Charred Cloth

[twr198]

Im interested to try making some charred cloth can anyone give e some guidence on the subject??

 

[led]

There's a nice tutorial here.

 

[Goose]

Get a yellow duster,fold it, wrap it well in foil, chuck it on the fire, leave for a while(10 mins ish) fish out, let it cool and unwrap your charcloth.

Lots of other ways, substitute denim or any other cotton cloth for yellow duster.
Substitute a coke or beer can folded over for foil or use a sweet tin. As long as the container allows in heat and not oxygen, but be aware gases need to escape, you are sorted.

 

[Eric_Methven]

I found the best way is to take an old, knackered tea towel. Fold it and roll it up so it fits in a used baked bean tin. Take a double thick layer of tinfoil and wrap it over the open end of the tin. Stick it in a fire for half an hour. Remove it from the fire and allow it to cool. Remove the tinfoil and you'll find a blackened and slightly smaller roll of charcloth. Just peel it off the roll as needed.

Eric

 

[Jeff Wagner]

Here how I make indoor charcloth - at least in the winter time.

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Then into the wood stove.

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All the smoke and stink goes right up the chimney.

 

[rich59]

You might try this mini method done over the kitchen cooker (gas). Cut a square of your chosen cloth about 1 - 2 inches square. I prefer pure linen or cotton and new material more reliable as sometimes frequently washed material can lose its ability to catch a spark. Fold it up to a tight small ball and wrap it in a bit of aluminium foil. Then hold it with barbecue or fire tongues in the lighted gas flame. It will hardly smoke but mostly just flame for a couple of minutes and then stop producing anything. Leave to cool a couple of minutes and unwrap. If the extractor fan is on then no one even notices. Ok it is just one piece, but you can get the idea and then use the bulk methods as others have mentioned.

 

[Richardpotts]

I just stuffed an old cotton t-shirt into an empty baked bean tin, put a couple of layers of foil as a lid on, poked a hole in and stuck it on a bar-b-q amongst the embers. It'll start smoking, when it stops fish it out and you have top notch char cloth.

One t-shirt lasted me 2 years!

 

[Mike Ameling]

Here's a simple way to make charclothe by your campfire without a tin or foil.

Take a small stick, about half a pencil in size or thinner. Roll a strip of well-washed and used cotton material around the stick - somewhere between 1 and 2 inches thick. Now toss it on the coals of your fire. It will burn/char on the outside, and in a ways. When the outside is "glowing", fish it out and bury it in dirt to smother it. When it has cooled, dig it out and shake off the dirt.

To use it, just unroll the amount you want and tear it off. As you use it up, the next layers in side will be less "charred" - will go from black to brown. When it get too brown and harder to catch a spark, just char it in the fire and bury it in the dirt again. The stick helps hold the charclothe together when carried in your pouch. But the big advantage to this method is not needing a tin or foil to make your charclothe.

I have a friend who just bakes his squares of cotton in a hot oven until they turn from white to brown to black. I haven't tried this, so I can't tell you how it works - but it does work for him.

Just some humble thoughts to share.

Mike Ameling