Dryer lint as firestarter? No Way!

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
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!
 

Barn Owl

Old Age Punk
Apr 10, 2007
8,245
5
58
Ayrshire
I've always found it difficult to light the lint from my drier.

I'm in a house with me,my better half and now two adult girls.

I always thought it must be just me that can't get it to light properly,so kept a bit quiet while everyone else said it was a good fire lighter.

Guess i always thought it must be the type of materials in the lint, different folks obviously have different clothing.

Good post my friend.
 

dave53

On a new journey
Jan 30, 2010
2,993
11
70
wales
cotton balls with petroium jelly it is then, wheres my film containers got some around here somewhere regards dave
 
May 25, 2010
4
0
south coast
this is a good post,very informative too.
must say ive used drier lint for years as theres always plenty to be had.its never let me down and i wouldnt leave with out it :)
i only use certain types of lint fluff that i get from the filter in the drier,mainly the light,clean stuff without the dog hair and debris in it.i then rinse it in clean water and leave to dry.
i keep it in a water/air tight container ready for use.
 

spiritwalker

Native
Jun 22, 2009
1,244
3
wirral
hmm its always caught a spark first time for me that and birch bark is all i use i keep it in my tinder tin and it never fails...
 

Ogri the trog

Mod
Mod
Apr 29, 2005
7,182
71
60
Mid Wales UK
Survival Sense,
Ecologically speaking, I feel I have to take issue with your claim about dryer lint being free and readily available.
While I applaud you for making an otherwise useless material into a resource and putting it to good use, the cost of running a tumble dryer has to be one of the most wastefull ways of using electricity ever. I really don't want to start an arguement over it but I think there are many truely free natural tinders waiting to be harvested, and are equally as effective, without the need for modern domestic appliances.

ATB

Ogri the trog
 

Barn Owl

Old Age Punk
Apr 10, 2007
8,245
5
58
Ayrshire
Survival Sense,
Ecologically speaking, I feel I have to take issue with your claim about dryer lint being free and readily available.
While I applaud you for making an otherwise useless material into a resource and putting it to good use, the cost of running a tumble dryer has to be one of the most wastefull ways of using electricity ever. I really don't want to start an arguement over it but I think there are many truely free natural tinders waiting to be harvested, and are equally as effective, without the need for modern domestic appliances.

ATB

Ogri the trog

I don't recall any other posts about drier lint being met with an ecological response such as this Ogri.
If I was a new poster and received that comment it would put me off the forum.

I'm sure you meant well in your thoughts but a tumble drier is a much needed appliance in many homes.

I apologise if i'm out of turn with my response but your view would be better aired in a separate thread to my mind.

Tom.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Sorry Ogri, but I freely admit I refuse to live in a house full of pulleys and winterdykes for most of the year as I try to dry washing. Been there, done that, not doing it again.
I would do without quite a lot to pay for the tumblle drier, especially since damp housing is such a problem in the UK.
My green credentials go out the window at that point.

Re the fluff from the filter on the tumbledrier; I find that if I use the fluff that comes from linen cloth the stuff is superb at catching a spark. From mixed fibres not so good. Cotton can be iffy, but I suspect that depends kind of crucially on what fabric conditioner has been used in the washing.

cheers,
Toddy
 
The wife would be running the drier regardless anyway....the lint is just a by-product so very strictly speaking it is free. Hell you could take it step further & stash some more natural tinders like old moss, straw, & such like - inside - a perfectly innocent looking pillowslip, tiptoe along & fire it in there with the washing, the trick is to remember to get it out just before the end of the cycle, save you getting & seriously burned ear or worse still a d-i-v-o-r-c-e !!
We're booked up to 'tie the knot'... next year, I'll give this idea a go...I'll let you know if the weddings still on.....
 
Last edited:

Ogri the trog

Mod
Mod
Apr 29, 2005
7,182
71
60
Mid Wales UK
By way of an apology, I did probably come across as a bit strong!
It certainly is not my intention to put new members off the forum.

It has been more than ten years since my family used a tumble drier, since we moved to the wilds of Mid Wales in fact. The pulleys and drying frame above the kitchen range are simply part of the "wet-season washing regime" coming from our abhorence of high electricity bills - we have a heat source in the house that is capable of drying the washing, I'll not entertain the idea of hiking our bills merely to do the same job.

I still can't accept that the lint is free as without running the appliance you'll not be able to gather the waste.

I have an internal torment that becoming reliant on this as a single resource for fire lighting is tantamount to taking a pack of Zipp Firelighters - surely we should be aiming to harvest the natural resources that would enable us to operate longterm without having to return to our houses for a re-stock of drier lint.

I'm happy to agree to disagree over the matter.

ATB

Ogri the trog
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
59
Bristol
After ten years of using one, last August we as a house hold stopped using the tumble dryer (it broke, but I fixed it, but have never used it since) I’ve noticed that my electricity bill has dropped £90 for the last quarter. Saying that though, my gas bill (portable heater) has gone up to £46 (doubled). By using a calor gas fire, in the winter, to heat my back kitchen (no other form of heating and Log burner is out of my reach financially) I’m able to dry clothes and keep warm. If it is dry and sunny you can hang them out even in winter, Ok you have to watch the weather, but I’m all for saving as much of my money as I can.
But when I did use the tumble dryer cotton work shirts (real cotton not polyester) and Jeans gave the best fluff, and wool socks the worst.
 

spiritwalker

Native
Jun 22, 2009
1,244
3
wirral
i try to be green as possible BUT in winter when you have a toddler and consequently lots of washing im afraid the drier is inevitable we both have to work full time and therefore the heating is not on in the house until late evening (woodburner) by the time it gets warm we go to bed and hence drying it another way would be near impossible. However when the weather is good we are not lazy and take full advantage of the washing lines to save where we can.

Besides even if you dont use a dryer you could always ask a neighbour or relative to collect the lint for you that way you would be using someone elses waste which is even greener.

You could go one further and say by using natural tinders deprives animals without food and shelter building materials but we wont go there lol...

We are wasteful creatures some try our best but we are creatures of society to some respects and whatever way we live we will impact the environment but you know what we are animals and what we do can also be branded as just nature...

waits for the flames...
 

Moff8

Forager
Jul 19, 2004
202
0
54
Glasgow
I have had pretty good results from the fluff left after drying towels (cotton?) but not much luck with anything else. My pal brough around some fluff from his new carpet to try as well and it was pretty useless, then we realise it was probably treated against fire :)

Tam
 

Large Sack

Settler
May 24, 2010
665
0
Dorset
Let us not forget that although this is a bushcraft site, and as such, it may well be expected that to light a fire one would go about it in the most bushcrafty way possible (and here I would site Ogri's opinion) some of us are not as bushcrafty as others. On occasions when camping with 7 kids and 5 adults I will confess to lighting the bbq to feed said kids and adults with whatever means is at my disposal :yikes:. That said, when wild camping on my own or with my son we will be as 'Ogri' as possible...Fortunately (depending on how you look at it :)) I still have a need for pencils and coloured pencil crayons at work so I do have a lot of pencil sharpenings to use...although my preferred method if the weather isn't great is cotton balls.

Peace and good beer

Sack
 

salan

Nomad
Jun 3, 2007
320
1
Cheshire
Well we got rid of our dryer about six years ago.
What we found was that if we use airers on the landing, they get asll the hot air rising up the stairs.
Even with two girls, the four of us managed to dry all clothes quite happily without a dryer.
In the summer we put the clothes oputside but any other time we just put them on the landing.
When I was out of work and beinf a 'house husband', I could dry a washload on the landing twice a day no prob.
With regards to using lint to light a fire, I have not been successful with it. But then it is almost all dog hair! (seems to get everywherelol ).
Alan
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
All that moist air has to go somewhere Salan, I've lived in a damp house, and I never will again. I do use the washing lines but I make no apologies for using the tumble drier.

I find it's an 'interesting' kind of play around with sparkcatcher, the lint, but that's all really. Frankly I find the tinder and crackle I gather in season much more useful, and as Paganwolf and Ogri have said, if you're out there you ought to know what you can use, or at least be in the process of finding out :cool:

cheers,
Toddy

p.s. Right now the fluff filled seed heads from the willows are all over the paths and forest floors, that works fine :D
 

Large Sack

Settler
May 24, 2010
665
0
Dorset
Why on earth would you want to use that for any way? If you cant go out into the woods and get a fire going with materials there you shouldnt be there lol ;)

Just a quickie but over the last half term holiday, I had all three of my kids making a fire with a magnifying glass. This was the first time they had seen this (ages 13, 11 & 8). No doubt when they each get suspended for burning parts of their respective schools down I will regret that experience, but for the moment I will revel in the memory of the look on their faces when they finally got ignition. Shame we can't have sun like that more often

Sack
 

salan

Nomad
Jun 3, 2007
320
1
Cheshire
All that moist air has to go somewhere Salan, I've lived in a damp house, and I never will again. I do use the washing lines but I make no apologies for using the tumble drier.

We have plenty of ventilation in the house. Its only about 18 years ol (new when we bought it). All windows have vents on them and we never have trouble with damp ever.
The house faces south and the solar panels are doing there fruit at themo. We have hot water to excess. The bedrooms at the front of the house are always too hot for me (although like nearly all ladies, Suzanna 'feels' the cold lol).
We have a spin dryer and sometime use that but not that often. It does get a lot more water out then the washing machine but the latest washer does a good job of getting water out.
My parents bungalow had terrible trouble with damp and mould in the corner of the bedrooms.
They had a de humidifier on all the time.
I said to them that this was silly as they were generating a load of damp air then usinf the dehu to get rid of it. The kitchen was in the middle of the bungalow with no outside wall.
The cooker extractor was one that just filtered the fumes.
I changed that to one that extracted the air to outside (cut a hole in the cieling and iout via the loft). They never had troubel with mould again. And got rid of the de hu.
We have a propper chimney in the lounge with a coal fire and that coupled with the vents on the windows has meant that we have never had any damp problems.
Alan
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE