A rare but real danger take 2

[Fuzzpluskc]

On the topic of spontaneous combustion. Any rags used to clean up chemicals or oils should never be placed in the dryer after washing. Hang dry only. Or better yet use disposable rags and burn after use.

 

I'm the environmental director for a hospital. I had a housekeeper wash a load of cleaning rags and try to cut her work load by putting them in a dryer. Well 10 min later poof.

(There is something mesmerizing about fire being rolled over and over. Terrifying but beautiful.)

 

Thanks to persistent fire drills and a top notch staff. No one even got a blister. And thanks to modern ventalation systems there were no smoke issues. Property damage was kept to the loss of a $6,000.00 dryer.

 

But one hell of a reminder how the slightest complacency can lead to a disaster in the blink of an eye.

 

On that note. Let's be safe and go play with fire.

[PeteyPyro]

I use a galvanized trashcan (with lid), far away from buildings on our compound, to keep any inflamable rags stored. They await their ultimate disposition into the burn pile on a regular basis. Oily rags, especially those with "drying type oils" such as boiled linseed oil, have been documented to spontaneously ignite as the oil dries. Those little oil molecules "join hands" as they polymerize, and may become unstable in the presence of oxygen.

[dynomike1]

And just think how many years boiled linseed oil has been used.