Matches making starts with the simplest step which is preparing the wooden sticks which are also called strips.Such sticks are most frequently made from aspen but since I don’t have it I am going to use ordinary birch toothpicks and also barbecue skewers for bigger matches.
source/image: Thoisoi2
The first step of making matches is soaking sticks in fire retardant that is in chemical that prevents wood smouldering.
The thing is when wood burns down the leftover charcoals that continues to smoulder turning into light ash that can cause lots of inconveniences when it get onto clothes or valuable items.
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To prevent unwanted outcomes when using matches they get soaked in 2% ammonium dihydrogen phosphate that is in phosphoric acid and ammonium salt acid.After soaking and drying sticks we can see that the charred heads don’t smoulder which is a lot more convenient.
