A firelighter has a fairly simple job.
You light it. It burns. Your fire gets going.
But wander down the fire-lighting aisle and you'll find everything from traditional white firelighter blocks and gels to wood wool twists, wax-coated products and various "natural" alternatives.
So does it actually matter which one you choose?
At Shelby Wood Company, we're rather fond of the humble firelighter. In fact, natural wood wool firelighters are an important part of what we do.
So here's our straightforward guide to natural firelighters vs traditional firelighters, what makes them different and which might be the better choice for your fire.
First Things First – What Is a Natural Wood Wool Firelighter?
If you've never used one before, a natural wood wool firelighter looks a little like a small nest or bundle of twisted wood.
They're made from strands of wood wool combined with wax, creating a compact firelighter that catches easily and produces a sustained flame.
Shelby natural firelighters are made using wood wool and wax, without paraffin.
No mysterious little white cubes. No need to tear blocks apart.
Just:
Wood wool. Wax. Fire.
Simple.
What Are Traditional Firelighters?
When we talk about traditional firelighters, we're generally referring to the familiar solid blocks or cubes that have been used to start household fires and BBQs for decades.
Depending on the product, these can contain petroleum-derived combustible materials or other formulations designed to ignite easily and burn long enough to get the surrounding fuel started.
And to be fair to them – they work. Millions of fires have been successfully started with traditional firelighters.
But natural wood wool firelighters offer a rather different way of doing the same job.
Natural vs Traditional Firelighters – The Shelby Comparison
1. What's In Them?
This is probably the biggest difference.
Natural wood wool firelighters have a refreshingly short list of components: wood wool + wax.
Traditional firelighter formulations vary considerably between manufacturers and products and can use petroleum-derived combustible materials.
For customers who prefer a straightforward wood-based firelighter, wood wool is an appealing alternative.
At Shelby, we rather like knowing exactly what we're putting into the fire.
2. The Smell
Anyone who grew up around traditional firelighter blocks will probably recognise that smell. You know the one.
Some traditional products can produce a noticeable odour, particularly when first lit.
Wood wool and wax firelighters provide a different fire-lighting experience and avoid the characteristic paraffin-type smell associated with some conventional firelighters.
That's particularly appealing when you're lighting fires regularly.
3. Lighting Your Fire
A firelighter needs to burn for long enough to transfer sufficient heat into your kindling or charcoal.
That's where wood wool firelighters come into their own. The strands of wood wool catch readily, while the wax helps provide a sustained flame.
Place one beneath loosely arranged dry kindling, light the wood wool and allow it to do its job.
As we explained in our guide to lighting a log burner, our preferred sequence is:
Firelighter → Kindling → Logs
Don't make the poor little firelighter attempt to ignite a giant hardwood log all by itself. Give it some help.
4. They're Easy to Handle
Wood wool firelighters are individual pieces, which makes them straightforward to grab from the box or bag and position exactly where you want them.
There's no snapping a block apart or trying to work out where one firelighter finishes and the next one begins.
Grab one. Put it in. Light it.
We appreciate products that don't require an instruction manual.
5. They're Brilliantly Versatile
One of the things we particularly like about natural wood wool firelighters is how many different fires you can start with them.
They're suitable for lighting:
- Log burners
- Wood-burning stoves
- Open fires
- Fire pits
- Chimineas
- BBQs
- Charcoal
- Pizza ovens
- Campfires
Essentially, if you're trying to get a fire started, there's a good chance a wood wool firelighter can help.
That makes keeping a box handy particularly useful throughout the year.
Winter might mean the log burner. Spring brings the fire pit back out. Summer means BBQs and pizza ovens. Then before you know it, we're back to lighting the stove again.
What About Newspaper?
Of course, there is another traditional method. Newspaper.
Generations of people have mastered the art of scrunching newspaper underneath a carefully constructed tower of sticks.
It can work.
It can also produce lots of ash, burn very quickly and leave you desperately trying to persuade the kindling to catch before the paper disappears.
We prefer something slightly less dramatic. A good firelighter gives you a sustained flame and enough time for your kindling to establish properly.
How Many Natural Firelighters Do You Need?
For many everyday fires, one good firelighter may be enough when used with dry kindling and correctly prepared fuel.
For a larger fire, difficult conditions or a bigger charcoal load, you might choose to use two.
But more isn't necessarily better.
If you're regularly throwing handfuls of firelighters into your stove just to get it started, the firelighter probably isn't the problem.
Check your:
- Kindling
- Fuel moisture
- Airflow
- Fire-building technique
Good fire lighting is about getting all four working together.
Our firelighters come in a range of pack sizes, from a box of 50 to try them out, through our best-selling box of 200, up to 525 and 1000 for heavier use.
Are Natural Firelighters Suitable for BBQs and Pizza Ovens?
Wood wool firelighters are particularly useful for outdoor cooking because they can be used to establish the fire before you begin cooking.
For a BBQ, position the firelighter beneath your charcoal or use it with a chimney starter.
For a wood-fired pizza oven, use it to establish your kindling before gradually adding your pizza logs.
Whichever method you use, always allow your cooking fuel to become properly established and follow the instructions supplied with your BBQ or pizza oven before cooking food.
A Straightforward Choice Around Outdoor Cooking
This is where the simplicity of a natural wood wool firelighter really appeals to us.
When you're lighting a BBQ or wood-fired pizza oven, you're ultimately creating the heat that will cook your food. So it's understandable that many people prefer to know exactly what they're using to get that fire started.
Shelby natural firelighters are made from wood wool and wax, with no paraffin.
That makes them a straightforward choice for getting your charcoal, kindling or pizza logs burning without reaching for liquid accelerants.
For a BBQ, place the firelighter beneath your charcoal – or use it underneath a chimney starter – and allow the charcoal to become fully established before cooking.
For a pizza oven, use your firelighter to ignite dry kindling before gradually adding your pizza logs and bringing the oven up to temperature.
And there's one important rule whatever you're cooking:
The firelighter starts the fire. You don't cook over the firelighter itself.
Always allow your fire or charcoal to become properly established before putting food on to cook, and follow the instructions for your BBQ or pizza oven. For BBQ use, follow the appliance manufacturer's instructions and use recognised firelighters or starter fuels rather than petrol or paraffin.
For us, that's another reason the humble wood wool firelighter earns its place in the Shelby range.
Wood wool. Wax. Fire. Then let the fuel do the cooking.
So, Which Firelighter Should You Choose?
Traditional firelighters have been around for years and they certainly do the job.
But if you want something made from straightforward wood-based materials, easy to handle and versatile enough to use from the log burner in January to the BBQ in July, natural wood wool firelighters are difficult to beat.
And perhaps we're slightly biased. After all, we make rather a lot of them.
Made in Britain – From the Black Country
Shelby Wood Company is proud to call the Black Country home.
For anyone outside the West Midlands who hasn't come across the name before, the Black Country includes Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton and is famous for its extraordinary industrial heritage.
Coal mines, ironworks, furnaces, factories and forges helped turn this part of England into one of the great manufacturing centres of the Industrial Revolution.
Fire and fuel have therefore been part of the Black Country story for generations.
Today, Shelby is continuing a much smaller chapter of that manufacturing tradition.
Our natural wood wool firelighters are produced here in Britain, and we think there's something rather fitting about making products for fires in a part of the country built on a history of fire, fuel and industry.
Practical products. Made to do a proper job.
We think that's rather Black Country.
The Shelby Way
We don't believe lighting a fire needs to be complicated.
Start with the right products and let each one do its job.
- Firelighters to start it.
- Kindling to build it.
- Logs, briquettes or charcoal to keep it burning.
That's why we've built the Shelby range around one simple idea: Everything for the perfect fire.
Whether you're warming the house, firing up the pizza oven, cooking on charcoal or sitting around a fire pit with friends, every great fire starts with that first little flame.
And sometimes the smallest product in the box turns out to be one of the most important.
Light it. Build it. Enjoy it. That's the Shelby way.
