On an all-girls semi-wild camping trip with one of my best friends and our daughters in 2014 we stayed on a fantastic campsite on the edge of nowhere, Hill Fort Tipis in Pembrokeshire.
There’s an iron-age hillfort on site and only 12 pitches, each with an upcycled washing machine drum firepit! A great idea, I’d never seen one before – much less danger of causing wildfire in the surrounding brush and heather than a standard fire on open ground.
For the next 3 years I positively willed our poor washing machine to break down and finally it has, after 15 long and over-worked years. After all that drudgery it deserved a reincarnation.
Urban Campfire Ideal
A firepit in a recycled washing machine drum is one of the safest ways to have a fire in your back garden. It contains the fire, making it great for small spaces while still providing heat and a cooking space if needed.
Extract the Drum
Wild Daddy was not too pleased when I requested he remove the drum before taking the machine to the tip. It turned out to be a fairly easy job (though I was banned from photography..)
All machines are different. Once you unscrew the top and back the next steps should be obvious.
Alternatively buy a drum on eBay or speak to your local tip if your current washing machine is not ready for a post-mortem drumectomy!
Remove Plastic Parts
The most important step is to remove any plastic from the drum as this could be toxic if it burns. Our drum had three plastic inserts which were easily removed. A quick hammer tap on the outside released the clips allowing the insert to drop away into the drum. Voila!
Interior Exterior
Ready to Burn
The spindle makes a handy spike to stick in the ground, avoiding dangerous tipping whilst burning.
Find a suitable spot (see my post on urban campfires for safety considerations) and light it as you would for any fire. Find firelighting tips in how to light the perfect campfire almost every time. Then enjoy!
Safety Considerations for Kids
The firepit drum can get very hot so ensure children are aware of this and keep a close eye on them if cooking sausages or marshmallows.
Piling large stones around the outside for as in the campsite photo above helps keep children at a distance but beware as stones can get very hot and explode out from the fire.
That’s it! I’d love to hear from anyone else who’s tried this. We have great fun with ours.
Click for more info on garden campfires, how to light a fire and a scrummy urban cookfire pudding recipe or a good campfire recipe book to try. And if you’ve never heard of them, try Singing Hinnies. Pan-cooked outdoor deliciousness!
#Trash2Treasure
Brilliant idea
Looks like you had more success with yours than we did. I was really taken with this as an idea too and with all our properties I didn’t have to wait too long before a faulty washing machine came along. Nick did a great job much as you describe here, but we found it was just too deep and needed a mountain of charcoal or logs for the heat to reach the food cooking at the top. Looking at your photos I wish we had kept it as a fun way to stay warm on chilly summer’s evenings outdoors. So often I want to sit out with friends but it just gets too cold, this would be perfect. We may yet have to have another go!
Thank you for sharing with me on #Trash2Treasure
This is such a fun idea. I spotted someone asking for one on our local Freegle forum recently, specifically to make a fire pit.Cooking sausages over an old washing machine drum conjurors up quite a picture. #Trash2Treasure
It does sound bizarre on paper! Great fun though. Thanks for reading
looks a great idea. Curiosity – do the sparks get through the holes in the outside?
A great way for a heat source even if not used for cooking. #Trash2Treasure
We’ve not seen any sparks going through the holes with ours, they’re too small but perhaps with certain fuel types it might be possible. I doubt it though. Thanks for stopping by
My washer is a Maytag! š¤
We have done it but it goes brown. How do you clean it or return it to original silver colour
Hi Noelle, I don’t think there’s much you can do once the heat starts to affect the outer colour. I guess it’s part of the reuse and recycle ethos that it doesn’t stay pristine. If I hear of any suggestions in future I’ll let you know. Wild wishes for firepit fun though, even if it’s not so shiny š„
You could possible do something we do in the gun smithing community called cold bluing
When you fill it with wood/charcoal to creat the fire, do you have a grill at the bottom to creat a slight gap underneath to allow some air underneath the fire to help it burn or does it work fire just laying it on the bottom?
Hi Stephen, great question! We don’t have a grill bottom in ours and I don’t recall the campsite one did either. The base of ours definitely has perforations in so air can get through from below, though easily blocked with ash as they’re comparatively small.
It makes sense to me that a grill might help air flow – let me know if you find one that fits to experiment with. Wild wishes for an Indian summer of evening campfires š„