Comments on: Paper bricks as a firewood substitute

By: dogger

dogger — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:35:10 +0000

hi im thinking of making paper bricks to fire my outside pizza oven does any one no if it works ok

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 27 May 2010 09:10:45 +0000

I just started this year but soon learned that tearing thin strips is a pain. I am blessed with a big backyard so I use a plastic 40 litre tub and just separate the newspaper pages, crumple loosely and cover with water.As they soften I add more. Agitation is the key, I have used a pick handle to thump up and down but found a paint stirer in the electric drill to be magic.
I fill my container in the P.M. add a very small amount of detergent ( washing up detergent is fine) pound the mix a bit then next morning take to it with the drill. The resulting mix is very fine, in appearance it looks like old flannel or underfelt.There are no recocognisable pieces of newspaper.I tip the mix into a sieve( not necessary but easier to make reasonably sized bricks) then make up the bricks.
Drying is the trick. I have an old bed spring under a roof and I just set them out and leave them.
None of this is very prety but as I said I am on a large block next to a patch of bush and can keep everything out of sight.
Our summer temperatures help a lot too. ( I live in Queensland Aus.)

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:25:48 +0000

Try putting some food colour in the water tub, soak the 1 inch strips over night and then press your brick. The food colour just makes them look funky I had 53 red ones last weekend and this weekend going yellow. I think its great.

By: John Morgan

John Morgan — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:43:53 +0000

I have been using a brick maker for a month and already have success. I burn a stove & supplement wood with the paper bricks. More regular loading is required, as the logs I burn are about 3 X bigger than the bricks.

Air drying on a windy day seems to be the key to getting a burnable log. Newspaper ripped & ripped again into 5 – 10 cm squares then separated & soaked for 2 days (Not tried bleach yet, but frost helps separate fibre even if makes handling interesting). I tried using an electric plaster mixer but it made the mash too fine, so much slipped through the holes in the press. 4 days till a burnable log ! (It was windy – I was surprised! As the ones in the greenhouse are still drying 4 weeks later!!!!) The log must feel hard & Light (Much like a wood log – heavy ones are not seasoned)

Also tried sawdust mix, and the key is not to overdo it, otherwise the brick falls to bits No more that about 1/3rd by volume (My sawdust is from a factory electric plane so quite long)

All in all – Not quick but my time and the materials are free.

By: Carol

Carol — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:06:40 +0000

Any opinion if burning recycled bricks is “better” for our world than recycling the paper? We have acres of wooded property and never purchase wood. Glad to read about the CO2; our indoor fireplace currently does not have glass doors.

By: riclin

riclin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:40:50 +0000

I just started making paper bricks a couple of months ago. I tore the paper into strips but it really didn’t work for me. I purchased a paper shredder at a local thrift store and use that to cut the paper. So far seems to work really well makes a really solid brick that holds its shape while drying.

By: Marky Mark

Marky Mark — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:53:41 +0000

I’ve been making eco-bricks for a couple of years now and seem to have refined the process quite well. Couple of tips ….
Put a cupfull of Bleach in the water when you soak the paper, this will help to break down the paper and make it bond together better .. Hot water is the key and getting your hands in as soon as you start to soak the strips to give it a good mashing really helps.
Load the machine to the top then using the removable plate press it down just with your hands (not using handles) then reload to the top again and this time use the crossed handles to really get the water out.
Don’t be afraid to add some more and give it another squeeze. Brick wants to be about 3 – 3.5 inch thick when you’ve finished.
Drying in a greenhouse really helps too and the bleach you added helps to stop any mould forming (had this problem when i first started, entire damp batch started going green)
I’ll stop rambling now
Hope this helps

By: oldschoolpaperbrickie

oldschoolpaperbrickie — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:32:20 +0000

Hi Mark,

I would try leaving out the soap cobber and letting soak for at least 2-3 days with a few stirs. Bearing in mind you need to tear or shread into strips no wider than an inch or so.

Hope this helps cob.

By: dasman

dasman — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:21:53 +0000

Hi Mark.

The paper can really compress down – as you’ve found out! And if you “bottom out” before fully compressing the paper it will form a loose brick that burns too quickly at best, or simply doesn’t hold together.

It’s going to depend on your brick maker to some extent, but for me, all thats required is to manually squash the paper in with my fingers when I’m loading it. As an aside, the act of squashing the paper in seems to make the material all pulpy which produces a better brick. Another option is to secure a block of wood or similar to the bottom of the mold (or the top grate). This will compress things further at the cost of making a smaller brick.

By: mark

mark — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:58:23 +0000

I have started making bricks, soaked the paper for 6 to 8 hours with a little soap. The trouble I am having is getting the bricks to stay together, I load the brickmaker until it is almost too full to place the compression grate into place, but still they are not solid. Any ideas?