A lot of modern fabrics are treated with a fire retardant. Those won't make charcloth that will work as the retardant chemical is still present.

I have a metal can that once held electrician's tape, that I use to char cloth. I put a very small hole in the lid,centered, to let steam escape.

I Pack the can with pure cotton cloth- not the Sta-press stuff that is used to make men's T-shirts! Pack it full, so that you remove as much oxygen from inside the can as possible. Make sure the can you use seals well.

put the packed closed can on a fire, and let it cook. Steam will begin to come out the little hole. It will appear as "white smoke".

You want to control the heat on the can, by moving away or closer to your fire( In open air- never at home!) so that you get steam coming out, but not flame.

Flame means that Oxygen is getting into the can- usually through the same small hole that vents the steam, when you heat the can hot enough--- and oxygen burns the fabric, rather than char it. Charring anything takes place when the substance(fabric) is heated above its "Flash point", in an atmosphere deprived of Oxygen.


The driest cotton still holds moisture, and the process of charring removes that moisture in the form of steam, while reducing the threads of the fabric to this carbon filaments.


Keep the can "cooking" until no more steam is seen leaving the can. Set the can aside to cool, BEFORE you open it up and expose the charred cloth to air.

Sometimes, you will find fabric in the center of the can that is brown in color, not black, and its also not OPAQUE. Leave that in the can, add more cloth, and cook another batch. All the black, opaque cloth pieces can be packed in your tin for your fire starting kit.

I also tend to leave 'unfinished" char clothe in my can, along with new cotton to pack it full, with my stuff, so that I can cook the charcloth the next time I have an open campfire. It gives me something to do when I am cleaning up dishes, and pots after eating, and before I mix up dessert for later. U I have had a couple of "batches" of cotton that completely charred in one "cook", but its more likely that in a tightly packed can- some of those cotton pieces in the center won't completely char. Its no big deal.

Caution: I "Volunteered" to demonstrate Flint and Steel Fire Starting at a public demonstration with my gun club, thinking I would do it for the first 2 hours, and then others would take over. Well, I got stuck doing fires for 2 DAYS. The plus side is that I can start a fire using flint and steel almost in my sleep, and I seem to get a fire going faster than anyone else in my club-- until they find the lighter fluid out in frustration. :blah: :shocked2: :thumbsup:

Hmmm. I just take a tuna fish can, set it on a burner, fill it with cloth, put something over it (loosely) as a lid, and turn the stove on high until smoke stops rolling out. :idunno:

Josh Smith said:

Hmmm. I just take a tuna fish can, set it on a burner, fill it with cloth, put something over it (loosely) as a lid, and turn the stove on high until smoke stops rolling out. :idunno:

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And now we know your a Bachlor too, :haha: :rotf:

necchi said:

Josh Smith said:

Hmmm. I just take a tuna fish can, set it on a burner, fill it with cloth, put something over it (loosely) as a lid, and turn the stove on high until smoke stops rolling out. :idunno:

Click to expand...

And now we know your a Bachlor too, :haha: :rotf:

Click to expand...

Yup.

Only I figured out how to make a candle that smells like apple pie while I was doing it.

So the house smells like burnt cotton and apple pie! :blah:

I make char cloth the same way. I just don't do it in the house. LOL. I already got put in the doghouse to many times by making pine pitch or melting down lead in my basement/shop whilst the missus was home. I thought the smell from making the pine pitch was a very nice piney aroma. Much nicer than Pinesol. LOL.

To make a big batch of charcloth, go to Home Depot and get an empty quart paint can; $3.00. Punch a small hole in the top, fill 2/3 full with 2" square pieces of 100% cotton cloth and toss into campfire coals. Once smoke stops coming out of the hole, roll the can out of the fire and allow to cool upside down. The hole will be on the ground to keep out oxygen so there's no internal burning.

Next, since charcloth cannot be documented as historically correct for the western frontier or the rocky mountain fur trappers, try finding some alternates to charcloth such as tinder fungus, horse hoof fungus and/or charred wood. That way you are not reliant of store boughten cloth and have an unlimited source of char to catch the spark from mother nature herself. Lastly, the bow & drill.

I do it the exact same way and it works really good. My heat source is very historically and period correct, my BBQ grill......

I'm sure Hank Hill would approve!

I have read here in the forum that tinder tubes were used in the late 1700,s and they are historicaly correct. take a piece of cotton rope and burn one end. put it through a piece of copper etc. tubing about 2-3 inches long. the tube is to put out the charred embers by pulling the burning end back into the tube and protect the charred end of the rope. I'ts a cinch to make one and the charred end will continue to burn until the entire rope is consumed. You have to hold the tube a little diffrent than charcloth to strike a spark but its more durable and lasts longer :thumbsup:
hey skunkskinner ! I realy like the fire making rig you made :applause:
nilo52

Thanks nilo52

Tinder fungus generally is found growing on a dying or dead birch tree, around the roots. It makes good tinder, largely because of the oils contained inside the spongy material. You can do as well with birch bark.

Where you don't find birch trees, you can cut off fungi and bracts growing on dead trees in forests. They can be dried, and "charred" to use for tinder, too.

Better, flint and steel is also a modern device. Instead, Learn how to use a bow and spindle to make embers, and start fires, if you want a truly primitive method. :hmm: :thumbsup:

Hey I noticed you are using one inch webbing as char.
I use canvas and monks cloth.
How do you like the webbing?

It's actually the wick for kerosene lanterns, 80% off clearance item kinda thing. It works better than any thing I've used to so far. T shirt, blue jean, canvas, punk wood and cleaning patches aren't near as good as wick. It holds together much better, catches the spark faster and burns real hot, only draw back is the price to buy it.

My fastest time to flame was with wick and corn leaves.

Give it a try some time, i think you will like it

I like cotton thread or string. Do the burn thig and it catches sparks real good.

Ronnie

I use a one pint paint can with the lid. I poke a 1/8" hole in the lid. Put the cotton material in on edge, place on the coals (or a Coleman burner) and, once it starts to smoke, hold a match to the opening. It supports a flame. When the flame peters out, the char cloth is ready.

skunkskinner said:

It's actually the wick for kerosene lanterns, 80% off clearance item kinda thing. It works better than any thing I've used to so far. T shirt, blue jean, canvas, punk wood and cleaning patches aren't near as good as wick. It holds together much better, catches the spark faster and burns real hot, only draw back is the price to buy it.

My fastest time to flame was with wick and corn leaves.

Give it a try some time, i think you will like it

Click to expand...

Am heading down to Ace hardware right now.

The lamp wicks work great for tinder tubes too.

Have you found a source for long pieces of lamp wick? It's impossible to find here in Boise it seems.