Making Paper Bricks / Logs

[Pooky]

Ok there's probably a thread in the dim and distant past on this but any ideas anyone???

Would love to recycle all that paper each week into something we could use...what better than bricks for the fire....but how to do it???


:confused:

[moggins]

These are good but it does require an investment of £20, it's cheaper than the green company one I found though.

http://www.scottsofstow.co.uk/Produc...ame=Hearthside

[fairenoughclough]

This comes from a South Pacific website

Making Charcoal From Old Newspaper
Charcoal from Old Newspaper

Do not waste old newspaper! During "brown-out" or when you run out of cooking gas, you can make use of charcoal from old newspapers.

Procedure:

1. Soak old newspapers and magazines for about two hours in water.

2. When the water is thoroughly soaked and soft, tear chunks of paper enough to be pressed into two inches balls.

3. Press out the water. I guess you'd need to make a mould and use a G-clamp or something similar to press out the water

4. Dry the wet briquettes on the concrete floor during hot and sunny days. Leave to dry in a warm place, airing cupboard?

5. When thoroughly dried store in plastic bags so that the briquettes will not absorb moisture.

6. Use paper briquettes as substitute for wood charcoal.

I have a dim and distant memory of seeing this done on Blue Peter or How!

[mink35]

When made they are good and burn for a long time BUT they take ages to dry! Make them as soon as you have the paper and store in as warm and dry a place as possible - greenhouse, airing cupboard, shed etc. They take about a week to dry properly at least - longer in a shed!

[Pooky]

Thanks for that -- afterlooking at the design i'm hoping we can make something that will do the job without the £20 outlay...... Good excuse to clear the shed out too!!

Thanks again!

[bugs]

Some good instructions here (don't forget to click on the chap's Google ads to pay him back if you use the instructions!)

http://www.two3five.com/paperlog.htm
http://www.two3five.com/paper2.htm

[make life easier]

I have just purchased a crossline shreader could I make paper logs out of the paper. Can anyone give me any links to moulds.

[SallyinWales]

How about soaking the shredded paper, then squeezing handfuls really tightly into 'nuggets' and just letting them dry. That way you can dispense with any tools at all.

If you are good at improvising you could make a compressor using a car jack and a suitable mould (maybe a 1foot length of plastic gutter down pipe with small holes drilled in it to let the water out?)

[110frankie]

You do need a lot of storage space, and a lot of drying time - if you have both then go for it. I gave up after a couple of months because of lack of both.
Friends who have both have all ended up spending on the ready-made tool after struggling with home-made efforts.

[make life easier]

Friends who have both have all ended up spending on the ready-made tool after struggling with home-made efforts.

I will try the home made efforts to begin with, but could you enquire where your friends purchased tools from and if they are any good, I think I could use this as a craft project to do with a conservation course I have been doing and maybe the tools will give a better result??

Thanks Andrea

[jcr16]

this brings back memories , when i was about 4 i can remember sitting in the garden one autunm saturday afternoon , and i found my dads paper brick maker and i sat for ages with soggy paper making a brick. i loved it.
tbh i can't remember ever seeing them on the fire , but i guess they would of been used as my parents never wasted anything. i hope u enjoy making the paper bricks as much as i did many years ago.

[make life easier]

I made a load of paper bricks as suggested by soaking, squeezing the water out and moulding them by hand. They were brill. We all enjoyed making them. It took a few days for them to dry out but it was worth it. They burnt well and give us free fuel for heating up the kettle as well as keeping us warm.

Everyone thought it was a great idea, it's free and its a form of recyling. We will be making them big style now. ( we wouldn't make too many just in case they didn't turn out as expected).

thanks to all Andrea x

[halloweenqueen]

My conservatory gets really warm so I think I may invest in one of these log makers to recycle my shredded paper that gets thrown away, as I thought if its warm in there it should dry them out quite quickly. I guess the chimney would need cleaning more? I want to give them to a friend of mine that is an avid recycler and often gives me things so she would be impressed with a box of paper bricks.

[make life easier]

Halloween Queen, I think that is a marvelous idea, your friend will be well impressed with you, and even more made up because you have put the effort into a perfect gift she will appriciate - and it is free!!!!

I have had a lot of fun making mine, I'm going to give it whirl and put some essential oil in the water when soaking so it gives off an aroma when drying them out.

Andrea x

[moggins]

Boohoo, I'd love a real fire but the people I got in to clean my chimney told me it would need lining before I could use it or fit a wood burner

[Zed42]

Oh dear, what have you started!


I've had to go and soak some paper, and made my first small balls which are now sitting on top of the boiler drying. If these work, I s'pose I may just have to find £20 to invest in a proper brick thingie!!

[halloweenqueen]

Well I just ordered one form scotts of stow for £25 inc postage, I intend to get quite a bit of wear out of it!
Do you put the bricks on anything special - like a cake cooling rack or a couple of bits of wood - what stops them sticking to whatever you put them on?

[halloweenqueen]

Can toilet/kitchen rolls tubes be used to make these bricks? we seem to get through loads of them!

[Lillibet]

I keep umming & erring about buying one of these, we never seem to have enough newspaper in the winter to start our fires but I thought this could be a summer project? The drying/storing space is my problem, Spud just seems to take up a massive ammount of room for such a small person!!! Could I dry them outside in the summer on sunny days do you think? My airing cupbaord is full to burstign & tiny and my conservatory never gets very warm. Could I keep them in the loft or would they be a fire hazard?

[SueRob]

I've made fire lighters by rolling a newspaper diagonaly (sp) flattening it out, folding in half then sort of plaiting it.