I have officially burned my first paper pulp fire brick. In case you are unfamiliar with what I am talking about, I did a recent post over how to make your own paper pulp fire bricks for burning in your fireplace. I would say that the results are mixed but more on that in a moment. As you’ll recall we compost our paper products but we have a lot of paper products so when I was told about this concept I decided that for the cost of the materials and time it was worth giving it a try. After the paper was soaked, shredded, and turned into a soggy mass of pulp, I used 5 gallon buckets of water to compress the pulp into the brick.
You can tell from the picture that the bricks are still very wet. Given our current weather it took about 10 days for the bricks to dry out well.
To test how well the paper pulp fire brick burned you can see that I opted for a nice solid bed of coals but other than the charcoal there are no other logs or wood burning with the brick.
The underside of the fire brick caught fire within a matter of seconds and flared up but then settled into a nice burn.
After a short time the paper brick would just smolder so I flipped it over. You can see that the outside is well burned and has some coals. The other side flared and then settled in to a slow burn. After a short while the other side slowed to a smolder as well.
It’s a bit difficult to see in the photo but once the paper pulp fire brick reached a certain point it didn’t burn well on it’s own. I broke it in half and got a few additional minutes of burn time. Since there was still quite a bit of brick left that wouldn’t burn on it’s own I added some smaller wood to the fire and the brick continued to burn until it was all consumed. I timed the burn from start to finish and I got approximately 45 min of burn time out of this particular brick although I believe that it would vary based on thickness, moisture content, and compression of the brick.
Take Away From This Experiment
- Time to create the necessary equipment to create the paper pulp fire brick was approximately 30 minutes
- The paper required a day to soak before I churned it into pulp
- I compressed it for an additional 24 hours
- Dry time varies greatly based on thickness of the brick, ambient temp, sunlight, and humidity
- Burn time also varies based on the thickness, moisture content, and compression of the brick
Is it worth it?
This is a harder question to answer. If you are an extremely busy person and find it hard to fit extra projects into your schedule, this is probably not for you. If you don’t mind adding a few minutes to your day and you can get a routine going with making the pulp bricks it might be a worthwhile venture. Since I have the equipment already I will like it keep it set up off to the side somewhere and continue to use it. However, I don’t feel that the time invested vs burn time is sufficient to justify any additional set-ups to create multiple fire bricks. I will continue to recycle some of my junk mail in this fashion but, sadly, I don’t believe that this will supplement my firewood as much as I had hoped.
I hope that my experiment will help you to decide if it is worthwhile for you. Let me know if you move forward with this project. Have a great day and God bless!
we are new to all this and after your first post on this we decided to give it a go….I agree it was quite time consuming but we have thought of ways of getting round it, we soaked in an old bath for two days, set up a board and rack and used a cheap press we got from Aldis which was fab….and also to do in the summer when it can air dry outside and not to do in the winter as it took 10-14 days to dry but I may do a small amount to mix with wood for next year out of all our old paper, we are looking at alternatives also and have read an article on horse manure in a press, want to read some more reviews though before trying that one lol
I haven’t heard about the horse manure but I did have someone suggest drilling some holes through the paper brick to create some air flow for a better burn. I still have a couple of bricks so on the next cold night we have I plan to try that and see if it alters the burn rate at all. I agree to making them during the summer months when possible to reduce drying time. Fortunately they will stack easily. 🙂 I also like the idea of the press. When I have some down time on my hands (yeah right, like that actually happens on a farm lol) I might see if I could whip up a cheap screw-type press from salvaged lumber or something similar.
In Korea they burn coal bricks about 5″ in diameter and 6″ tall. Holes are formed from top to bottom when moldedwhich gives a long even burn all through the brick. Holes may do well for this application.
That is a good idea. I’m thinking that some holes, some sawdust, and some wood chips added to the fire bricks might make for a much better burn.
I have a friend that makes bricks (like actual rectangular brick shape) and puts 3-4 on to burn at once and gets 3-4 hours of burn time. He makes huge batches in the summer and then uses them through out the winter here in Arkansas.
His paper is free as he comes and gets the shredded paper from our office. So other than time to make the bricks it is well worth his time.
I’ve actually considered doing the same thing. Our office ladies take out a 35 gallon bag of shredded paper every Friday. If I could make me a multi-brick form I could use the pre-shredded paper and it might make it a more streamlined process and make it more worthwhile. Looks like we are on the same track. 😉
I thought I would just let you know I follow a lot of people on pinterest but I visit your blog the most. Keep up the great posts!👍
That is very kind of you and warms my heart. I haven’t done much with the blog in a long time because I felt that it was pointless. I now know that is not the case. Thank you again. 🙂
I might’ve missed it, but could you please comment on the potential use of scrap cardboard boxes. My cardboard recycling is a huge pile that I’d like to turn into firebricks, so if you think it’ll work, please let me know. Thank you!
I only had a few pieces of cardboard in my pile so I am not sure how it would work in large batches. I think it would probably break down and burn just fine in the brick form. If the boxes are covered in glossy print, heavy metals being released might be a concern for some people so it is something to think about. Personally, I use my cardboard in the garden. I use it as a weed barrier in all of my beds and in the walking areas of the garden. I lay it down and cover it with mulch. I collect my cardboard year round and in the spring I put down a new layer and cover it with mulch. I don’t pull up any of the old cardboard or mulch but rather just let it compost in place. It’s a great way to keep your soil moist, the weeds at bay, and to add organic material to the soil.
Have you considered using a piece of pvc pipe to make it more of a log shape? You might get a longer burn. I suggest this because the fire logs in the stores are round.
That’s a good idea. If I get around to messing with this again, I sure might give that a try. I have a few short pieces of 3″ and 4″ thick walled PVC that would do perfectly. Thanks!
Just started this yesterday in fact and I’ve let my shreaded paper set over night stirring it a few times. Just about ready to press it into brick form and see about how long it will burn in our wood stove once I get it dried out. Don’t let this blog go bud never know who may pop on here and learn something new 🙂
Thanks for the encouragement. I would love to hear how they work out for you. I think a wood burning stove might have better results as my fireplace is a cheap insert and does not burn efficiently. Keep me updated.
Also has anyone tried adding a small amount of wood chips not saw dust to these type bricks? Not but maybe 2 handfuls but enough to add mass to it to burn longer.
That is a good question and one worth exploring. This suggestion, as well as those of others regarding the use of sawdust, makes me want to try another experimental round…..
I’m just wondering if this paper pulp brick is good for cooking your meal as well.
Appreciate your feedback.
Based on the results I got from the first few attempts at this, I would say no as the fire was not consistent or hot enough to do much cooking. However, with some adjustments it might do the trick.
I add sawdust along with pre-shredding the paper and it seems to bind them together nicely.
Great idea. Others have suggested maybe larger wood chips and holes as well. I think a combination might just do the trick to make these far more efficient.
I came across this after pulping a lot of paper as an alternative to shredding it. Shredding was taking too much time and effort, so I put the papers into a bucket and soaked them a few days. The wet paper didn’t disintegrate, so I had to tear it up by hand, but that was okay – it took only ten minutes and some poking with a stick. Then I was left with a mess of pulp and torn paper. After a few more days, it was like wet pasta and could be torn into small bits. I ended up making balls with the paper and drying them. This took too long, and I’ll use a mold next time. Waiting to use them in the grill. I may soak some with old cooking oil or fat.
In the future, I will mix in some flour or starch (or anything like that expired in the kitchen) to increase the carbohydrate content, to increase the amount of energy in the mixture, and see if that helps improve the burn. I may also try leaf litter. I suspect that dung also works, but I don’t want to go there!
Pioneers in dry areas where there was little wood burned dry cow patties for cooking and heat.
Try adding grated wax…. Should increase burn time and flame
If dry time is a problem and you see reason to flip your logs around to get even burns maybe try setting a pipe cap into the center of your bucket press to make rings and not disks. Heck I don’t know I’m only here to read what you did I have yet to try it myself. But a larger hole would provide better flow for air drying give more surface area and may help with the burn. I do know that soaking the paper allows the pulp the pulp to relax and in drying the mass shrinks so getting the cap out shouldn’t be a problem and if it is should just punch right out from the top . As long as the pulp compresses to the top of the cap or just above it should all be golden.
This is my first time to read your blog i found it to be very informative. I am about to undertake the paper saw dust brick making my self. Hope you dont stop.
Hi good website, I live in Liverpool UK and I have been using a hand paper brick press I bought it from Ebay. Two fellas from Bolton UK made them and they seem to be a big hit. I have tried making them, made 50 or so last year near the end and ave made another 30 up to now I have a drill press so I drill a couple of holes in them as I to found the burn wasn’t as I wanted. The holes made a good difference for me. I work all day in the week so i only get weekends to make some and our winters are pretty cold and damp. hope this helps.