Inevitably, at every firemaking seminar I teach, somebody suggests using dryer lint as firestarter. According to some
folks, you should carry dryer lint and a flint stick in your survival kit. My response is that I have tested and tried dryer lint, don’t carry it, and recommend you don’t either.
You stake your life on your firemaking kit components. Let’s apply the common sense filter to this dryer lint firestarter idea.
Here’s some related information: According to a 1999 report developed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 14,500 dryers catch fire every year, killing 10 people. Two years ago, a dryer fire at an Alabama day care center claimed several children.
Experts cite “failure to clean” as the reason for 70% of dryer fire operational contributing factors. And a standard construction practice is to run the exhaust pipe through the drywall with a 90-degree elbow. This can cause the lint to accumulate at that angle, next to the hot dryer.
So the question might be, based on what appears to be evidence from the house fires: Is dryer lint really that flammable? Or is it the combination of heat, improper venting and an accumulation of dry lint next to a hot dryer that causes house fires?
Our concern is survival firemaking though, so let’s consider the pros and cons of dryer lint as it could be used in a survival situation as a firestarter.
Proponents of dryer lint firestarter claim:
•Dryer lint is free and readily available.
•Dryer lint is easily ignited with a match, lighter and/or flint stick.
•Dryer lint is compact and easy to carry.
•The material a reliable method of starting a fire under adverse (i.e. cold, wet, and nasty) conditions.
Dryer is free for the taking, compact and easy to carry and apparently flammable. There are multiple internet postings showing the material being ignited along with directions for making lint-based fire starters.
My first concern about dryer lint has to do with reliability under survival conditions. In 2002, as part of a project for Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, Oregon, the late Dr. Jim Grenfell and I set out to find the ultimate, practical fire ignition method that would work for the average person.
We also tested practical firestarters. Dryer lint was one of the initial items tested and it never made the first cut.
The material used for the field trials came from my dryer, and I tested the lint from virtually every load of clothes for a week or more. That ended up being a lot of testing. At the time there were three active teenagers and a Lab in the house, along with all the clothes drying associated with skiing, snowboarding, winter sports and school athletics.
The testing method was to take whatever handful of lint was in the filter, go out into the garage and ignite it with a flint stick. This is where the reliability issue surfaced. (Dog hair was a constant in all the test samples!)
Some lint, such as that from a load of cotton jeans, ignited readily. Lighting a mixed load of natural fabrics and wool and
microfibers was iffy, and sometimes the flame went out before burning up completely. And several times, the lint from a load of polypropylenes, wool and various synthetic microfibers didn’t ignite.
From that testing, my recommendation is to substitute cotton balls in any application you might be using dryer lint. Here’s why:
•While dryer lint is free, a jumbo 100 percent cotton ball will cost less than a penny. The cost of filling a 35-mm film container with five cotton balls is less than five cents!
•Cotton balls start out as a sterile medical item and can also be used for first aid needs, such bandaging or cleaning a wound or abrasion. Among the particles in dryer lint is dirt, dust, allergens and all sorts of airborne spores and microbes.
•Both cotton balls and dryer lint can absorb moisture from the air. The difference is that cotton has long fibers which can be dried easier than lint, which is composed of small particles, pet and human hair, pieces of plastic and other, unknown materials.
•Dryer lint mats and compacts more than cotton, making it harder to light. It’s more difficult to fluff up to light.
I carry cotton balls infused with petroleum jelly as one of the firestarters in my survival kit. If I start to feel a hot spot or blister rising from a boot chaffing, I rub the area with the cotton ball and petroleum jelly. In a pinch, I have used a petroleum jelly and cotton ball, along with duct tape, to create a makeshift band aide. Never rub any skin abrasion, or try to stop a blood flow, with lint!
Grenfell’s and my conclusion was that there is nothing dryer lint can do that a cotton ball can’t do as well. The advantages of cotton balls over lint easily make up the cost difference.
If dryer lint is still in your survival kit, please test before trusting it! Personally, I’ll spend an extra few cents and use cotton balls. My life is worth that to me!
folks, you should carry dryer lint and a flint stick in your survival kit. My response is that I have tested and tried dryer lint, don’t carry it, and recommend you don’t either.
You stake your life on your firemaking kit components. Let’s apply the common sense filter to this dryer lint firestarter idea.
Here’s some related information: According to a 1999 report developed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 14,500 dryers catch fire every year, killing 10 people. Two years ago, a dryer fire at an Alabama day care center claimed several children.
Experts cite “failure to clean” as the reason for 70% of dryer fire operational contributing factors. And a standard construction practice is to run the exhaust pipe through the drywall with a 90-degree elbow. This can cause the lint to accumulate at that angle, next to the hot dryer.
So the question might be, based on what appears to be evidence from the house fires: Is dryer lint really that flammable? Or is it the combination of heat, improper venting and an accumulation of dry lint next to a hot dryer that causes house fires?
Our concern is survival firemaking though, so let’s consider the pros and cons of dryer lint as it could be used in a survival situation as a firestarter.
Proponents of dryer lint firestarter claim:
•Dryer lint is free and readily available.
•Dryer lint is easily ignited with a match, lighter and/or flint stick.
•Dryer lint is compact and easy to carry.
•The material a reliable method of starting a fire under adverse (i.e. cold, wet, and nasty) conditions.
Dryer is free for the taking, compact and easy to carry and apparently flammable. There are multiple internet postings showing the material being ignited along with directions for making lint-based fire starters.
My first concern about dryer lint has to do with reliability under survival conditions. In 2002, as part of a project for Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, Oregon, the late Dr. Jim Grenfell and I set out to find the ultimate, practical fire ignition method that would work for the average person.
We also tested practical firestarters. Dryer lint was one of the initial items tested and it never made the first cut.
The material used for the field trials came from my dryer, and I tested the lint from virtually every load of clothes for a week or more. That ended up being a lot of testing. At the time there were three active teenagers and a Lab in the house, along with all the clothes drying associated with skiing, snowboarding, winter sports and school athletics.
The testing method was to take whatever handful of lint was in the filter, go out into the garage and ignite it with a flint stick. This is where the reliability issue surfaced. (Dog hair was a constant in all the test samples!)
Some lint, such as that from a load of cotton jeans, ignited readily. Lighting a mixed load of natural fabrics and wool and
microfibers was iffy, and sometimes the flame went out before burning up completely. And several times, the lint from a load of polypropylenes, wool and various synthetic microfibers didn’t ignite.
From that testing, my recommendation is to substitute cotton balls in any application you might be using dryer lint. Here’s why:
•While dryer lint is free, a jumbo 100 percent cotton ball will cost less than a penny. The cost of filling a 35-mm film container with five cotton balls is less than five cents!
•Cotton balls start out as a sterile medical item and can also be used for first aid needs, such bandaging or cleaning a wound or abrasion. Among the particles in dryer lint is dirt, dust, allergens and all sorts of airborne spores and microbes.
•Both cotton balls and dryer lint can absorb moisture from the air. The difference is that cotton has long fibers which can be dried easier than lint, which is composed of small particles, pet and human hair, pieces of plastic and other, unknown materials.
•Dryer lint mats and compacts more than cotton, making it harder to light. It’s more difficult to fluff up to light.
I carry cotton balls infused with petroleum jelly as one of the firestarters in my survival kit. If I start to feel a hot spot or blister rising from a boot chaffing, I rub the area with the cotton ball and petroleum jelly. In a pinch, I have used a petroleum jelly and cotton ball, along with duct tape, to create a makeshift band aide. Never rub any skin abrasion, or try to stop a blood flow, with lint!
Grenfell’s and my conclusion was that there is nothing dryer lint can do that a cotton ball can’t do as well. The advantages of cotton balls over lint easily make up the cost difference.
If dryer lint is still in your survival kit, please test before trusting it! Personally, I’ll spend an extra few cents and use cotton balls. My life is worth that to me!
