Petroleum jelly residue in barrel for rocket mass heater

Hey all,

I'm preparing for my RMH build in a couple weeks.  The barrels I found previously contained petroleum jelly.  They haven't been all that well cleaned out yet.  Can I go ahead and burn them to remove the paint?  Should I scrub them as clean as I can first?  Or are there any other precautions I should take?

Thanks,
Jean-Paul

Hi Jean Paul;
No need to clean it further , just burn it.    
This is how I do it.
I live in a rural area so it is OK to use a burn barrel.   To prep a barrel for RMH use , I simply burn a bunch scrap wood with the barrel standing on end. This will remove 85% of the paint.   The very bottom of the barrel usually does not get hot enough to remove all the paint.   I let it sit overnight. Then lay the barrel on its side and start a new fire … much smaller. This puts the heat at the bottom of the barrel. As the paint burns off I roll the barrel small amounts until the last of the paint is burned off.
Done, Good to go.

I would think that the jelly would combust really well aiding in the paint removal... just thinking of homemade fire starters made out of cotton balls and vaseline.