Anyone use nail polish remover on cotton balls for fire starter

[fiddlehead]

So, I recently got a new wood burning stove for an upcoming hike (Balkans)
And my old fire starter from the Zipp Stove company still works but not as good.
So, someone suggested I try nail polish remover (one or 2 drops) on cotton balls.
I tried it and it worked like magic. (burnt with a good flame for about 2 minutes)
I don't have much (none) experience with nail polish remover and don't know how safe it is.
Acetone sounds like some dangerous chemical to me.
Has anyone else tried using it as fire starter?
Pros?
Cons?
Thanks in advance.

[Miles 2 Go]

You can also use vaseline to rub into the cotton balls to make a fire started. After making them up you can store them in a small zip lock or a film canister. I have not tries nail polish remover on cotton balls but wonder if it would not evaporate from the cotton ball over time. Acetone has some strong smells and it might cause damage one some hiking gear too.

[cmoulder]

Yes, go with Vaseline. The acronym is PJCB, for petroleum jelly cotton balls.

Melt some Vaseline and dip the cotton balls no more than half way into the Vaseline. You want to leave some dry fibers within the cotton ball to make them easy to light, and if you dip more than halfway the fibers will all become saturated with Vaseline. They'll still light, but it makes it a little more difficult and they won't light with a firesteel (ferrocerium rod) nearly as easily.

A very nifty technique is to place a freshly-dipped PJCB onto a small sheet of waxed paper to let it cool a bit, then wrap the waxed paper around it as if it were a piece of candy, just like they do saltwater taffy. Put a few of these in a ziploc bag and they don't stick together. The waxed paper also adds to the fire starter's burn time. These will burn srongly for about 4-6 minutes.

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[KDogg]

Acetone evaporates too quickly.

[zelph]

+1 what they said :-)

[fiddlehead]

I had tried some petroleum jelly only could only find the scented and it didn't seem to work very well at all.
I didn't heat it into a liquid and dip it though. I"ll try that.
The acetone worked really great.
The problem I see with it is that it only seems to come in glass bottles and they are too heavy.
I imagine it will eat though plastic and that is why I can't find it in a small container.

I don't want to carry enough for the whole trip (we are doing a 1500 kms hike in the Balkans ) (almost 1,000 miles)
That's why I thought the nail polish remover would be something I could easily find along the way.
I think it would be easier to say "Nail Polish Remover" in Bosnian, or Montenegrin than "denatured alcohol" or propane/butane.
But maybe Vaseline is one of those words like "coffee" that is understood everywhere.

[Just Bill]

I had tried some petroleum jelly only could only find the scented and it didn't seem to work very well at all.
I didn't heat it into a liquid and dip it though. I"ll try that.
The acetone worked really great.
The problem I see with it is that it only seems to come in glass bottles and they are too heavy.
I imagine it will eat though plastic and that is why I can't find it in a small container.

I don't want to carry enough for the whole trip (we are doing a 1500 kms hike in the Balkans ) (almost 1,000 miles)
That's why I thought the nail polish remover would be something I could easily find along the way.
I think it would be easier to say "Nail Polish Remover" in Bosnian, or Montenegrin than "denatured alcohol" or propane/butane.
But maybe Vaseline is one of those words like "coffee" that is understood everywhere.

Yar, melting it and dipping is the trick. Get a cookie sheet and cover with wax paper or foil and make a big tray of "fire kisses" (twist the tip of a cotton ball like a Hershey kiss shape and dip). I wanna say they are about 2 g each and can easily be bundled into pill bags to put in mail drops. But probably not helpful for this trip it seems...

I would think that petroleum jelly would be commonly found. If not... I agree with the others that acetone sounds like a bust but if you were hard up I would only "field apply" it and store it in it's original container.

I have to imagine that Heet or similar could be easily found. You can field apply that to cotton balls too. Might be easy to find birthday candles or other fire starters along the way too in a pinch.

[cmoulder]

If you light a cotton ball soaked in Vaseline as described, it will burn. Guaranteed. And I'll bet you can find it everywhere in the Balkans. Unscented Vaseline is common — I have never even heard of scented versions.

Acetone is a bad idea. The vapors are much more volatile and it is absorbed through the skin.

[tarditi]

you can also use pomade - an old school hair product often found in dollar and discount stores

[Venchka]

Look in the travel section of pharmacies for a small squeeze tube of Vaseline, petroleum jelly, etc. Make your fire starters as needed. Surely you don't need a fire starter for every fire. If so there are better solutions.
Somewhere online there are video instructions for the dryer lint, paraffin and egg carton section fire starters. You wouldn't want to carry a 1,000 miles worth of those.
I buy fire starters in a supermarket. The Duralog clones. Cut up into smaller pieces in a Ziploc bag. Supplemented with wax from Baby Bel cheese.
Have a great trip.
Wayne


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[Venchka]

Back in the Dark Ages, mid 90s, pharmacies in Budapest were as well stocked as Walgreens, Wrong Aid or CVS. Probably totally irrelevant to the Third World.
Wayne


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[OCDave]

Way too involved. A bit of dryer lint and a spark should be all you need and even the dryer lint might be considered a crutch.

When I started down the road of making fire starters, my Boy Scout sons ridiculed me mercilessly. Any form of chemical accelerant demeans your fire making talents.

I now carry a Light My Fire Firesteel and a pocket bellows. Your time would be better spent learning to use these tools than making cotton ball fire starters.

However, in the HYOH spirit, Light your own fire.

Good Luck

[Slo-go'en]

I saw a good idea yesterday. Wrap some TP around a wooden match, then soak the TP in wax. Turns it into an windproof match/candle. A bunch of these would take up not much space and be reasonably light.

I used to make 1/2" x 2" strips of cardboard and soak those with wax for starting my wood stove.

Or you can use Fritos.

[TNhiker]

for a fire starter-----the ones ive been using for the last 30 years are egg cartons with sawdust in them, and then pour melted wax on them which will harden...

will last about 45 minutes or so which gives plenty of time to get a good fire started....

just made another batch of 13 dozen of them back in march....

[cmoulder]

Way too involved. A bit of dryer lint and a spark should be all you need and even the dryer lint might be considered a crutch.

When I started down the road of making fire starters, my Boy Scout sons ridiculed me mercilessly. Any form of chemical accelerant demeans your fire making talents.

I now carry a Light My Fire Firesteel and a pocket bellows. Your time would be better spent learning to use these tools than making cotton ball fire starters.

However, in the HYOH spirit, Light your own fire.

Good Luck

Pretty much everything we carry into the woods is a crutch, so there's that. :-?

[fiddlehead]

Fritos?
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I'm going to try the melted vaseline (I'm sure they'll smell nice with the scented variety I find here in SuperCheap stores)

I am quite good at starting fires, having learned in the Boy Scouts.
But, here, I'm trying out my new stove in the wet jungle as it's rainy season in Thailand right now and it's not as easy as you might think.

So far, I've tried the old sticks from the Sierra Stove company (work, but need a big piece to get the wet wood going)
And the scented vaseline in which I just put a smudge on a cotton ball (didn't work well at all!)
And the finger nail polish remover worked GREAT.
Just couldn't find it in a lightweight bottle and I guess it's because it would eat through plastic. (I was a bit shocked at the price as a fairly large bottle of it was only 45 cents!) (maybe THAT's why I really would like to make it work! LOL)

So, I will melt some vaseline tomorrow or whenever I get some time.
Thanks again everyone.

[saltysack]

I use mushers secret too protect my pups feet and also works as fire starter as it's similar to petroleum jelly...I've always just wiped the balls with some as I also use the cotton balls on dogs paws before use.....double duty....though I rarely have a fire...


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[Farr Away]

...Just couldn't find it in a lightweight bottle and I guess it's because it would eat through plastic. (I was a bit shocked at the price as a fairly large bottle of it was only 45 cents!) (maybe THAT's why I really would like to make it work! LOL)
...
Nail polish remover here IS in plastic bottles. I haven't even seen a glass bottle of it in 30(?) years. I rarely ever use it, and don't know if it's still acetone though.

-FA

[zelph]

When in the Balkans, do as the Balkans do....use bacon grease :-)

The rainy season where you are going will test your boy scout skills ;). Better get get some Tinder-Quick Tabs and a Spark-Lite . I did a test to see how water proof they were:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_OlYjeCcJE

[gpburdelljr]

...... you can store them in a small zip lock or a film canister......

I haven't seen a film canister in years.

[fiddlehead]

When in the Balkans, do as the Balkans do....use bacon grease :-)



Interesting.
So, my wife (Thai) says I'm crazy.
Why not just do it the Thai way: Cut a strip from an old motorcycle inner-tube.
I do see that done here all the time, but it is smoky and doesn't seem to burn very long.
And cotton balls are a lot lighter weight than motorbike tires. LOL.

So, I tried it yesterday.
Was surprised it took over 5 minutes of heating up a small jar of vaseline in the microwave to get it anywhere near liquid (Still looked solid although the cotton balls dipped into it fine)
It worked pretty good.
Doesn't seem to burn as long as the ones that i put a few drops of nail polish remover.
I will keep my eye out for a very small plastic bottle of nail polish remover and keep experimenting.

I appreciate all the other suggestions.

I was a pretty good boy scout and actually won some contests building fires with stick matches back in the 60's.
But, trying it in rainy season in the jungles of Thailand is a whole new game.
I think I probably could do it if I had time to whittle some tinder from the insides of proper fire wood.
There are no white birch or pine trees here to get the kind of tinder I'm used to back in PA.

So, I'll go the chemical route, and either get my fire going in the jungle, before my hike, or switch to an alcohol stove.

[Franco]

There is no need to melt the Vaseline.
just smear some on the cotton ball and fold over.
When you need to use, squash it in then them pull the ball apart and light.

[fiddlehead]

OK, tried them this morning, out in the wet jungle.
Unbelievably, the cotton balls with vaseline were NOT so easy to light.
I had to hold the lighter underneath and then it took a while and only smoldered for a bit.
Eventually it got it going.
Humidity here is around 80-90% this time of year.

I will continue to look for the nail polish remover in small plastic bottles.
It whooshes when you light the cotton balls (that have a few drops put in), not unlike the sound of lighting an alcohol stove.

I don't expect the Balkans to be anywhere near the humidity or dampness of everything here in the jungles of Thailand, but why not have something that works well in the monsoon rains.

I still might switch to alcohol stove.
My preferred method in the states is my pocket rocket or similar.
But, the fuel is NOT available in the Balkan countries, from what I've been reading.

Anyway, I did enjoy my 3rd cup of coffee up in the mountains here this morning.
And it is getting easier to find dry wood. (semi-dry anyway, it hasn't rained in 2 days now!)

[Leo L.]

The Balkan mountains in summer are hot and dry. I guess, finding dry tinder material for lighting a wood stove will be no problem.
Maybe not lighting the whole bone-dry nature might be a problem.

The nail polish remover works, we have it here in Europe mainly in small to medium plastic bottles. It contains a mix of Aceton and Alcohol, and some oily matter - and that seems to be the reason why it burns fast and lasts quite some time. I doubt if its legal to carry it on the plane though. So why not buy it on site? In all (southern) Europe there are well-sorted Pharmacies even in small towns. It would be the place to buy Vaseline and (denaturated) Alcohol as well.

While we are speaking about Pharmacies, in Southern Europe you can get many sorts of medicine at very low prices right over the counter. No use to stock up on pills back home, other than what you personally really need.

[Cheyou]

Corn chips burn well and can have a snack to.

thom

[saltysack]

OK, tried them this morning, out in the wet jungle.
Unbelievably, the cotton balls with vaseline were NOT so easy to light.
I had to hold the lighter underneath and then it took a while and only smoldered for a bit.
Eventually it got it going.
Humidity here is around 80-90% this time of year.

I will continue to look for the nail polish remover in small plastic bottles.
It whooshes when you light the cotton balls (that have a few drops put in), not unlike the sound of lighting an alcohol stove.

I don't expect the Balkans to be anywhere near the humidity or dampness of everything here in the jungles of Thailand, but why not have something that works well in the monsoon rains.

I still might switch to alcohol stove.
My preferred method in the states is my pocket rocket or similar.
But, the fuel is NOT available in the Balkan countries, from what I've been reading.

Anyway, I did enjoy my 3rd cup of coffee up in the mountains here this morning.
And it is getting easier to find dry wood. (semi-dry anyway, it hasn't rained in 2 days now!)

Damn....hard to believe you can't find any nail polish remover in Thailand! I guess all the Asian owned nail salons in the States bought it all![emoji51]


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[Smithereens]

Pool shock and motor oil. Just don't breathe when it starts smoking! Chlorine gas is baaad.

I've used strips of cotton cloth dipped in wax with good results. Char cloth is awesome and lights with just a spark as does punk wood charcoal. Both are easy to make.

[Tundracamper]

When in the Balkans, do as the Balkans do....use bacon grease :-)

The rainy season where you are going will test your boy scout skills ;). Better get get some Tinder-Quick Tabs and a Spark-Lite . I did a test to see how water proof they were:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_OlYjeCcJE

All that trouble to create a video and you didn't even say what kind of "tinder" it was. You did name the lighter, which I've never seen before. Is that commercially available tinder? REI used to offer something similar, but I think Zippo quit making it.

[Tundracamper]

Re above... is this them?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00US31V20/ref=pd_aw_sim_468_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4XBR6Y806VX9CBWXCCBT&dpPl=1&dpID=617fU6AhiYL

[TTT]

A lighter alternative might be packing some mosquito wipes with you. Besides sorting out the bugs they are highly flammable

[zelph]

All that trouble to create a video and you didn't even say what kind of "tinder" it was. You did name the lighter, which I've never seen before. Is that commercially available tinder? REI used to offer something similar, but I think Zippo quit making it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ms8hY4z4aY

The name of it is in the title of the video.

Here's the folks that invented it:

http://www.fourseasonssurvival.com/Spark-Lite-Outdoor-Survival-Firestarter-Hunter-Orange_p_109.html

[MuddyWaters]

You will have to carry a bottle of nail polish remover , which is dumb.
Just carry a bottle of lighter fluid

Without a thick-walled airtight container

The acetone will vaporize and diffuse away in a short time. Cottonballs soaked in it wont last anytime. Which is why people use vaseline.

If you have stove fuel, alcohol, cannister, etc, thats really the only firestarting aid need.

[rocketsocks]

The only thing I've used nail polish remover for is removing paint off my toenails.

[MtDoraDave]

I have used the cotton balls with vaseline several times, and I haven't had any trouble lighting them... perhaps it's because I don't try to light it as a wadded ball of cotton, but I pull it apart a bit - like lighting the wick of a candle. The more you pull the cotton apart, the easier and faster it lights. I use a bic lighter, so I don't know if flint/steel would work at all.

I also don't melt it, just smear a good amount of petroleum jelly on the cotton ball and work it in with my fingers. I store them double bagged in my pack with my first aid and hygiene stuff because I don't use them for meals, but the occasional camp fire in wet conditions.

I suggest the OP try the vaseline cotton balls again, this time, pull the cotton ball apart a bit and light tuft that is protruding from the wad of cotton.

p.s. they also double as moisturizer for lips and hands when they get dried out.

[Traveler]

I have used the cotton balls with vaseline several times, and I haven't had any trouble lighting them... perhaps it's because I don't try to light it as a wadded ball of cotton, but I pull it apart a bit - like lighting the wick of a candle. The more you pull the cotton apart, the easier and faster it lights. I use a bic lighter, so I don't know if flint/steel would work at all.
I also don't melt it, just smear a good amount of petroleum jelly on the cotton ball and work it in with my fingers. I store them double bagged in my pack with my first aid and hygiene stuff because I don't use them for meals, but the occasional camp fire in wet conditions.
I suggest the OP try the vaseline cotton balls again, this time, pull the cotton ball apart a bit and light tuft that is protruding from the wad of cotton.
p.s. they also double as moisturizer for lips and hands when they get dried out.

+1 I have used the same method of not melting the vaseline but dipping the cotton ball into the vaseline, then placing several of them into an Rx vial. When I want a fire, I will use the pull-apart technique and they light up instantly, more importantly, they burn for a significant period of time (last one we timed went just over 5 minutes of burn time). I can also attest they light with sparks from my striking tool very easily.

[TexasBob]

The only thing I've used nail polish remover for is removing paint off my toenails.

Painting in your bare feet?

[Riocielo]

Yes, go with Vaseline. The acronym is PJCB, for petroleum jelly cotton balls.

Melt some Vaseline and dip the cotton balls no more than half way into the Vaseline. You want to leave some dry fibers within the cotton ball to make them easy to light, and if you dip more than halfway the fibers will all become saturated with Vaseline. They'll still light, but it makes it a little more difficult and they won't light with a firesteel (ferrocerium rod) nearly as easily.

A very nifty technique is to place a freshly-dipped PJCB onto a small sheet of waxed paper to let it cool a bit, then wrap the waxed paper around it as if it were a piece of candy, just like they do saltwater taffy. Put a few of these in a ziploc bag and they don't stick together. The waxed paper also adds to the fire starter's burn time. These will burn srongly for about 4-6 minutes.

39565 39566
Just don't mistake them for candy and try to eat them!😊

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[cmoulder]

+1 I have used the same method of not melting the vaseline but dipping the cotton ball into the vaseline, then placing several of them into an Rx vial. When I want a fire, I will use the pull-apart technique and they light up instantly, more importantly, they burn for a significant period of time (last one we timed went just over 5 minutes of burn time). I can also attest they light with sparks from my striking tool very easily.

Same here, and I guess we'd have to see exactly how the OP is doing it that makes it difficult. Dead simple and reliable in my experience.