Urban legend?
I’m a Girl Scout leader, a GSUSA outdoor adult trainer, etc. Dryer lint works just fine, thank you very much. I have to admit that I don’t use anything except lint from towels and linens (cotton) since I don’t feel comfortable burning polyester. In fact, it is illegal to burn plastics (I put polyester in the “plastic” category) in Minnesota where I camp a lot.
For campground camping we always carry a combination of dryer lint mixed with parafin poured into a carboard egg carton. Cut out each “egg” and you’ve got a fire starter that will start a great fire even when the wood is damp.
Pam
banana peels work well as fire starters
too. So don’t just throw them away.
Chemistry Lesson For Today
Most Fabrics that are synthetic are poly amides (Nylon etc) or poly esters. Poly amides make very little lint, poly esters make H20 and CO2 when they are burned. They too make very little lint. PVCs are used in things like rain coats but not in something you would put into a dryer, when burned they can make harmful gases (no danger in small quantities). Some fabrics have stain and water reppelent chemicals that contain chlorinated and fluorinated chemicals, they are present in very small quantities. Most of the lint in your drying is probably from cotton fabrics and is celuose the stuff that paper is made from and it makes CO2 and H20 when burned. The toxics in dryer lint are in such a small quantity worrying about combusting them is absurd. There are more toxics in the match head you are striking!
Thanks for the chemistry
Thanks for the “chemistry lesson”, that was something I always wondered about, but was to lazy to actually research. I feel much better about all my polyester long underwear now . . . especially knowing that if I get to close to a flame, I only have to worry about the intense pain it causes me, and not about the air pollution the rest of the party has to breate.
Thanks again.
Fomunda cheese
I heard it different, and it isn’t for family publication!
I smoked a few in the 70’s…
"They call it Mellow Yellow, quite rightly!
Is this a cleverly disguised troll?
String - What if
it was an “Intelligently Designed” troll?
Jim
BB lint
It is a good idea to clean out the BB before doing body shots. The BB lint can then be harvested in a fun, wholesome way. However after the third or fourth body shot, you can just use your breath as fire started.
some
– Last Updated: Jan-09-06 2:13 PM EST –
other good firestarters are inner bark of northern white cedar worked and roughed up to make cedar wool and of course like Jeff says....Birchbark , not from a growing tree, or the tree gods will tell the water gods......
(also cattail fluff)
Hydrogen Cyanide Gas
is produce by burning wool and some if not most synthetics. I am not a chemist, but I was a Firefighter for a long time and after reading the post and laughing at the replies I realized, yes, there is a danger! If, you used a truckload of dryer lint produced from laundering all your wool blankets and paddling pants. Then stood in the smoke and hyperventilated. All kidding aside, I now use Trioxane MRE heating bars.
Yes on both counts
We have been known to pull the banana peel as a fire starter gag on rookies. We soak a peel in lamp oil or something and someone will complain that the woods all wet and ask if anyone has a banana peel to get it started. After legnthy searching and discussion someone will produce the doctored peel and start a roaring fire to the amazement of the newbie. Next night we all sit around trying to watch the new guy duplicate our success. You kinda have to be there to appreciate it.
I’ll give up lint for Lent.
Actually, I have tried dryer lint, but not found it as satisfactory as Coughlin’s fire starter sticks, which are sawdust and wax compressed together. Break off a third, it’s all you need, and you have a one-match fire.
I just tried lint
…and it worked great… Thanks