CountryBertha
05-07-2011, 09:59 PM
If you want to make newspaper bricks to use as fire starters for your fireplace, this is the time of the year to get that project going.
Newspapers come in handy in many ways, and making fireplace bricks or logs out of them is a wonderful family project.
Paw reads two newspapers a day. When he's done with both, each day I go through them and remove the "slicky" paper which are ads and make one pile just for newspaper. I keep the ads we need and toss the rest in the garbage. On Sundays a huge packet of ads are in each paper that also have coupons. Those packets are removed and on Monday when Paw is napping, I clip all the coupons.
All during Winter and Fall and into the Spring the newspapers are picked through and stacked, waiting for brick making days. All the used coffee grinds have been dried and kept. When the temperature here reaches at least 90 degrees, it's time to make bricks.
Now the newspapers get shredded. Just rip them by hand in long strips. Washtubs of water each get one squirt of liquid soap. Using a couple of barrels for this, they each get three squirts of soap and mixed around in the water. In goes the shredded paper to become mache for the bricks. You may notice some of the older newspapers you've saved are "logging" if you stored them rolled up. You still want to mache those. You can use those that are "logging" as is, but they don't burn as nicely as the mache.
Water is checked daily to make sure it covers the paper and gently plunge around the paper in the water. Don't leave your newspaper in the water longer than 2 weeks or the mache will stink, even when the bricks are burning. It doesn't take that long to make mache here in Texas, but it could where you are. You don't want a complete mache mush, just enough mache for the newspaper to hold it's shape in the brick maker.
Load the brick maker with handfulls of the wet paper, add coffee grinds, then more paper until the brick maker is full, and squeeze the handles on the brick maker to make your brick. Stack where air flow is around the bricks to dry. Turn them daily during the drying process.
If you are doing logs, leave the newspaper in open sheets and put one tablespoon of liquid soap in the water. Squeeze the water through the newspapers. While wet, roll the newspaper sheets on a broom handle until the logs are about an inch in diameter. Slide them off the broom handle and stand them on their ends to dry.
When your logs or bricks are completely dry, pack in plastic trash bags and put them in a tote or a garbage can, or anything you have to store them in.
Mache bricks burn 15 to 30 minutes each, depending on your mache. Mache that wasn't soaked long enough and packed tightly enough will not hold it's brick shape, and you must squeeze the water out thoroughly with your brick maker. Don't squeeze the water out of your mache before you put it in your brick maker. Just load the drippy stuff in your brick maker. You don't have to worry about that if you make logs, however.
Newspaper or mache is not recommended for some fireplaces that have converters. They are fine in regular fireplaces but you don't want to use them as your only source of fireplace heat because of the ash -- unless it's an emergency.
You probably made paper mache things when you were a child, and always mixed either Elmer's glue or homemade flour/water glue in with mache to make it hold together. You don't want to use glue in your logs or bricks. The ink used today on newspapers is soy based and safe.
If you've had to cut down fruit or nut trees and you saved the logs and kindling, or maybe came across someone clearing land that has fruit or nut trees and you got those logs, you are going to have one nice, wonderful smelling fire with your mache bricks and logs. Some of the commercial artificial log makers are now putting coffee grinds in their works for the "smell good" and coffee's ability to maintain a good fire.
And there you got it all for free.
Prepare now and you will enjoy a cozy fire as you watch that first Winter snowfall when Mother Nature works her magic once again.
Newspapers come in handy in many ways, and making fireplace bricks or logs out of them is a wonderful family project.
Paw reads two newspapers a day. When he's done with both, each day I go through them and remove the "slicky" paper which are ads and make one pile just for newspaper. I keep the ads we need and toss the rest in the garbage. On Sundays a huge packet of ads are in each paper that also have coupons. Those packets are removed and on Monday when Paw is napping, I clip all the coupons.
All during Winter and Fall and into the Spring the newspapers are picked through and stacked, waiting for brick making days. All the used coffee grinds have been dried and kept. When the temperature here reaches at least 90 degrees, it's time to make bricks.
Now the newspapers get shredded. Just rip them by hand in long strips. Washtubs of water each get one squirt of liquid soap. Using a couple of barrels for this, they each get three squirts of soap and mixed around in the water. In goes the shredded paper to become mache for the bricks. You may notice some of the older newspapers you've saved are "logging" if you stored them rolled up. You still want to mache those. You can use those that are "logging" as is, but they don't burn as nicely as the mache.
Water is checked daily to make sure it covers the paper and gently plunge around the paper in the water. Don't leave your newspaper in the water longer than 2 weeks or the mache will stink, even when the bricks are burning. It doesn't take that long to make mache here in Texas, but it could where you are. You don't want a complete mache mush, just enough mache for the newspaper to hold it's shape in the brick maker.
Load the brick maker with handfulls of the wet paper, add coffee grinds, then more paper until the brick maker is full, and squeeze the handles on the brick maker to make your brick. Stack where air flow is around the bricks to dry. Turn them daily during the drying process.
If you are doing logs, leave the newspaper in open sheets and put one tablespoon of liquid soap in the water. Squeeze the water through the newspapers. While wet, roll the newspaper sheets on a broom handle until the logs are about an inch in diameter. Slide them off the broom handle and stand them on their ends to dry.
When your logs or bricks are completely dry, pack in plastic trash bags and put them in a tote or a garbage can, or anything you have to store them in.
Mache bricks burn 15 to 30 minutes each, depending on your mache. Mache that wasn't soaked long enough and packed tightly enough will not hold it's brick shape, and you must squeeze the water out thoroughly with your brick maker. Don't squeeze the water out of your mache before you put it in your brick maker. Just load the drippy stuff in your brick maker. You don't have to worry about that if you make logs, however.
Newspaper or mache is not recommended for some fireplaces that have converters. They are fine in regular fireplaces but you don't want to use them as your only source of fireplace heat because of the ash -- unless it's an emergency.
You probably made paper mache things when you were a child, and always mixed either Elmer's glue or homemade flour/water glue in with mache to make it hold together. You don't want to use glue in your logs or bricks. The ink used today on newspapers is soy based and safe.
If you've had to cut down fruit or nut trees and you saved the logs and kindling, or maybe came across someone clearing land that has fruit or nut trees and you got those logs, you are going to have one nice, wonderful smelling fire with your mache bricks and logs. Some of the commercial artificial log makers are now putting coffee grinds in their works for the "smell good" and coffee's ability to maintain a good fire.
And there you got it all for free.
Prepare now and you will enjoy a cozy fire as you watch that first Winter snowfall when Mother Nature works her magic once again.