Making charcloth in bulk

[ex-member BareThrills]

Afternoon folks

I was wondering if anyone had had any success with making charcloth in large batches. so far ive been using a small sweet tin and it comes out lovely but i could do with a lot of it for a project and would like to do bigger batches. Anyone had success and what did you use for the tin. I was considering something like a biscuit tin

 

[lannyman8]

only tried it with charcoal, but an old cake tin biscuit tin etc etc etc, makes a great job of it, try it, it should be fine mate...

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Cheers. I cant remember where i read it but im sure it is less reliable if done on a large scale. I may be imagining it though so will wait for a few more opinions before i ruin all my denim lol

 

[slowworm]

I use an old 2lb syrup tin, with a hole punched in the top. I can easily get an old pair of cotton boxer shorts in it (cut up into strips and then rolled into a large bundle) and it makes good charcloth.

 

[lannyman8]

Cheers. I cant remember where i read it but im sure it is less reliable if done on a large scale. I may be imagining it though so will wait for a few more opinions before i ruin all my denim lol

the only way i found to ruin it is to over cook it, its like it needs some of the crud left in to work well...

 

[Lister]

I imagine using a pressure cooker (the types your nana makes spotted dick and stews in) and chuck in cut up cotton t-shirts and cook 'em

 

[Elines]

I used a round biscuit tin with a small hole in the top and didn't plug it with a bit of wood afterwards and it worked ok - may have been luck though.

I found that smoke seeped out from around the lid edge as well as the purpose made nail hole in the middle, so maybe you need to keep the hole on the small side.

 

[Silverhill]

I used a round biscuit tin with a small hole in the top and didn't plug it with a bit of wood afterwards and it worked ok - may have been luck though.

I found that smoke seeped out from around the lid edge as well as the purpose made nail hole in the middle, so maybe you need to keep the hole on the small side.

I've never plugged the hole either, although I do put on my forge gloves and empty the contents of the tin from the fire into a fresh, tightly sealed tin to allow the charcloth to cool without burning.

 

[Man of Tanith]

for big scale production i use a paint can (empty and cleaned out)
i've never bothered plugging the hole and it's never really affected the end result
small amounts i have used tobacco tins, pocket sized tins of vaseline etc, i know a few folk who use air rifle pellet tins as they are screw topped so easier to open afterwards

 

[Thetillerman71]

Visit A local resteraunt and ask if you can have some of their empty commercial size food tins out of the bin or skip. Worth getting half a dozen or so as they are useful for a number of things i.e. cooking pot, hobo stoves etc. If you get there the day prior to the binman collecting they should have loads. Mine had beetroot and pinneapple in them

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

Cheers chaps

I have today successfully used a syrup tin to make a good sized batch. for this lot I was charring cotton wool pads and found that the two nearest the bottom of the tin were over done but the rest took a spark from traditional flint and steel on the first strike so success i think. Thanks for all your help and info.